Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/102

"Ah! Ruth, dear, you are so energetic, that's the word! you always were. But do you know I have heard Mr. Willington say that nothing fatigued and tormented him so much as energetic women; women who were always on the go, always striving to achieve some great end."

"Test his words! Prove whether they are correct, just for variety's sake. Try the experiment of rousing yourself up to some energetic employment, and see whether he will not naturally make more of a companion of the wife whose energies are all alive, than of the pretty doll of whom he must weary, and to whom he thinks he has done his duty by surrounding her with luxuries, and cheating himself into the belief that she is an invalid."

"Oh! he's the best husband in the world! I've nothing to complain of; he allows me to do just what I please. To be sure, we don't see much of each other; but I like him to amuse himself. Heigho! do you ever have the 'blues?' I have them every day."

"No, indeed. If I had, I should sentence myself to 'hard labor,' as the punishment, and certain cure of an attack. But, Angelica, I suppose you sometimes walk with Mr. Willington, and read with him, and form plans for the education of the children, or the entertainment of your guests, or"—

"No, I do not think I do. I can't read much; it gives me the headache. And when I walk, it is