I didn’t spoze she would have her crown on at this time—no, I expected to see that good, likely face surrounded by a widder’s bunnet, or mebby a crape veil throwed on kinder careless like.
I knew we should be very congenial. We both wished so well to our own sect—we wuz both so attached to our pardners; and though hern had passed on and mine wuz still with me, still I knew we had so many affectin’ incidents of our early days of our wedded love, before our perfectly adorin’ affection for Albert and Josiah wuz toned down by time and walkin’ round in stockin’ feet, and throwin’ crowns and bootjacks down in cross and fraxious hours, when meals wuz delayed, or the nations riz up and kicked, or the geese got into the garden, or slackness about kindlin’ wood, or the shortness of a septer, or etc., etc., etc.
Yes, I spozed we both had had our domestic trials. I spozed that Albert had his ways jest as Josiah has. Every pardner has ’em—they’re fraxious, touchy at times, over-good at others, and have mysterious ways. Men are dretful mysterious creeters at times—dretful.
Yes, I felt that we could find perfect volumes to talk over on this subject, for if ever there wuz two wimmen devoted to their pardners with a devotion pure and cast iron, them two wimmen wuz Samantha and Victoria.
And then, too, we wuz both Mas. I spozed she would tell me the good pints of Albert Edward, and I laid out to tell her of the oncommon smartness of Thomas Jefferson. And the more she would enlarge on Bertie, the more I would spread myself on Tommy.
And then the girls; how she would tell me about Louise and Beatrice, and how I would tell her about Tirzah Ann—how we’d praise ’em up and compare notes about ’em.
I presoom her boys and girls didn’t always come up to her idees of what girls and boys should do, and should not do. And if she told me in confidence anything of this sort, I wuz a-layin’ out to confide in her about Tirzah Ann, and how her efforts to be genteel wore on me, and how she would love to flirt if it wuzn’t for religion and a lack of material. And if she made any confidences to me about Bertie—anything relatin’ to the fair sex, and playin’ games, etc., I wuz a-goin’ to tell her, as much as I love Thomas Jefferson, I thought he did play checkers too much; and sence he wuz riz up so as a lawyer, the wimmen jest made fools of themselves and him, too, a-follerin’ him up and a-makin’ of him; but, then, Maggie didn’t care a cent about it, and that he wuz perfectly devoted to his wife and children, jest as her boy wuz.
I wuz a-goin’ to say that I would never mention these things to a single soul but her, anyway, but I knew she would keep it, for she wuz jest like me—if her boy didn’t please her, she went right to him with it, and that ended it. She stood up for him to his back, jest as I stood up for Thomas J.
Yes, I spozed we should take solid comfort a-confidin’ in each other, and mebby a-givin’ each other hints that would be helpful in the futer.
And then we wuz both grandmas. How happy we should be a-talkin’ over the oncommon excellencies of our grandchildren!