"Yes, I am proud to say that my children are very much like me in that respect. When they play, they play; when they work, they work; when they idle they idle; and I am sure if ever they were naughty, that they would be naughty with all their might." Poor Regina! Well, to make the story somewhat shorter, I must tell you that when Regina Whittaker went into public life, she did so in no half-hearted manner. "I am convinced," she remarked to the lord of her bosom, "I am convinced that I am taking a step in the right direction. What do you think, Alfie?" "My dear," said Alfred Whittaker, somewhat sleepily, for he had had a hard day in the city and had eaten an extremely good dinner, "if it pleases you, it pleases me. You have such a clear, sensible head," he went on, feeling that perhaps he had been a little too unsympathetic, "you have such a clear, sensible head, that I am sure you will take up no question that is not a good one--an advantageous one." "I thought you would see it in that light, dear Alfie," said Mrs. Whittaker in tones which betokened much pleasure. "You are so generous and so just. Some men would hate to feel that their wives had any interest outside their own homes." "Oh, my dear heart and soul!" exclaimed Alfred Whittaker, looking up in a very wide-awake sort of way, "surely this is a land of liberty. I don't want to tie you down to being no better than my slave. God knows you fag enough and slave enough for all of us. It would be hard if you couldn't have a few opinions and a few interests of your own." "Yes, dear; but it isn't quite that. It is not only of opinions that I am speaking, it is the encouraging way in which you consent to my entering on this somewhat pronounced question." "I have absolute faith in your judgment," said Alfred Whittaker; and again he composed himself for his after-dinner nap. Regina sat looking at him as he slumbered. Her heart was very full, for she was an affectionate woman, and, in spite of her little airs and pretensions, she was really a good woman at bottom. Her heart swelled with pride to think that this was her husband, this handsome, portly, dignified man with a presence, an air of being somebody, this man who was so good, so easy to live with, such a good husband and such an affectionate father. And to think that he was hers! As I have said already, her heart thrilled within her. It was true that others might not have agreed with Regina in her estimate of her husband. The outer world might have thought him anything but handsome, might have thought that he had anything rather than a presence. What Regina called portly, a less tender critic might have described in an extremely unpleasant manner; but, you see, Regina looked at him with eyes of possession, and the eyes of possession are ever somewhat biassed.