He nearly always had a flower in his buttonhole when he came home, which had been jokingly given to him as a _gage d'amour_ by some one or other of his admirers; he received presents from all sides; and they, in fact, laid a sort of embargo upon him as an object of general admiration.
There was nothing to say against all this--far from it; but the only person who felt left out in the cold was his own wife, who seemed to see this enthusiastic crowd gradually establishing, as it were, a prescriptive right of way between herself and her husband, and treading under foot the very flowers that should have grown only for their own two selves in the intimacy of their home.

She became gradually a less animated, but was still, he thought, an interested listener, when he came home after being in the society of his lady friends, and recounted his triumphs.

If this was so, she at all events began to be more particular about her own dress and appearance, and set to work now to systematically cultivate the social talent which she naturally possessed.

She determined to conquer her rivals, who had the advantage of her in appearance, but were inferior to her in talent; and she succeeded.

But she became naturally an object for their criticism in consequence.
The only one with whom she did not succeed was her husband.