And it
was something connected with this circumstance which takes Hiram out
immediately after dinner.
I think it is in place here to say something of Hiram Meeker's domestic
life.
Taking 'Arabella' for just what the reader knows her to be, it is
probable he has made her a better husband than ninety-nine men of a
hundred would have made. True, he is master, in every respect. But this
is just what Arabella requires. She would have been the death of any
ordinary man in a short time. There is not the slightest danger of her
injuring Hiram's prospects of a long life, or of causing him an hour's
uneasiness. To be sure, he is despotic, but he is neither irritable nor
unamiable. Besides, he has a great desire for social position (it aids
in carrying out his plans), in which his wife is of real service. Hiram,
although close and careful in all matters, is not what would be called
penurious. In other words, he makes liberal provision for his household,
while he rules it with rigor; besides, in petty things he has not proved
a tyrant.
On the whole, we repeat our conviction that Arabella has been fortunate
in her husband. To be sure, she is fretful, discontented, peevish,
irritable, cross; but that is her normal condition. At times Hiram has
treated her with severity, but never cruelty. He has borne quietly and
with patience what would have set most husbands frantic; and has
contented himself with remaining silent, when many would have been
tempted to positive acts of violence.
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