Page:The Happy Hypocrite - Beerbohm - 1897.pdf/51

 moonlit lawn, or tell her of the great daisy-chain he was going to make for her on the morrow, or sit silently by her side, listening to the nightingale, till bedtime. So admirably simple were their days.

One morning, as he was helping Jenny to water the flowers, he said to her suddenly, “Sweetheart, we had forgotten!”

“What was there we should forget?” asked Jenny, looking up from her task.

“’Tis the mensiversary of our wedding,” her husband answered gravely. “We must not let it pass without some celebration.”

“No indeed,” she said, “we must not. What shall we do?”

Between them they decided upon an unusual feast. They would go into the village and buy a bag of beautiful buns and eat them in the afternoon, So soon, then, as all the flowers were watered, they set forth to Herbert’s shop, bought the buns and returned home in very high spirits, George bearing a paper bag that held no less than twelve of the wholesome delicacies. Under the plane tree on the lawn Jenny sat her down, and George