Perhaps nothing could have hurt Mrs. Bain more than such a cruel reference of her husband to his mother, coupled with so unfeeling a declaration of his will concerning her—­as if she were to be the mere creature of his will.

A sharp reply was on the tongue of Mrs. Bain; but she kept it back.  The pain in her head subsided all at once; but a weight and oppression in her breast followed that was almost suffocating.

Mr. Bain drank his coffee, and eat his steak and toast, with a pretty fair relish; for he had a good appetite and a good digestion—­and was in a state of robust health.  But Mrs. Bain ate nothing.  How could she eat?  And yet, it is but the truth to say, that her husband, who noticed the fact, attributed her abstinence from food more to temper than want of appetite.  He was aware that he had spoken too freely, and attributed the consequent change in his wife’s manner to anger rather than a wounded spirit.

“Do you want any thing?” asked Mr. Bain, on rising from the table and turning to leave the room.  He spoke with more kindness than previously.

“No,” was the wife’s brief answer, made without lifting her eyes to her husband’s face.

“In the sulks!”

Mr. Bain did not say this aloud, but such was his thought, as he turned away and left the house.  He did not feel altogether comfortable, of course.  No man feels comfortable while there is a cloud upon the brow of his wife, whether it be occasioned by peevishness, ill-temper, bodily or mental suffering.  No, Mr. Bain did not feel altogether comfortable, nor satisfied with himself, as he walked along to his store; for there came across his mind a dim recollection of having heard the baby fretting and crying during the night; and also of having seen the form of his wife moving to and fro in the chamber, while he lay snugly reposing in bed.

But these were unpleasant images, and Mr. Bain thrust them from his mind.

While Mr. Bain took his morning walk to his store, his lungs freely and pleasurably expanding in the pure, invigorating air, his wife, to whose throbbing temples the anguish had returned, and whose relaxed muscles had scarcely enough tension to support the weight of her slender frame, slowly and painfully began the work of getting her two oldest children ready for school.  This done, the baby had to be washed and dressed.  It screamed during the whole operation, and when, at last, it fell asleep upon her bosom, she was so completely exhausted, that she had to lie down.  Tears wet her pillow as she lay with her babe upon her arm.  He, to whom alone she had a right to look for sympathy, for support, and for strength in her many trials, did not appear to sympathize with her in the least.  If she looked sober from the pressure of pain, fatigue, or domestic trials, he became impatient, and sometimes said, with cruel thoughtlessness, that he was tired of clouds and rain, and would give the world for a wife who could smile now and then.  If, amid her many household cares and duties, she happened to neglect some little matter that affected his comfort, he failed not to express his annoyance, and not always in carefully chosen words.  No wonder that her woman’s heart melted—­no wonder that hot tears were on her cheeks.