Her stove-burned face and print gown do not delude him as to her real position.

Furthermore--and this hint is directed sidewise at our "model"-- a sense of the incongruity between the fine courtesy of her husband's manner, and of slovenly attire upon the object of his attentions--would incite her to neatness and becomingness in dress.

It is worth while to look well in the eyes of one who never for a moment forgets that he is a gentleman, and his wife a lady.
When John finds himself excusing this and that lapse from perfect breeding in his home life with the plea--"It is only my wife!" he needs to look narrowly at his grain and his seasoning.

He is in danger of "checking." Being a man--or I would better say--not being a woman--John is probably made up without domestic tact, and his wife must be on her guard to cover the deficiency.

For example, if by some mortifying combination of mischances, a dish is scantily supplied, he helps it out lavishly, scrapes the bottom officiously, and with innocent barbarity calls your attention to the fact that it needs replenishing.
"I tried once to hold my husband back from the brink of social disaster," said one wife.