“Perfectly sure. Then they married.”
“And lived happily ever after? I bet they didn’t!”
“No, not quite happily, because this is different from the fairy tales. ... After a time the husband began to think too much about his work, while the wife stayed at home and thought too much about herself.”
“It’s a stale old yarn,” said Herbert. “What happened then?”
“By degrees the wife began to think she hated her husband, because although he gave her little luxuries and pretty clothes, and all the things that pleased him, he never gave her the thing she wanted.”
“What was that?” asked Herbert.
“It was a magic charm to make her forget herself.”
“Well, magic charms aren’t easy to find,” said Herbert.
“No.... But at last she went out to find it herself. And while she was away the husband came home and missed her.”
“Poor devil!” said Herbert. “Of course he did.”