And James Cheshire prospered. But, spite of this, he did not escape the persecution from his relations that Nancy had foreseen. On all hands he found coldness. None of them called on him. They felt scandalised at his _evening_ himself, as they called it, to a mill-girl. He was taunted when they met at market, with having been caught with a pretty face; and told that they thought he had had more sense than to marry a dressed doll with a witch by her side. At first James Cheshire replied with a careless waggery, ‘The pretty face makes capital butter, though, eh? The dressed doll turns out a tolerable dairy, eh? Better,’ added James, ‘than a good many can, that I know, who have neither pretty faces, nor have much taste in dressing to crack of.’ The allusion to Nancy’s dwarfish plainness was what peculiarly provoked James Cheshire. He might have laughed at the criticisms on his wife, though the envious neighbours’ wives did say that it was the old servant and not Mrs. Cheshire who produced such fine butter and cheese; for wherever she appeared, spite of envy and detraction, her lovely person and quiet good sense, and the growing rumour of her good management, did not fail to produce a due impression. And James had prepared to laugh it off: but it would not do. He found himself getting every now and then angry and unsettled by it. A coarse jest on Nancy at any time threw him into a desperate fit of indignation. The more the superior merit of his wife was known, the more seemed to increase the envy and venom of some of his relatives. He saw, too, that it had an effect on his wife. She was often sad, and sometimes in tears. One day when this occurred, James Cheshire said, as they sat at tea, ‘I’ve made up my mind. Peace in this life is a jewel. Better is a dinner of herbs with peace, than a stalled ox with strife. Well now, I’m determined to have peace. Peace and luv,’ said he, looking affectionately at his wife and Nancy, ‘peace and luv, by God’s blessing, have settled down on this house; but there are stings here and stings there, when we go out of doors. We must not only have peace and luv in the house, but peace all round it. So I’ve made up my mind. I’m for America!’ ‘For America!’ exclaimed Jane. ‘Surely you cannot be in earnest.’