living. And yet--and
yet,

Sometimes--sometimes, alack and fie for shame, things come to such a
pass, between husband and wife, that a modus viviendi has to be tacitly
agreed upon. In that case, alas!

Too often, between husband and wife, it depends upon who is the better
actor and liar--to their shame be it said. But before this happens,
much else must have happened. For,

Here and there, ahem! we meet a woman who is like the moon: she circles
sedately round, and dutifully faces, the planet to which she is united;
but that planet does not know that she is irradiated and warmed by a
far-distant sun--a sun which symbolizes, ahem! Duty, or Necessity, or
Affection for her children, or (tell it not in Gath) Affection for
another.

And here and there, ahem! we meet a man who, like the sun, shines
steadfastly enough upon his own earth, but shines also, all unbeknown to
earth, upon other earths--and errant comets--and small aerolites.

* * *

As it is usually physical or sentimental characteristics that bring a man
and a woman into the field of mutual attraction, so it is generally
physical or sentimental characteristics that drag them apart. Thus,

A clever wife will put up with a stupid husband, and an intellectual man
will get on admirably with a dull but domestic woman. But

If either party to the marriage contract disregards or is unable to
appease the demands made upon him or her for sympathy or emotion, there
is likely to be trouble; for

Sentiment, not intellect, is the cementing material in marriage, and

If a man and wife cannot effuse a mutual sentiment, gradually they will
grow apart. Indeed,

The demands of the emotions are at once more imperious and tyrannical,
and more fastidious and critical, than are the demands of the mind. Of
all of which, what is the moral? This:

The married pair who would live in amity, not to say in affection, must
so live as that each shall persuade the other is the sole personage under
the roof of heaven that he or she desires. Alas!

The unwritten motto of many a married couple is: The Heart Knoweth its
own Bitterness.

* * *

Marriage reveals the moods of a man.

What is an ideal marriage? That perhaps in which the man is to the woman
at once friend, husband, and lover. But some people prefer these
functions distinct.

That is a happy marriage in which a woman's husband is also her
confidant. And always,

Husband and wife should move like binary st