AC dBooks

Think of your
father. Remember what he has done to make this marriage. I may tell you
that he has paid forty thousand pounds to discharge your husband's debts
and undertaken responsibility for an allowance of six thousand a year
beside. Do you want him to lose all that money?"
I was so sick with disgust at hearing this that I could not speak, and
the advocate, who, in his different way, was as dead to my real feelings
as my husband had been, went on to say:
"Come, be reasonable. You may have suffered some slight, some indignity.
No doubt you have. Your husband is proud and he has peculiarities of
temper which we have all to make allowances for. But even if you could
establish a charge of cruelty against him and so secure a
separation--which you can't--what good would that do you? None at
all--worse than none! The financial arrangements would remain the same.
Your father would be a frightful loser. And what would you be? A married
widow! The worst condition in the world for a woman--especially if she
is young and attractive, and subject to temptations.


Pages:
308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332