Upon this happy household, as upon some others not so happy, came the war!--and Dr. Winters's heroic soul responded to the trumpet's call. He was among the first to present himself for active service in the Overseas Force. When he came home and told his wife, she got the first shock of her life. It was right, of course, it must be right, but he should have told her, and she remonstrated with him for the first time in her life. Why had he not consulted her, she asked, before taking such a vital step? Then Dr. Winters expressed in words one of the underlying principles of his life. "A man's first duty is to his country and his God," he said, "and even if you had objected, it would not have changed my decision."
Mrs. Winters looked at him in surprise. "But, Frederick," she cried, "I have never had any authority but you. I have broken promises when you told me to, disappointed people, disappointed myself, but never complained--thinking in a vague way that you would do the same for me if I asked you to--your word was my law. What would you think if I volunteered for a nurse without asking you--and then told you my country's voice sounded clear and plain above all others?"
"It is altogether different," he said brusquely. "The country's business concerns men, not women. Woman's place is to look after the homes of the nation and rear children. Men are concerned with the big things of life."
Mrs. Winters looked at him with a new expression on her face. "I have fallen down, then," she said, "on one part of my job--I have brought into the world and cared for no children. All my life--and I am now forty years of age--has been given to making a home pleasant for one man. I have been a housekeeper and companion for one person. It doesn't look exactly like a grown woman's whole life-work, now, does it?"
"Don't talk foolishly, Nettie," he said; "you suit me."
"That's it," she said quickly; "I suit you--but I do not suit the church women, the Civic Club women, the Hospital Aid women, the Children's Shelter women; they call me a slacker, and I am beginning to think I am."
"I would like to know what they have to do with it?" he said hotly; "you are my wife and I am the person concerned."