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‘You laugh, my boy, you can’t imagine marrying beneath
you. You want a wife who’s an intellectual equal. Your head
is crammed full of ideas of comradeship. Stuff and non-
sense, my boy! A man doesn’t want to talk politics to his
wife, and what do you think I care for Betty’s views upon
the Differential Calculus? A man wants a wife who can cook
his dinner and look after his children. I’ve tried both and I
know. Let’s have the pudding in.’
He clapped his hands and presently Sally came. When
she took away the plates, Philip wanted to get up and help
her, but Athelny stopped him.
‘Let her alone, my boy. She doesn’t want you to fuss about,
do you, Sally? And she won’t think it rude of you to sit still
while she waits upon you. She don’t care a damn for chiv-
alry, do you, Sally?’
‘No, father,’ answered Sally demurely.
‘Do you know what I’m talking about, Sally?’
‘No, father. But you know mother doesn’t like you to
swear.’
Athelny laughed boisterously. Sally brought them plates
of rice pudding, rich, creamy, and luscious. Athelny at-
tacked his with gusto.
‘One of the rules of this house is that Sunday dinner
should never alter. It is a ritual. Roast beef and rice pud-
ding for fifty Sundays in the year. On Easter Sunday lamb
and green peas, and at Michaelmas roast goose and apple
sauce. Thus we preserve the traditions of our people. When
Sally marries she will forget many of the wise things I have
taught her, but she will never forget that if you want to be

0 Of Human Bondage