“If a thing, my dear, is worth doing,” I heard her say about the time of which I am writing, “it is worth doing well. I have great faith—although I have gone so far above the old-world thoughts of religion—in the verse which says: ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.’ It is a grand precept, one that I instil into my children—er—er—”
“For all you are worth,” remarked a flippant young woman who was listening.
“I—I shouldn’t have expressed it in that way,” stammered Regina, somewhat taken aback. “But—but—er—it’s what I mean.”
“And your children, are they the same?”
“Yes, I am proud to say that my children are very much like me in that respect. When they play, they play; when they work, they work; when they idle they idle; and I am sure if ever they were naughty, that they would be naughty with all their might.”
Poor Regina! Well, to make the story somewhat shorter, I must tell you that when Regina Whittaker went into public life, she did so in no half-hearted manner.
“I am convinced,” she remarked to the lord of her bosom, “I am convinced that I am taking a step in the right direction. What do you think, Alfie?”
“My dear,” said Alfred Whittaker, somewhat sleepily, for he had had a hard day in the city and had eaten an extremely good dinner, “if it pleases you, it pleases me. You have such a clear, sensible head,” he went on, feeling that perhaps he had been a little too unsympathetic, “you have such a clear, sensible head, that I am sure you will take up no question that is not a good one—an advantageous one.”
“I thought you would see it in that light, dear Alfie,” said Mrs. Whittaker in tones which betokened much pleasure. “You are so generous and so just. Some men would hate to feel that their wives had any interest outside their own homes.”
“Oh, my dear heart and soul!” exclaimed Alfred Whittaker, looking up in a very wide-awake sort of way, “surely this is a land of liberty. I don’t want to tie you down to being no better than my slave. God knows you fag enough and slave enough for all of us. It would be hard if you couldn’t have a few opinions and a few interests of your own.”