I did n't mean it ! It was so wicked , so untrue and ungrateful , how could I say it ! Oh , how could I say it ! '' He was very kind , forgave her readily , and did not utter one reproach , but Meg knew that she had done and said a thing which would not be forgotten soon , although he might never allude to it again . She had promised to love him for better or worse , and then she , his wife , had reproached him with his poverty , after spending his earnings recklessly . It was dreadful , and the worst of it was John went on so quietly afterward , just as if nothing had happened , except that he stayed in town later , and worked at night when she had gone to cry herself to sleep . A week of remorse nearly made Meg sick , and the discovery that John had countermanded the order for his new greatcoat reduced her to a state of despair which was pathetic to behold . He had simply said , in answer to her surprised inquiries as to the change , `` I ca n't afford it , my dear . '' Meg said no more , but a few minutes after he found her in the hall with her face buried in the old greatcoat , crying as if her heart would break . They had a long talk that night , and Meg learned to love her husband better for his poverty , because it seemed to have made a man of him , given him the strength and courage to fight his own way , and taught him a tender patience with which to bear and comfort the natural longings and failures of those he loved . Next day she put her pride in her pocket , went to Sallie , told the truth , and asked her to buy the silk as a favor . The good-natured Mrs. Moffat willingly did so , and had the delicacy not to make her a present of it immediately afterward . Then Meg ordered home the greatcoat , and when John arrived , she put it on , and asked him how he liked her new silk gown . One can imagine what answer he made , how he received his present , and what a blissful state of things ensued . John came home early , Meg gadded no more , and that greatcoat was put on in the morning by a very happy husband , and taken off at night by a most devoted little wife . So the year rolled round , and at midsummer there came to Meg a new experience , the deepest and tenderest of a woman 's life . Laurie came sneaking into the kitchen of the Dovecote one Saturday , with an excited face , and was received with the clash of cymbals , for Hannah clapped her hands with a saucepan in one and the cover in the other . `` How 's the little mamma ? Where is everybody ? Why did n't you tell me before I came home ? ''
began XXXXX in a loud whisper .
Dovecote Hannah Laurie Meg Moffat Sallie cymbals morning night week