I wish you had been alone
in the world and penniless.'
'A kind wish, all things considered.'
'Yes, it is a kind wish. Then your marriage with me would have
been binding; you would have known that my lot was yours, and the
knowledge would have helped your weakness. I begin to see how
much right there is on the side of those people who would keep
women in subjection. You have been allowed to act with
independence, and the result is that you have ruined my life and
debased your own. If I had been strong enough to treat you as a
child, and bid you follow me wherever my own fortunes led, it
would have been as much better for you as for me. I was weak, and
I suffer as all weak people do.'
'You think it was my duty to share such a home as you have at
present?'
'You know it was. And if the choice had lain between that and
earning your own livelihood you would have thought that even such
a poor home might be made tolerable. There were possibilities in
you of better things than will ever come out now.'
There followed a silence. Amy sat with her eyes gloomily fixed on
the carpet; Reardon looked about the room, but saw nothing.
Pages:
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636