Why did he emphasize the word "pastoral?" Do you wonder that I like
Cream Cheese, dear Caroline, when he is so gentle and religious--and
such a pretty religion too! For he is not only well-dressed, and has
such aristocratic hands and feet, in the parlor, but he is so
perfectly gentlemanly in the pulpit. He never raises his voice too
loud, and he has such wavy gestures. Mr. Potiphar says that may be all
very true, but he knows perfectly well that he has a hankering for
artificial flowers, and that, for his part, he prefers the Doctor to
any preacher he ever heard "because," he says, "I can go quietly to
sleep, confident that he will say nothing that might not be preached
from every well-regulated pulpit; whereas, if we should let Cream
Cheese into the desk, I should have to keep awake to be on the
look-out for some of these new-fangled idolatries: and, Polly
Potiphar, I, for one, am determined to have nothing to do with the
Scarlet Woman."

Darling Caroline--I don't care much--but did he ever have anything to
do with a Scarlet Woman?

After he said that about artificial flowers, I ordered from Martelle
the sweetest sprig of _immortelle_ he had in his shop, and sent
it anonymously on St. Valentine's day. Of course I didn't wish to do
anything secret from my husband, that might make people talk, so I
wrote--"Rev. Cream Cheese; from his grateful _Skim-milk._" I
marked the last words, and hope he understood that I meant to express
my thanks for his advice about the pale-blue cover. You don't think it
was too romantice, do you, dear?

You can imagine how pleasantly Lent is passing since I see so much of