s always the very best of ways, John was
not so sure but that she might prove a little too masterful for him.

But this lovely bit of pink and white; this downy, gauzy, airy little
elf; this creature, so slim and slender and unsubstantial,--surely he
need have no fear that he could not mould and control and manage her?
Oh, no! He imagined her melting, like a moon-beam, into all manner of
sweet compliances, becoming an image and reflection of his own better
self; and repeated to himself the lines of Wordsworth,--

"I saw her, on a nearer view,
A spirit, yet a woman too,--
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty.
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food,
For transient pleasures, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles."

John fancied he saw his little Lillie subdued into a pattern wife,
weaned from fashionable follies, eagerly seeking mental improvement
under his guidance, and joining him and Grace in all sorts of edifying
works and ways.

The reader may see, from the conversations we have detailed, that
nothing was farther from Lillie's intentions than any such conformity.

The intentions of the married pair, in fact, ran exactly contrary to
one another. John meant to bring Lillie to a sober, rational, useful
family life; and Lillie meant to run a career of fashionable display,
and make John pay for it.

Neither, at present, stated their purposes precisely to the other,
because they were "honey-mooning." John, as yet, was the enraptured
lover; and Lillie was his pink and white sultana,--his absolute
mistress, her word was law, and his will was hers. How the case was
ever to be reversed, so as to suit the terms of the marriage service,
John did not precisely inquire.

But, when husband and wife start in life with exactly opposing
intentions, which, think you, is likely to conquer,--the man, or
the woman? That is a very nice question, and deserves further
consideration.

CHAPTER VI.

_HONEY-MOON, AND AFTER_.

We left Mr. and Mrs. John Seymour honey-mooning. The honey-moon, dear
ladies, is supposed to be the period of male subjection. The young
queen is enthroned; and the first of her slaves walks obediently in
her train, carries her fan, her parasol, runs of her errands, packs
her trunk, writes her letters, buys her any thing she cries for, and
is ready to do the impossible for her, on every suitable occasion.

A