THE MERCHANT'S WIFE
The large woman now sat down upon the grass and said:—'Well, I suppose I had better do so. Give me a cup of tea, and I'll let you know all there is to know.'
A cup of tea was accordingly handed to her, from which she took a sip, and then proceeded thus:—
'About fifteen years ago I was so unfortunate as to wed this poor specimen of a man you see before you, and we had not set up house together very long before I could see that he wanted thoroughly looking after, and, indeed, that he could hardly be allowed out by himself. Now this was very awkward, as his business required that he should be out all day, so I proposed to accompany him on his rounds. Holding him securely fastened to the end of a long cord, I never let him out of my sight for more than a minute at a time, and so kept him from mischief After a year or so, however, this grew rather tiresome for me, as I had to neglect my household duties in attending upon my husband, and, in the end, was compelled to let him out again alone.
'But you may be sure I did not do this until I had laid down certain fixed rules for his behaviour, which I made him promise to obey. Amongst these, one was that he should start from home not a minute earlier and not a minute later than eight o'clock in the morning; another was, that if he returned either a minute earlier or a minute later than eight o'clock in the evening, he should go supperless to bed. And, would 216
