Page:The Confessions of a Well-Meaning Woman.djvu/208

 sake as well as his that you will learn habits of tidiness.”

“Is Old Boy a fusser?,” she asked. I wish to be judged by results. If you tell me that the end has justified the means, I give you complete freedom to say that I spoke of Arthur as one might speak of a cook when one’s name had been furnished as a reference. I gave him a character—for his next employer. No, indeed, he was not what the young woman could fairly call a “fusser”, but all men of his age had contracted certain habits. He abominated untidiness and unpunctuality—the necessary fruit of his business-training; though generous, he had long been compelled to be careful about money. I offered to shew her my books, but she said she didn’t think she could understand them. And so on and so forth. He was very particular about his food, and in this respect Mrs. Templedown .would have to be a veritable martinet—not only to the servants but to him.

“My dear young lady,” I said, “you know what men of that age are like—or perhaps you still don’t. My husband is essentially temperate, but he is also criminally injudicious. He thinks that an occasional glass of champagne—he cannot afford to drink it regularly—is good for him; I know better. Acidity. . . Whisky