"Of course, I have every confidence in you," she said; "but I am sorry you did not leave the business with Mr. Dimbal. He is so very trustworthy." "There are other honest men in London," replied Carson, with his usual smile. "By-the-way, how long do you intend to stay here? We have now been exiled for three weeks." "I was thinking of going home in another fortnight or so, if that will suit you." "Oh, as to that, don't consider me. I am going to London myself." "You surely do not mean to let me return alone? You really must not. Think how everybody will talk." Carson shrugged his shoulders. "I do not care what they say," he replied, without the least show of temper. "To tell you the truth, I am rather tired of this farce. You refuse to treat me in any way as a husband; you surely cannot complain if I betake myself elsewhere." "I thought our relative positions were quite clear," said Mrs. Carson, coldly. "I married you simply and solely in obedience to my father's dying wish; you married me--well, you married me, I suppose, for the fifty thousand pounds that went with me." "In other words, our marriage is a bargain." "If you please; it matters little what we call it." "A pleasant position for me," said Carson, good-humouredly. His wife sat silently looking at her plate, while he continued to eat his luncheon with the utmost indifference. "Perhaps the position is a trying one for you," she said, at length; "but I dictated the terms of our union very clearly in the first instance; you were perfectly free to accept or reject them. You accepted them; your reasons were your own. No doubt they were good ones." "Quite right; ours is purely a business marriage, or bargain. We can call it that between ourselves." "If you were a different kind of man, if you cared for me, things might perhaps be different. But you do not care for me; you do not know what love is." "Excuse me if I say that you are hardly in a position to judge," replied Angus, quietly. "And are you not a trifle inconsistent? If I loved you, in what position should I stand, seeing that your affections are very definitely engaged?" "Excuse me if, in my turn, I say that you are not in a position to speak as to that." "You may think so, but I am not blind. Oh no; it's too late in the day to talk of love." "I wish to do my duty," retorted Olive, rather weakly, it must be confessed. "You have done your duty," said Carson, amiably; "you have obeyed your father, and you have brought me fifty thousand pounds. You do not love me, neither do I care two straws about you." "Then why did you marry me?" "For the money solely," he replied, shamelessly. "I served your turn, you served mine. Were I in love with you, do you think I would rest content with the purely nominal position of your husband? By no means. For the money's sake I made you my wife. I agreed to your terms because it suited me to do so. Have I ever gone contrary to you in any way?"