her as something little short of divinity.

He was a healthy, human man, and fond of all the comforts of home. When he saw what a perfect housekeeper she was, his heart welled full of gratitude to heaven for his good fortune.

Early orphaned, he had boarded from early boyhood. Perhaps, because he had never known a home, he had fallen into some careless ways. He excused himself in this manner when his wife first took him to task for leaving his hat on the centre table. He tried to remember that he must always hang his hat in the closet, where it had a peg of its own, but when he came in hurried with some special idea in mind, he found himself forgetting.

And again the quiet, but decisive voice of his wife reminded him. Then he sometimes forgot to wipe his feet on the doormat. When he did this, if the day was damp or dusty, he was made to repent it by seeing his wife follow him with a floor-cloth or duster, wiping where his feet had trod. When he rose from a chair and forgot to place it where it had been, against the wall, she set it back herself with a quick, prompt gesture, which made him realise his delinquency.

She often mentioned being very tired at night, too tired to go out with him because of the unnecessary work she had been obliged to do through the 'thoughtlessness of others.' He knew that 'others' meant himself.

His cigar ashes were a constant source of annoyance to her. He tried to put them in an ash-tray always; but sometimes they would fall or scatter. She brushed them up immediately. So he fell into the habit of going to the club to smoke. She was a most undemonstrative girl; and what he had taken for maidenly reserve, when he wooed her, proved to be an utter absence of affection in her nature.

She believed in duty; that was her great word.

One day when he accused her of not really loving him, she asked him to point to one thing where she had failed in her 'duty.'

Had she not kept his home in perfect order?

Had she not been economical in expenditures?

Had she not kept his name free from blemish?

Had she not—but at this juncture he went out and slammed the door.

And as he went he quoted from Kipling, saying: 'And now I know that she never will know, and never will understand.'

One day he fell ill with a hard cold; and then indeed she became the devoted wife. A better nurse never lived. She was simply delightful, while he was confined to the house as her patient.

But the moment he was up and out she became the nagging woman, with a mania for order, economy, and neatness; and all her tenderness and sweetness vanished into the acrid and severe manner of the thrifty housewife. She was a nurse and missionary and housekeeper—not a wife. And he was simply starving for love, for companionship, for good fellowship, for freedom, for happiness.

She was unable to see or understand his needs, beyond those of an orderly house, and a bank account which was not overdrawn. She was utterly devoid of the least touch of coquetry. Her severe, neat manner of dress indicated her temperament.

One day he complimented the appearance of a young woman who was given to plumes and ribbons, and who wore her hat with an air of one who knew she would be looked at by men.

'I think her type very loud and tasteless,' his wife said coldly. 'She is the kind of girl who would run her husband into debt without a qualm of conscience, in order to gratify her whims. But I begin to think that is the type of woman a man admires.'

All her judgments were severe. She had no mercy for any human frailty. A woman of that nature, who is perpetually nagging a man for leaving a book in the hammock, a hat on a table, cigar ashes on the floor, or a chair out of place, and who is cold and undemonstrative in her disposition, drives Cupid from the window, or else flings wide the door for his departure.

When Cupid went forth from this home the man went also.

And the world said:

'What a brute to desert that model woman! Such a housekeeper! Such a manager! And to think how she nursed him whenever he was sick!'

Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

PROSE VOLUMES

NEW THOUGHT COMMON SENSE

Crown 8vo, pp. 276.  Portrait.  Cloth gilt, gilt top,
4s. 6d. net.

'Ella Wheeler Wilcox has published a book which
ought to be in every home. It has sunlight and humour,
and some sound advice on matters of daily life in the
home.'—Birmingham Daily Post.

ARE YOU ALIVE?

Crown 8vo.  Cloth gilt, 4s. 6d. net.

A Companion Volume to 'New Thought Common Sense,'
and just as stirring.

Methodist Times, January 4, says:—'This is essentially
a book for women, and she has some very straight
and striking things to say to them.... Mrs. Wilcox
is old-fashioned enough to believe that there is
nothing in all the world so wonderful or so beautiful
as love. The series of sketches entitled "Six Bad
Husbands and Six Unhappy Wives," ought to be
circulated widely in tract form. The book as a whole
is an excellent tonic.... She strikes the optimistic
note throughout, and her book ought to do all sorts
of people a lot of good.'

THE DIARY OF A FAITHLESS HUSBAND

F'cap. 8vo.  Illustrated.  Cloth gilt, gilt top, 1s. net.

'I should like to present every woman with "The
Diary of a Faithless Husband."'—Tatler.

AN AMBITIOUS MAN. A Romance

Crown 8vo, pp. 212.  Cloth, with Illustrated Side Design,
3s. 6d.

A WOMAN'S LETTERS

Crown 8vo, pp. 300.  Cloth gilt, 4s. 6d. net.

The following Selections are issued in Dainty Booklets,
bound in fancy Wrapper, with Silk Ties and Greeting Slip,
6d. net each.

POEMS OF PEACE

POEMS OF LOVE

POEMS OF INSPIRATION

GEMS FROM WILCOX

No. 1—Faith.
No. 2—Hope.
No. 3—Love.
No. 4—Cheer.

Daintily Produced.  Size 4 in. by 2½ in.  New Portrait,
Head and Tail Pieces, about 100 pp.

Beautifully Embossed Cameo Design on Japanese Vellum
Cover, 6d. net each.

Velvet Calf, Artistic Side Design, 1s. net each.  Padded
Levant, 2s. 6d. net each.

ONE HUNDRED POEMS

Size 6 in. by 4 in., pp. 128.  Portrait.

Cloth, gilt top, coloured endpaper, 1s. net.

Velvet Calf, Artistic Side Design, gilt top, with coloured
endpaper, 1s. 6d. net.

CHOICE SELECTIONS FOR SCHOOLS

Edited by Rev. A. A. C. N. Vawdrey.

F'cap. 8vo.  Cloth, 1s. net.

GREAT THOUGHTS FOR EACH
DAY'S LIFE

A New Wilcox Birthday Book

Compiled and Edited at the Author's request by
Frank Holme-Sumner.

Size 7½ in. by 3¾ in.  A page for each day with an
  encouraging verse.  Printed on good writing paper
  and artistically bound.

Cloth, gilt edges, 2s. 6d. net.  Velvet Persian,
gilt edges, 5s. net.

The Fashionable Autograph Book

THE 'ELLA WHEELER WILCOX' BIRTHDAY