If you doubt your husband's love, you are not alone in this matter. Most women feel so at times, and one social scientist has declared that ninety percent of women doubt their husbands' love — and they may be right; but love is only a bridge that leads to happiness.
A man may show his love for his wife by provoking her anger; this is a demand whose chief aim is the satisfaction of his appetites, which he wraps in the veil of love. Conversely, a woman may feel herself cast off: a girl who knew no affection in her childhood loses her confidence in her man's love when she reaches young womanhood. These questions are the key to the truth.
1 — Does he cooperate with you in the
affairs of the house?
I know a man successful in his work who used to help his wife in the housework, since she worked outside as he did, and I would watch him with pleasure. Your husband may not sew or clean the carpet, but the important thing is that he show eagerness to help.
2 — Does he encourage you in social activity?
The owner of a textile mill married an artist, and the friends of both were astonished at the match... The husband's hobbies were football and hunting, while she delighted in attending musical evenings; so he would help to hold such concerts in his home, though he was not fond of music — but he loved his wife to shine, and he encouraged her. You may have no musical gift — but does he encourage your work and the social activities you undertake?
3 — Does he like your friends?
A school principal married a rich man; she had a number of friends, most of them in learned circles, and her husband took to mocking them, and they soon drew away, leaving the couple to their solitude. Does he approve of the friends you chose before your marriage or after it?
4 — Does he feel responsibility?
The director of a theater left the responsibility for his home and his two children to his wife, and when she decided on divorce he protested and said he could not live without her — yet he lived on, and took a position that brought him a large sum of money, and then married a famous actress.
He would see his two children in fleeting glimpses; his responsibility required him to strengthen the bonds of trust between the mother and the children, but he did the opposite: he would mock the mother, and call the two children's attention to it. This example shows us that responsibility is not merely material; it goes beyond the material to feeling and thought. If your husband truly loves you, he attends to your needs and to all your children's requirements.