She made him feel how inferior he was to her in all respects; how
tremendously she had condescended, when she agreed to become his wife;
and he quietly accepted her estimation of him, and said with a humility
which was touching from its simplicity:
"I know I am not worthy of you, Kathleen, but I do my best to make
you happy."
For her sake, not being a liberal man, he spent money freely; for her
sake he endured Miss Blake; for her sake he bought the place which
afterwards caused us so much trouble; for her sake, he, who had always
scoffed at the folly of people turning their houses into stores for
"useless timber," as he styled the upholsterer's greatest triumphs,
furnished his rooms with a lavish disregard of cost; for her sake, he,
who hated society, smiled on visitors, and entertained the guests she
invited, with no grudging hospitality. For her sake he dressed well,
and did many other things which were equally antagonistic to his
original nature; and he might just as well have gone his own way, and
pleased himself only, for all the pleasure he gave her, or all the
thanks she gave him.
If Mr. Elmsdale had come home drunk five evenings a week, and beaten his
wife, and denied her the necessaries of life, and kept her purse in a
chronic state of emptiness, she might very possibly have been extremely
grateful for an occasional kind word or smile; but, as matters stood,
Mrs.
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