CHAPTER XXXIII.
WHEN MY WIFE IS ASLEEP AND ALL THE HOUSE IS STILL.
[Illustration] Perhaps the heading of this paper will deceive some readers into thinking that I smoke nowadays in camera.

It is, I know, a common jest among smokers that such a promise as mine is seldom kept, and I allow that the Arcadians tempt me still.

But never shall it be said of me with truth that I have broken my word.

I smoke no more, and, indeed, though the scenes of my bachelorhood frequently rise before me in dreams, painted as Scrymgeour could not paint them, I am glad, when I wake up, that they are only dreams.

Those selfish days are done, and I see that though they were happy days, the happiness was a mistake.