"

Alice read this last sentence aloud to me several times, for it
expressed exactly her opinion of my fondness for mediaeval armor. I am
making no complaint of the sly satisfaction which Alice seemingly takes
in twitting me with my weakness. I expect to have a glorious revenge
by and by when we move into our new house, and when Alice discovers how
very appropriate and ornamental my mediaeval armor will be, set up
against the walls and in the corners of the front hall.

Fortified by the letter from Mr. Black, we had little difficulty in
planning the most charming improvements. I make use of the plural
personal pronoun, although if I were testifying upon oath I should feel
compelled to admit that I myself had precious little to do with the
planning. It grieved me considerably to observe that while the
neighbors generally, and Mrs. Denslow particularly, were diligently
consulted as to every detail of the new house, an expression of my
wishes, views, and advice was not only not solicited, but, when
volunteered, seemed to be regarded as an impertinence. It occurred to
me at such times that prosperity by no means improved Alice's temper,
but I should perhaps have taken into consideration the circumstance
that this particular period was one of exceptional excitement, and that
had the same sense of responsibility which burdened Alice been put upon
me, I, too, should have exhibited an irritability wholly foreign to my
nature under normal conditions and environments.

It was determined to reconstruct certain parts of the old Schmittheimer
residence and to build an addition of two stories, the first-floor room
to be devoted to the purposes of a library or living room, and the room
in the second story to be Alice's bed-chamber. A vast number of
closets were contemplated, for, as you are presumably aware, woman-kind
are passionately fond of closets, and happy, thrice happy, is the
husband who is accorded the inestimable boon of suspending his Sunday
suit from a nail therein. As for myself, I have always regarded the
average closet as an ingenious device of the evil one for the
propagation and encouragement of moths.

Among other contemplated innovations were a butler's pantry and a
conservatory. I approved of the latter, but not of the former. I
foresaw in that butler's pantry a pretext, if not a reason, for the
purchase of china, crockery, and glassware, to be used only when we had
company and to be hidden away at oth