You will
become a clod.
"Leave this hideous gray place. Leave that woman who treats you like a
dog. Let the ranch be hers. Send her money. You will have it to spare.
She can divorce you, and you will be freed forever from the one great
mistake you ever made. As for me----"
"As for you--be silent!" The command struck like a whiplash. "You are not
worthy to speak of 'that woman,' as you call her. If I did what you
deserve, I'd send you off without another word--turn my back on you and
let you go. But--" he drew in his breath sharply, then went on as if he
had taken some tonic decision--"I want you to understand why, if Paul Van
Vreck offered me _all_ his money, and you offered me the love of all the
women on earth with your own, I shouldn't be tempted to accept.
"It's because of 'that woman'--who is my wife. It may be true that she
treats me like a dog, for she wouldn't be cruel to the meanest cur. But
I'd rather be her dog than any other woman's master.
"So you see now. It's come to that with me. I won her love and
married her for my own advantage. I lost her love because she found me
out--through you.
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