[Illustration] THE BOOK OF MARTHA BY THE HON. MRS. DOWDALL WITH A FRONTISPIECE BY AUGUSTUS JOHN [Illustration] LONDON DUCKWORTH & CO. HENRIETTA ST. COVENT GARDEN 1913 _All rights reserved_ _CONTENTS_ _Page_ _CHAPTER I._ MARTHA 1 _II._ THE COOK 13 _III._ THE HOUSEMAID 25 _IV._ TRADESMEN 36 _V._ THE DINNER PARTY 43 _VI._ THE JOB GARDENER 52 _VII._ THE DOCTOR 61 _VIII._ CHILDREN 74 _IX._ THE SCHOOLROOM 92 _X._ THE CHARWOMAN 102 _XI._ HUSBANDS 111 _XII._ CHRISTMAS 127 _XIII._ THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR 140 _XIV._ HOUSE-MOVING 150 _XV._ SHOPPING IN LONDON 164 _XVI._ THE COUNTRY HOUSE 174 _XVII._ THE BUTLER 183 _XVIII._ THE DRESSMAKER 193 _XIX._ THE LADY’S MAID 205 _XX._ RELATIONS-IN-LAW 214 _XXI._ GENIUS 225 _XXII._ CHARITY 235 _XXIII._ FOREIGN TRAVEL 248 _CHAPTER I_: MARTHA This book ought by rights to have borne Ruth’s name on the cover instead of mine. Of the fifty years I have lived the first twenty were scattered and lost. The remaining thirty were gathered as they came, and threaded on a wire which formed them into a serviceable chain; that wire was Ruth. She has now broken off and formed other ties, therefore the years that remain will probably be scattered like the first, for there can be no second Ruth. It may be, even, that I shall be driven to spend my declining days in an hotel. Meantime I have a record of experiences common to many Marthas. When I decided on the title it happened to be Ruth’s day out. I had intended, as a matter of course, to submit the name to her, and then, suddenly, a wave of mutiny swept over me. “The book at least shall be mine,” I said to myself. “Ruth has taken possession of my house, my tradespeople, my children, and, what was dearer still, my leisure. What little freedom I have enjoyed has been procured by a wearisome amount of guile, but my pen is still my own and shall remain in my possession.” It is true that David would never have burst into immortal song had it not been for his persecutors who goaded him to lament yet his works are published under his name and not under that of the Bulls of Bashan. Therefore I call this the Book of Martha and not of Ruth.