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the subject.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      With me as the subject?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes, a scene which proved to me that he had been watching us.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      How?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      He had been questioning a servant.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Nothing more than that?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      No. That in itself, however, is not of much importance, for I believe he really likes you. But, after that, he told me of his love for me. Perhaps I was a little too insolent, too disdainful. I do not know exactly how far I went; but I found myself in such a perplexing, such a painful, such an extraordinary situation, that I dared everything to escape it.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      What did you do?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      I sought to wound him so deeply that he would leave me forever.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Apparently you have not succeeded.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      No.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Of course not; that method never does succeed. On the contrary, it often brings about a reconciliation.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      The next day, during luncheon, he was sulky, irritable, and gloomy. Then, as he was rising from the table, he said, “I have not forgotten your behavior of yesterday, and shall not let you forget it. You wish for war, let it be war; but I warn you that I shall conquer you, because I am your master.” I answered him, “Be it so; but if you drive me to extremity, take care—it is not always safe to make a woman desperate.”

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Especially when that woman is his wife. And what did he reply?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      He did not reply in words; but he treated me brutally.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Did he strike you?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes and no. He jostled me, he squeezed me, he suffocated me. I have bruises all along my arms, but he did not strike me.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Then what did he do?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      He hugged and embraced me, trying to overcome my resistance.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Is that all?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      What do you mean by saying, “Is that all?” Don't you think that is enough?

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      You do not understand me. I only wish to know whether he struck you.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh, no. I am not afraid of that from him; but luckily I was able to ring the bell.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      You rang the bell?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      What a thing to do! [Smiles.] And when the servant came, did you ask him to show your husband out?

      MME. DE SALLUS [pouts]

      You seem to find this very funny.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Oh, no, my dear Madame; it is all exceedingly painful to me, but I cannot help realizing the grotesqueness of the situation. Pardon me—and what then?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      I ordered my carriage. And then, as soon as Joseph had gone out, my husband said, with that arrogant air which you know so well in him, “Today, or to-morrow—it matters not which.”

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      And—

      MME. DE SALLUS

      And that is almost all.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Almost?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Yes, because since then I have locked myself in my room as soon as I heard him coming in.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Haven't you seen him since?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh, yes, several times, but only for a few minutes each time.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      What has he said to you?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Little or nothing. He either sneers or insolently asks whether I am less savage to-day. Last night at the table he brought out a little book, which he read during dinner. As I did not wish to appear embarrassed or anxious, and desired to maintain my dignity, I said: “Your manners toward me are certainly exceedingly courteous.” He smiled and replied: “What did you say?” “It is strange that, for reading, you should choose the time that we are together,” I said. He answered: “Great heavens! It is all your fault, since you do not care to be amiable. Besides, this little book is very interesting. It is the Civil Code. Perhaps you would like to become acquainted with some clauses in it. They would certainly interest you.” Then he read me the law concerning marriage; the duties of a wife and the rights of a husband. Then he looked me full in the face, and asked me whether I understood. I answered in the same tone that I understood too much—especially did I understand the kind of man I had married. Then I went out and I have not seen him since.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      Haven't you seen him to-day?

      MME. DE SALLUS

      No. He lunched alone. As for myself, I have thought over the situation, and have decided not to meet him tête-à-tête any more.

      JACQUES DE RANDOL

      But are you quite sure that at bottom his attitude is not induced by anger, by wounded vanity, by disappointment, and perhaps by a little bravado? Possibly he will behave himself better in future. To-night he is at the Opéra. The Santelli has scored a great success in “Mahomet,” and I think she has invited him to supper after the performance. Now, if the supper is very much to his taste, he will probably be in good humor when he comes home.

      MME. DE SALLUS

      Oh! How provoking you are. Can't you understand that I am in the power of this man, that I belong to him even more than his valet or his dog, because he has those abominable legal rights over me? The Code, your barbarous Code, puts me entirely in his power without any possible defense on my part; save actually killing me, he can do everything. Can't you understand that? Can't you realize the horror of my situation? Imagine, save actual murder, he can do anything to me, and he has the strength—not only physical but legal—to obtain anything from me. And I, I have not a single avenue of escape from a man whom I despise and hate. And that is the law made by you men! He took me, married me, deserted me. On my part, I have an absolutely moral right to leave him. And yet, despite this righteous hatred, this overpowering disgust, this loathing which creeps through me in

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