who gave you that necklace? I demand to know."

"You _demand_ to know! Be careful what you say, please. Mr. George
Caresfoot gave me the necklace. It cost a thousand pounds. Are you
satisfied?"

"No, I am not satisfied; I will not have that cursed George Caresfoot
continually here. I will send him back his necklace. I will assert my
rights as an Englishman and a spouse, I will----"

"You will sit down and listen to me."

The tone of the voice checked his absurd linguistic and physical
capers, and caused him to look at his wife. She was standing and
pointing to a chair. Her face was calm and immovable, only her eyes
appeared to expand and contract with startling rapidity. One glance
was enough for Bellamy. He felt frightened, and sat down in the
indicated chair.

"That's right," she said, pleasantly; "now we can have a cosy chat.
John, you are a lawyer, and therefore, I suppose, more or less a man
of the world. Now, _as_ a lawyer and a man of the world, I ask you to
look at me and then at yourself, and say if you think it likely or
even possible that I married you for love. To be frank, I did nothing
of the sort; I married you because you were the person most suited to
my purpose. If you will only understand that it will save us both a
great deal of trouble. As for your talk about asserting yourself and
exercising your authority, it is simple nonsense. You are very well in
your way, my dear John, and a fair attorney, but do you suppose for
one moment that you are capable of matching yourself against me? If
so, you make a shocking mistake. Be advised, and do not try the
experiment. But don't think that the bargain is all my side--it is
not. If you will behave yourself properly and be guided by my advice,
I will make you one of the richest and most powerful men in the
county. If you will not, I shall shake myself free of you as soon as I
am strong enough. Rise I must and will, and if you will not rise with
me, I will rise alone. As regards your complaints of my not caring
about you, the world is wide, my dear John; console yourself
elsewhere. I shall not be jealous. And now I think I have explained
everything. It is so much more satisfactory to have a clear
understanding. Come, shall we go to lunch?"

But Bellamy wanted no lunch that day.

"After all," he soliloquized to himself, between the pangs of a
racking headache brought on by his outburst of temper, "time sometimes
brings its revenges, and, if it does, you