n
order to do so strove to establish ascendency over his wife from the
start.

"What's the meaning of this new move, Ethel?" he demanded,
authoritatively. "I want to understand the matter thoroughly. Why do
you want a divorce?"

Mrs. Thorne turned her face toward him defiantly.

"Because I'm tired of my present life, and I want to change it. I'm
sick of being pointed at, and whispered about, as a deserted wife--a
woman whose husband never comes near her."

"Whose fault is that?" he retorted sharply; "this separation is none of
my doing, and you know it. Bad as things had become, I was willing to
worry along for the sake of respectability and the child; but you
wouldn't have it so. You insisted on my leaving you--said the very
sight of me made your chains more intolerable. Had I been a viper, you
could scarcely have signified your desire for my absence in more
unmeasured terms."

"I know I desired the separation," Mrs. Thorne replied calmly, "I
desire it still. My life with you was miserable, and my wish to live
apart has only increased in intensity. You never understood me."

Thorne might have retorted that the misunderstanding had been mutual,
and also that _all_ the wretchedness had not fallen to her share; but
he would not stoop to reproaches and vituperation. It was a natural
peculiarity of her shallow nature to demand exhaustive comprehension
for quite commonplace emotions.

"It's useless debating the past, Ethel. We've both been too much to
blame to afford the luxury of stone-throwing. What we must consider
now is the future. Is your mind quite made up? Are you determined on
the divorce?"

"Quite determined. I've given the matter careful consideration, and am
convinced that entire separation, legal as well as nominal, is
absolutely necessary to my happiness."

"And your reasons?"

"Haven't I told you, Nesbit?" using his name, for the first time, in
her anger. "Why do you insist on my repeating the same thing over and
over, eternally? I'm sick of my life, and want to change it."

"But how?" he persisted. "Your life will be the same as now, and your
position not so assured. The alimony allowed by law won't any thing
like cover your present expenditures, and you can hardly expect me to
be more generous than the law compels. The divorce can make little
difference, save to diminish your income and deprive you of the
protection of my name. You will not care to marry again, and the
div