No man is so wise as his wife and children combined, but
it takes him a little while to find it out; and I have discovered that
to chew a matter over and over is the surest way to avoid promulgating
a stern refusal.
So it was in this instance. Had I uttered the words which rose to my
lips, I should have felt obliged to inform Josephine that, her
premature taking off to the contrary notwithstanding, to move into
another house was out of the question and totally unnecessary. How
could I afford to move? Why should we move? The dear old house where
we had passed so many joyous years and which Josephine used to say was
extraordinarily convenient! I remember that I became successively
irate, pathetic, and bumptious in my secret soul. I said to myself
stoutly that it was all nonsense, and that by means of a little fresh
paint and new coverings for the dining-room chairs, we should be happy
where we were for another five years.
Cockroaches? Bah! Was there not insect powder?
The married man who knows in his secret soul that he cannot afford to
move and who has made up his mind that nothing on earth shall induce
him to, is terribly morose for the first few weeks after his wife has
unbosomed herself upon the subject. He peruses with a savage frown the
real estate columns of the daily newspapers, while he mutters vicious
sentences such as, "I'll be blessed if I will!" or, "Not if I know
myself, and I think I do!" He observes moodily every house in process
of erection, and scrutinizes those "To Let" with an animosity not quite
consistent with his determination to put his foot down for once and
crush the whole project in the bud.
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