Mary Wilkins Freeman's narrative presents a powerful account of the experiences of women living in the nineteenth century. Louisa the main character of the short story is a traditional meticulous woman who is waited fourteen years for her fiancé Joe to marry. Freeman points out that Louisa is better off without Joe and can be a independent women with a fulfilling life.
             Louisa is pushed to marry because of her mother's views, the promise she made and society. "She had listened with calm docility to her mother's views upon subject."(p.243) Louisa was influence by her mother viewpoints about relationship with her old traditions. Although engaged to her fiancé, Joe Dagget, for fifteen years, she has spent fourteen of those years in total solitude while he was away making his fortune in Australia. It was Louisa and Joe promise to each other that they would wait to get married. As expected of her by mainstream society, Louisa waits patiently for Joe's return.
             Louisa had many hobbies that made her happy and kept her busy while waiting foe Joe. While Joe is away, her mother and brother die living her alone. "Her life, especially for the last seven years, had been full of pleasant peace she had never felt discontented nor impatient over her lover's absence" (p.243). Having to live alone Louisa displayed her self- fulfillment through interactions with her home, pet dog Ceaser and her hobbies. Louisa enjoyed quilting and having lunch with her finest china pieces in a daily basis. "Louisa dearly loved to sew a linen seam, not always for use, but for the simple, mild pleasure which she took in it. She would have been loath to confess how more than once she had ripped a seam for the mere delight of sewing it together again" (p.244).This describes Louisa enjoyment of her doing common domestic duties.
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