Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/263

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The Young Husband's First Year
251

will find a joy and satisfaction in them that nothing else can give.

HIS FIRST YEAR

It is the most important of all. You are two people who are getting acquainted with each other, and this acquaintance means a friendship for life. You must have, first of all, a good stock of patience. You know little about the ways and weaknesses of women, and you must learn to bear with them. You have promised to love and protect this woman, and you must show that you are a man of your word. You must protect her from your own follies, and you must be man enough not to be afraid to tell her of your love. The spoken word of love means very much to the wife. The kiss of greeting or farewell tells a more loving tale to the wife than it ever did to the sweetheart. You must cultivate, if you wish to make your wife happy, the expression of love. Many a woman has died believing that her husband did not love her, because he thought it unmanly to tell in words or deeds of all the love in his heart. Unmanly? It is manly. It is great and strong to take the woman you love close to you, close to your heart, to make your wife understand that every day brings her nearer to you, every hour makes you love her more, and that you are ten times happier when you think of her as your wife