CHAPTER IX. HARRIET AND LOVAT AT SEA IN MARRIAGE
When a sincere man marries a wife, he has one or two courses open to him, which he can pursue with that wife. He can propose to himself to be ( a ) the lord and master who is honoured and obeyed, ( b ) the perfect lover, ( c ) the true friend and companion. Of these ( a ) is now rather out of date. The lord and master has been proved, by most women quite satisfactorily, to be no more than a grown-up child, and his arrogance is to be tolerated just as a little boy’s arrogance is tolerated, because it is rather amusing, and up to a certain point becoming. The case of ( b ), the perfect lover, is the crux of all ideal marriage to-day. But alas, not even the lord and master turns out
