entertained with a description of "our folks'"
favorite dishes, together with Aunt Betsy's receipts. This was the straw
too many, and since his marriage Wilford had not been as angry as he was
while listening to Juno, who reported Sybil's verdict on his wife, "A
domestic little body and very pretty."

Wilford did not care to have his wife domestic; he did not marry her
for that, and in a mood anything but favorable to the light, delicate
dessert Katy had prepared with so much care, he went to his luxurious
home, where Katy ran as usual to meet him, her face brimming with the
surprise she had in store for him, and herself so much excited that she
did not at first observe the cloud upon his brow, as he moodily answered
her rapid questions. But when the important moment arrived, and the
dessert was brought on, he promptly declined it, even after her
explanation that she made it herself, just to gratify and astonish him,
urging him to try it for the sake of pleasing her, if nothing more. But
Wilford was not hungry then, and even had he been, he would have chosen
anything before a pudding formed from a receipt of Betsy Barlow, so the
dessert was untasted even by Katy herself, who, knowing now that
something had gone wrong, sat fighting back her tears until the servant
left the room, when she timidly asked: "What is it, Wilford? What makes
you seem so--". She would not say cross, and substituted "queer,"
while Wilford plunged at once into the matter by saying, "Juno tells me
she called here this afternoon with Mrs. Grandon."

"Yes, I forgot to mention it," Katy answered, feeling puzzled to know
why that should annoy her husband; but his next remarks disclosed the
whole, and Katy's tears flowed fast as Wilford asked what he supposed
Mrs. Grandon thought, to see his wife looking as if fresh from the flour
barrel, and to hear her talk about Aunt Betsy's receipts and our folks.
"That is a bad habit of yours, Katy," he continued, "one of which I wish
you to break yourself, if possible. I have never spoken to you directly
on the subject before, but it annoys me exceedingly, inasmuch as it is
an indication of low breeding."

There was no answer from Katy, whose heart was too full to speak, and
so Wilford went on: "Our servants were selected by mother with a direct
reference to your youth and inexperience, and it is not necessary for
you to frequent the kitchen, or, indeed, to go there oftener than once a
week. Let them come to yo