Page:The Clergyman's Wife.djvu/356

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
354
Long Engagements.

wife-elect that she will need Martha's executive hands, and Mary's appreciating soul, to keep those altars swept and garnished, and have murmured in her partner's ear that he must reign within those walls with Solomon's wisdom and Jacob's patience. Thus the prolonged betrothal is often the tuneful prelude to a harmonious union, with no harsh discords to disturb its life-long melody.