In this matter before him, he was undeniably an injured man. Lilian
was treating him very badly indeed, very unfairly. If she chose to
repudiate her marriage with him, it was her duty to afford him the
chance of freeing himself from the legal bond. What moralist could
defend her behaviour?
He worked himself into a mood of righteous indignation, of
self-pity. No; the very least Lilian should have done, in uniting
herself to another man, moreover a wealthy man, was to make some
provision for her forsaken husband. That little income of hers
should have been transferred to him. Her action was unexpected; he
had thought her too timid, too religious, too soft-hearted, for
anything of this kind. Since the disastrous wedding-day, she had, it
was true, declined to hold communication with him; but he always
looked forward to a meeting when he regained his freedom, and had
faith in his personal influence. It was not solely for the sake of
her money that he wooed and won her; other connections
notwithstanding, he felt something like genuine tenderness for
Lilian, and even now this sentiment was not extinct.
The morning only confirmed his reluctance to follow Mr. Marks's
directions. Practically, he lost nothing by taking his own course
but a five-pound note. Let the electioneering agent attack Quarrier
by some other means. For a few hours, at all events, the secret
would remain unpublished, and in that interval the way might be
opened for an honest and promising career.
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