ude into that orderly
household.

I recollected then how Hilda Wade had pointed out to me during those six
months at St. Nathaniel's that the women whose husbands assaulted them
were almost always "notable housewives," as they say in America--good
souls who prided themselves not a little on their skill in management.
They were capable, practical mothers of families, with a boundless
belief in themselves, a sincere desire to do their duty, as far as they
understood it, and a habit of impressing their virtues upon others
which was quite beyond all human endurance. Placidity was their note;
provoking placidity. I felt sure it must have been of a woman of this
type that the famous phrase was coined--"Elle a toutes les vertus--et
elle est insupportable."

"Clara, dear," the husband said, "shall we go in to lunch?"

"You dear, stupid boy! Are we not all waiting for YOU to give your arm
to Lady Maitland?"

The lunch was perfect, and it was perfectly served. The silver glowed;
the linen was marked with H. C. Le G. in a most artistic monogram.
I noticed that the table decorations were extremely pretty. Somebody
complimented our hostess upon them. Mrs. Le Geyt nodded and smiled--"_I_
arranged them. Dear Hugo, in his blundering way--the big darling--forgot
to get me the orchids I had ordered. So I had to make shift with what
few things our own wee conservatory afforded. Still, with a little taste
and a little ingenuity--" She surveyed her handiwork with just pride,
and left the rest to our imaginations.

"Only you ought to explain, Clara--" Le Geyt began, in a deprecatory
tone.

"Now, you darling old bear, we won't harp on that twice-told tale
again," Clara interrupted, with a knowing smile. "Point da rechauffes!
Let us leave one another's misdeeds and one another's explanations for
their proper sphere--the family circle. The orchids did NOT turn up,
that is the point; and I managed to make shift with the plumbago and the
geraniums. Maisie, my sweet, NOT that pudding, IF you please; too rich
for you, darling. I know your digestive capacities better than you do.
I have told you fifty times it doesn't agree with you. A small slice of
the other one!"

"Yes, mamma," Maisie answered, with a cowed and cowering air. I felt
sure she would have murmured, "Yes, mamma," in the selfsame tone if the
second Mrs. Le Geyt had ordered her to hang herself.

"I saw you out in the park, yesterday, on your bicycle, Ettie," Le
Geyt's sister,