ll inform him that she is sure he must be
sitting in a draught, and will order the butler to place a screen behind
him. Having thus called attention to his discomfort, and to the care
with which she watches over him, she will take offence when he
countermands the screen; and, after giving the company in general to
understand that she is not allowed to give orders in her own house, she
will, for the rest of the evening, preserve a death-like calm. This will
be followed, on the departure of her guests, by showers of tears and
reproaches, the inevitable prelude to twenty-four hours of salts and
seclusion in the privacy of her bed-room. It is curious to note that,
although the Martyr, at an early period of her married life, developes a
distaste for going into society, which she attributes to the persecution
of her husband; yet she always contrives to spend as much money as those
who live in a whirl of gaiety. Her bills, therefore, mount up, and, in a
moment of unguarded pecuniary prudence, her husband will remonstrate
mildly with her upon her extravagance. She will, thereupon, accuse him
to her friends of meanness, and avow her determination never again to
ask him for money. For a short time she will pay portions of her own
bills, but, finding her pin-money insufficient for the purpose, she will
sell some jewels, and spend the proceeds on a new tea-gown. Her
increasing liabilities will afford her no anxiety, seeing that her sense
of martyrdom increases in proportion, and that in her heart of hearts
she knows that her husband is prepared to pay everything, and will
eventually have to do so.

After some years of this life her husband will have acquired the
reputation of a domestic ruffian. Friends will shake their heads, and
wonder how long his sweet wife will bear up against his treatment. It
will be reported, on the authority of imaginary eye-witnesses, that he
has thrown a soup-plate at her, and that, on more than one occasion, he
has beaten her. He will find himself shunned, and will be driven for
society and pleasure to his bachelor haunts. His wife will now rage with
jealousy over a defection she has done her best to cause. After a time
she will hire the services of a detective, and will file a petition in
the Divorce Court. The case will probably be undefended, and the Court
having listened to her tale of cruelty, the imaginative boldness of
which will startle even the friend who corroborates it in the
witness-box, wil