Look for a manual car like you/your husband wants, find one to rent and rent it for a weekend or a week to learn on. Have your husband rent it, as he can tell them with a straight face he "just prefers" a manual. A week should be plenty of time to try it out and see if you're not still freaking out driving it. It's money well spent, as you won't be adding the wear and tear of learning to your new-to-you car.
I started driving with a '73 Beetle, and almost all were four-speed manual. I later got a hand-me-down '83 Accord manual and really liked it. Have since had two automatics ('86 Volvo then '91 Toyota Corolla, both bought used) and missed having a manual most of that time (well, the Volvo was 10+ years old but it was a pretty nice car for an automatic). The Corolla's automatic transmission died with only 260,000 miles on it. It was a shame, because that motor was hardly leaking or burning any oil. If it had been a manual I might still be driving it with 300,00-400,000 miles and maybe three clutch changes (which add up to less than a transmission).
But a couple years ago I had enough money to buy what I want, and I got a 2003 Accord (yeah, I liked that '83 Accord) 4-cylinder manual, it's got plenty of power and speed for me, and after a few days it felt natural driving a manual after 10+ years without.
Just remember this Car Talk call where the woman was complaining her clutch only lasted 5,000 miles. They asked about her driving habits, she finally admitted to stopping at stop lights going uphill by, instead of applying brakes, putting it in first and letting the clutch out halfway so it pulled just enough to keep her from rolling back. Don't do that. The clutch should be in or out, and only let it out slow enough so it doesn't jerk you around when starting off in first gear. Anywhere pedal position where your clutch starts grabbing but is slipping, that's when it's wearing.