Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/90



Her letters are strongly characterized by the conventional language of piety, but when she referred to worldly matters she did so with freshness and sometimes with shy humor. As her romance progressed and ended in marriage there is noticeable a tendency, restrained but perceptibly urgent, to break through the chrysalis of virginal reserve. Custom has always allowed maidenly embargoes to be lifted a little in discussions among wives, and as Mrs. Lee she could write to her mother the following little joke with its piquant innuendoes, underscoring the words in italics:

"I have a good feather bed made of two single beds an old bachelors and an old maids."