"It is useless for me to continue, however. It rests with you alone, with you and your husband,"--he pronounced the term with infinite scorn,--"to prove that your rash choice is not what it seems,--the end of your career, the end of your happiness. And it rests with you, sir," he added severely, looking over at Archie, "to prove that you are man enough to be a kind husband to the girl who has married you under such circumstances. I sincerely hope that your future will be better than your act promises!" Here was another opening for the kick, but Archie failed to grasp it. He took his cue from Adelle and maintained a sulky silence. "There remains but one more thing for me to speak of, Mrs. Davis, and that is your property, of which the trust company must continue guardian for nearly two years more until you become of age and the company is released from its guardianship by the court." The couple pricked up their ears with relief at the mention of property. "You have shown yourself to be prodigal in expenditure," Mr. Smith remarked, pulling from his pocket a card with a list of figures. "This past year you drew very nearly if not quite thirty-eight thousand dollars,--altogether too much money, I should say, for a young woman to spend safely." "It was the cars and the Nile trip," Adelle murmured. "Fortunately it happens to be well within the income of your estate, and so I suppose I cannot raise objections except upon moral grounds. It is too much money for any woman to spend wisely!" Mr. Smith apparently had positive convictions on this subject. Adelle did not seem to care what he thought a woman could spend wisely. "And so I propose that for the remainder of the time while you are nominally under our guardianship the trust company shall allow you--" He paused as if debating the figure with himself, and Archie unconsciously walked a couple of steps nearer the others. Alas! It drew Mr. Smith's attention from Adelle, for whom he was sorry, to the cause, as he thought, of her misfortune. Whatever had been in his mind he said curtly, looking at Archie, "Five thousand dollars a year, to be paid in quarterly installments on your personal order, Mrs. Davis."