第28章

Itwasanestegg，amonstrous，roc-likenestegg，notsolarge，however，butthatitcouldbemadelarger。AlreadybytheendofthatwinterTrinahadbeguntomakeupthedeficitoftwohundreddollarsthatshehadbeenforcedtoexpendonthepreparationsforhermarriage。

McTeague，onhispart，neveraskedhimselfnow-a-dayswhetherhelovedTrinathewifeasmuchashehadlovedTrinatheyounggirl。TherehadbeenatimewhentokissTrina，totakeherinhisarms，hadthrilledhimfromheadtoheelwithahappinessthatwasbeyondwords；eventhesmellofherwonderfulodoroushairhadsentasensationoffaintnessallthroughhim。Thattimewaslongpastnow。

Thosesuddenoutburstsofaffectiononthepartofhislittlewoman，outburststhatonlyincreasedinvehemencethelongertheylivedtogether，puzzledratherthanpleasedhim。

Hehadcometosubmittothemgood-naturedly，answeringherpassionateinquirieswitha“Sure，sure，Trina，sureIloveyou。What——what’sthematterwithyou？“

Therewasnopassioninthedentist’sregardforhiswife。

Hedearlylikedtohavehernearhim，hetookanenormouspleasureinwatchingherasshemovedabouttheirrooms，verymuchathome，gayandsingingfrommorningtillnight；

anditwashisgreatdelighttocallherintothe“DentalParlors“whenapatientwasinthechairand，whileheheldtheplugger，tohaveherrapinthegoldfillingswiththelittlebox-woodmalletashehadtaughther。Butthattempestofpassion，thatoverpoweringdesirethathadsuddenlytakenpossessionofhimthatdaywhenhehadgivenherether，againwhenhehadcaughtherinhisarmsintheBStreetstation，andagainandagainduringtheearlydaysoftheirmarriedlife，rarelystirredhimnow。Ontheotherhand，hewasneverassailedwithdoubtsastothewisdomofhismarriage。

McTeaguehadrelapsedtohiswontedstolidity。Heneverquestionedhimself，neverlookedformotives，neverwenttothebottomofthings。Theyearfollowinguponthesummerofhismarriagewasatimeofgreatcontentmentforhim；afterthenoveltyofthehoneymoonhadpassedheslippedeasilyintotheneworderofthingswithoutaquestion。Thushislifewouldbeforyearstocome。Trinawasthere；hewasmarriedandsettled。Heacceptedthesituation。Thelittleanimalcomfortswhichforhimconstitutedtheenjoymentoflifewereministeredtoateveryturn，orwhentheywereinterferedwith——asinthecaseofhisSundayafternoon’snapandbeer——someagreeablesubstitutewasfound。InherattemptstoimproveMcTeague——toraisehimfromthestupidanimallifetowhichhehadbeenaccustomedinhisbachelordays——Trinawastactfulenoughtomovesocautiouslyandwithsuchslownessthatthedentistwasunconsciousofanyprocessofchange。Inthematterofthehighsilkhat，itseemedtohimthattheinitiativehadcomefromhimself。

Graduallythedentistimprovedundertheinfluenceofhislittlewife。Henolongerwentabroadwithfrayedcuffsabouthishugeredwrists——orworse，withoutanycuffsatall。Trinakepthislinencleanandmended，doingmostofhiswashingherself，andinsistingthatheshouldchangehisflannels——thickredflannelstheywere，withenormousbonebuttons——onceaweek，hislinenshirtstwiceaweek，andhiscollarsandcuffseverysecondday。Shebrokehimofthehabitofeatingwithhisknife，shecausedhimtosubstitutebottledbeerintheplaceofsteambeer，andsheinducedhimtotakeoffhishattoMissBaker，toHeise’swife，andtotheotherwomenofhisacquaintance。McTeaguenolongerspentaneveningatFrenna’s。InsteadofthishebroughtacoupleofbottlesofbeeruptotheroomsandshareditwithTrina。Inhis“Parlors“hewasnolongergruffandindifferenttohisfemalepatients；hearrivedatthatstagewherehecouldworkandtalktothematthesametime；

heevenaccompaniedthemtothedoor，andhelditopenforthemwhentheoperationwasfinished，bowingthemoutwithgreatnodsofhishugesquare-cuthead。

Besidesallthis，hebegantoobservethebroader，largerinterestsoflife，intereststhataffectedhimnotasanindividual，butasamemberofaclass，aprofession，orapoliticalparty。Hereadthepapers，hesubscribedtoadentalmagazine；onEaster，Christmas，andNewYear’shewenttochurchwithTrina。Hecommencedtohaveopinions，convictions——itwasnotfairtodeprivetax-payingwomenoftheprivilegetovote；auniversityeducationshouldnotbeaprerequisiteforadmissiontoadentalcollege；theCatholicpriestsweretoberestrainedintheiref