The Observations of Henry: IllustratedJerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka)
General
The Observations of Henry: Illustrated
Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka)
England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, English; Waiters -- Fiction
“'No, and that's why I feel hard toward him,' answers she.
“'Now you listen to me,' says I. 'This is a very pretty comedy,
and the way you've played it does you credit up till now. Don't
you run it on too long, and turn it into a problem play.'
“'How d'ye mean?' says she.
“'A man's a man,' says I; 'anyhow he's one. He fell in love with
you six years ago when you were only a child, and now you're a
woman he's fallen in love with you again. If that don't convince
you of his constancy, nothing will. You stop there. Don't you try
to find out any more.'
“'I mean to find out one thing, answers she: 'whether he's a
man--or a cad.'
“'That's a severe remark,' says I, 'to make about your own
husband.'
“'What am I to think?' says she. 'He fooled me into loving him
when, as you say, I was only a child. Do you think I haven't
suffered all these years? It's the girl that cries her eyes out
for her lover; we learn to take 'em for what they're worth later
on.'
“'But he's in love with you still,' I says. I knew what was in her
mind, but I wanted to lead her away from it if I could.
“'That's a lie,' says she, 'and you know it.' She wasn't choosing
her words; she was feeling, if you understand. 'He's in love with
a pretty waitress that he met for the first time a fortnight ago.'
“'That's because she reminds him of you,' I replied, 'or because
you remind him of her, whichever you prefer. It shows you're the
sort of woman he'll always be falling in love with.'
“She laughed at that, but the next moment she was serious again.
'A man's got to fall out of love before he falls into it again,'
she replied. 'I want a man that'll stop there. Besides,' she goes
on, 'a woman isn't always young and pretty: we've got to remember
that. We want something else in a husband besides eyes.'
“'You seem to know a lot about it,' says I.
“'I've thought a lot about it,' says she.
“'What sort of husband do you want?' says I.
“'I want a man of honour,' says she.
“That was sense. One don't often find a girl her age talking it,
but her life had made her older than she looked. All I could find
to say was that he appeared to be an honest chap, and maybe was
one.
“'Maybe,' says she; 'that's what I mean to find out. And if you'll
do me a kindness,' she adds, 'you won't mind calling me Marie
Luthier for the future, instead of Godselle. It was my mother's
name, and I've a fancy for it.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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