All I can say is that the exceptions may be a little more frequent than I thought, although I doubt it; and whichever way the case may stand, I know personally a great number of Englishmen very well off, rich even, who have led their daughters to the altar, dowered them with a few chemises and handkerchiefs, and ... wished them good luck. The young couple manage as best they may. V. After the Ball--My Wife makes me a little Confidence (from the Diary of a Frenchman married to an Englishwoman). I am not jealous; yet, every time I reach home after a ball, I experience a certain feeling of relief and satisfaction: I cannot help it. When you have seen your wife whirled round a room, in the arms of a score of men, who have plunged their eyes in her _corsage_, inhaled the perfume of her hair, held her waist and hand, felt her near them at the distance of a hair's breadth, you are happy to find yourself once more alone with her, and to feel that, after all, she is your very own. Besides, there is another sentiment that animates you. The dance has made your little wife radiant; it has brought a new glow to her cheeks; her eyes are brighter; her whole being seems to exhale I know not what intoxicating perfume; she is lovelier than ever in your eyes; and those thousand little jealous ideas that have been passing through your head have added fuel to the flame of your love ... in short, I know nothing more pleasant, more delightful, than to return from a ball with one's wife, to a cosy fire-side, to thrust her little feet into her satin slippers, to pull off her gloves, and ask her for a cup of tea. We had had a little room arranged quite expressly for these _tête-à-tête_. We called it the _reposoir_. We only used it on returning from the play or a ball. What long confabulations we have had in it! What delicious little chats its walls have heard! And, thank Heaven, they often hear them still: I do not see why I should not put all my verbs in the present tense. This sanctum is about the size of a nutshell: there is just room for two. The furniture consists of a table, a sofa, two inviting-looking arm-chairs, and a Pleyel piano of the sweetest tone. A Turkey carpet covers the floor, and two lamps with blue tulip-shaped globes throw a soft, most exquisite light over the room. When the curtains are drawn, we can imagine ourselves alone in the world. My wife has more than once confessed to me that, to her, the greatest pleasure about going to a ball or a theatre, was the thought of the little _reposoir_ all ready to receive us on our return, and she never forgot to give strict orders with regard to it before setting out. I have more than once, at a party, caught her throwing me little glances that seemed to say: "Have patience, darling; Parker is just lighting us a lovely little fire; in a few moments we shall be all alone, and I will soon drive that frown from your brow." * * * * *