Wait till I'm on my
legs again. If there is to be a scandal, there shall be a scandal."
One thing was absolutely sure--he could not and would not endure her
contumely, nor even her indifferent scorn. For him to live with it
would be ridiculous as well as impossible. He was weak, but two facts
gave him enormous strength. First, he loved her less than she loved
him, and hence she was at a disadvantage. But supposing her passion
for him was destroyed? Then the second fact came into play. He had
money. He had thousands of pounds, loose, available! To such a nature
as his the control of money gives a sense of everlasting security.
Already he dreamt of freedom, of roaming the wide world, subject to no
yoke but a bachelor's whim.
CHAPTER XIV
THE MARKET
I
Rachel thought she understood all Louis' mental processes. With the
tragic self-confidence of the inexperienced wife, she was convinced
that she had nothing to learn about the secret soul of the stranger to
whom she had utterly surrendered herself, reserving from him naught
of the maiden. Each fresh revelation of him she imagined to be final,
completing her studies. In fact, it would have taken at least ten
years of marriage to prove to her that a perception of ignorance is
the summit of knowledge.
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