“I did not suppose it was possible for any one, even with your refined taste, Lilian, to object to such a beautiful little house. But I was obliged to hire it on the instant, or lose it. Another man would have taken it in less than half an hour. It is so near your mother’s that you can come to see her half-a-dozen times a day, if you please.”
“But I will never live in that house,” protested Lilian, with more energy than I thought the occasion required, though I could not help adoring her while her cheeks glowed and her eyes snapped.
“Don’t say that, dear Lilian. You should endeavor to conform to the wishes of your husband,” mildly interposed the suffering parent. “Doubtless he has done all for the best, and perhaps you will like the house, after all.”
“I know I never shall like it,” snapped the divine Lilian; which was as much as to say that she was fully determined not to like it.
“Mrs. Oliphant, would you do me the favor to walk over to the house with me?” I suggested to the affectionate mother.
“No; I would rather not. I never step between man and wife,” replied she, with praiseworthy resolution. “I do not wish to see the house. This is an affair between you and Lilian, and it is my duty to be strictly neutral.”
“But I hope you appreciate my motives?”
“I can not say that I do,” she answered. “I think a man should consult his wife before he hires and furnishes the house in which she is to spend a great deal more time than her husband.”
I wish to say to my readers that I heartily endorse Mrs. Oliphant’s position. A man ought to consult his wife about the house in which she is to spend more of her time than he. It is eminently proper, right and just that he should do so; but I beg to call the attention of the critic to my unfortunate position. Lilian was an angel (in my estimation); her mother was not an angel. The daughter was a mere doll—I am writing after the lapse of years. She was completely under the control of her mother. What I suspected then, I knew afterwards—that Mrs. Oliphant intended to have us as permanent boarders.