To Be a Virtuous Wife, According to the Manual novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Good Husband's Guide

The plow driver was the first. By Monday the whole machine shop knew, and Hal came home with a face like a boiled beet.

"Three men saluted me," he said.

"Was that all?"

"One of them asked if the Guide had a rule about window shades."

"It has Rule 11," I said. "A restful home."

He sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

His shoulders were shaking, and I let him have it.

That night I took a fresh stack of index cards from the recipe box.

"What are you writing?" he said.

"The other book."

"Which other book?"

"The Good Husband's Guide," I said. "Since nobody has."

He looked at me for a long moment, and then he pulled up the other chair and took the pencil out of my hand.

"Number one," he said. "A husband asks."

"Number two. Then he listens to the answer."

"Number three. He does what she says."

"Number four," I said. "He comes home at ten past four."

"Number five. He takes off his own boots, because she is not his mother."

"Number six. He tells her she is magnificent at least once a day, with his mouth, if possible."

He grinned and kissed me across the cards.

"Number seven," said Hal. "He lets her talk first."

"Number eight. He never makes the evening his by himself."

We worked until eleven. We got to forty-one cards, and then, by agreement, we stopped at forty-one.

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend