Volume 104 — "THE VERY LATEST."
Reading edition
["A Cookery Autograph-book is the last idea. Each friend is supposed to write a practical recipe for a dainty dish above his or her signature."
The Graphic.]
No, Mabel, no;—though your behest I always heed with rapt attention, Most fervently I must protest Against this horrible invention; Your word has hitherto been law, But this appears the final straw! Obedient to imperious looks, I've had to write, at your suggestion, The answers in confession-books To many an idiotic question; I'll vow my favourite tint is blue (The colour mostly worn by you); I'll gladly draw a fancy sketch, I'll make acrostics with elation, I'll write you verses at a stretch, Or give my views on vaccination; But, even to fulfil your wishes, I cannot manufacture dishes! I know, in theory, how to make The matutinal tea and coffee, And, when at school, I used to bake A gruesome mess described as toffee; But these, which form my whole cuisine, Are scarce the kind of thing you mean. Of course I'd learn some more by heart, If this could gain me your affection, But fear the anguish on your part Produced by faulty recollection; On me, my Mabel, please to look As lover only—not as Cook!
