At the same time she understood that his delicate nature could not be entirely absorbed by the labours of an ordinary workman.

She was no longer jealous of his solitary communions with his muse; and after his usual hours of occupation, she left him, or sat by him, to enable him to pursue his dear reveries in quiet.
Mariette, or Marie, as she was usually called, was a thoroughly good partner for Jasmin.

Though not by any means a highly educated woman, she felt the elevating effects of poetry even on herself.

She influenced her husband's mind through her practical wisdom and good sense, while he in his turn influenced hers by elevating her soul and intellect.
Jasmin, while he was labouring over some song or verse, found it necessary to recite it to some one near him, but mostly to his wife.

He wandered with her along the banks of the Garonne, and while he recited, she listened with bated breath.