In all their married life she had never known him to show such stubborn force. He was like granite, and the unbelievable change in him, upsetting all her preconceived notions of the man, appalled her. There had been times in the past when they had clashed, but he had never really matched his will with hers, and she had judged him weak and spiritless. Now, therefore, failing to dominate him as usual, she was filled with a strange feeling of helplessness and terror. "You had no right to accept such evidence," she stormed. "Bah! Why try to fool me? I have your own words for it. The other afternoon I came home sick--with my head. I was on the gallery outside when you were pleading with him, and I heard it all. You talked that night about Taboga, your guilty kisses and other things; you acknowledged everything. But he was growing tired of you. That, you know, makes it all the more effective." He smiled in an agonized fury. "You--cur!" she cried, with the fury of one beating barehanded at a barred door. "You had no right to do such a thing even if I were guilty." "Right? Aren't you my wife?" The look she gave him was heavy with loathing. "That means nothing with us. I never loved you, and you know it. You know, too, why I married you. I made no secret of it at the time. You had what I wanted, and I had what you wanted; but you were content with the bargain because I gave you money, position, and power. I never promised anything more than that. I made you into something like a man. You never could have succeeded without me. All you have is due to me--even your reputation in the service. Your success, your influence, it is all mine, and the only thing you gave me was a name; any other would have done as well." He shrank a little under this tirade, despite his exaltation. "Marriage!" she continued, in bitter scorn. "A priest mumbled something over us, but it meant nothing then or now. I have tolerated you because you were useful. I have carried you with me as I carry a maid or a butler. I bought a manikin and dressed it up and put breath into it for my own convenience, and I owe you nothing, do you understand--nothing! The debt is all on your side, as you and I and all the world know."