“How often Winny,” said her fretted husband, “have I told you that the
flower is called Dahlia;” suspending for a moment his right to feel
indignant and irritable, to do justice to the pronunciation of the name
of a flower.
“Dahlia is it? well, that is the way an Irishman would call Delia. Let
us call her Delia then, it is a pretty pastoral name;” and as she said
this, she cast a side glance at her husband.
After this, and other conversations of the kind, they agreed to give the
child this uncouth name, for the charm of living in the country was
hourly growing more captivating to Mr. Webb, and Mrs. Webb had a great
reverence for a thousand dollars a year. Besides, the misery of living
where they would daily be subject to the coarse mirth of her uncle, when
he made his regular visits to the city, which he had until of late
years, been always in the habit of doing, was becoming more and more
apparent. She even with more alacrity than one could expect, set about
making preparations for her departure to Oak Valley.
“This is all very hard upon you, my dear wife,” said Mr. Webb to her one
day when he saw how cheerfully she was preparing for their removal;
“this is worse for you than for me. With the _one_ part, at least, I am
more than gratified, whereas your feelings and taste have not been
consulted at all. You have neither the satisfaction of living where you
like best, nor the pleasure of having a decent name for your child.”
“But I have the pleasure of knowing that my little girl will have a
handsome independence—and do you think, my dear Hassy, that it is no
gratification to me to see that our going to the country is an event of
great importance to your health and happiness?”
“My dearest Winny,” said her tender-hearted, conscience-stricken
husband, “I do not deserve this goodness. I cannot enjoy the thought of
going into the country, unless I tell you how it has been brought about.
You were manœuvred into this scheme, my dear wife; and I here declare,
that much as I wish to leave the city, you shall yet remain if you wish
it. Your uncle had no intention of living near us, if we remained here;
he was eager to get us all into the country, on the score of our health,
and he made use of this stratagem to induce you to consent to it. Now
that I have told you the truth, pray do as you like best; but with
respect to the settlement on our child, much as I dislike the name, I
fear she would not thank us if we gave that up for a thing of such
little consequence. Giving up the farm,” continued he, sighing deeply,
“is another affair.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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