"Oh!" he exclaimed, "is that what you are driving at? Do you not think life is very bearable as we are?"
By this time Marion had completely regained her self-possession. She was determined not to be repulsed, but there was a little bitterness in her voice as she spoke.
"No, frankly, John, as we are living now, life is not very bearable. I cannot exchange half a dozen words with you without quarrelling, and it is not my fault, John, it is not my fault! Could you not sometimes make it a little easier for me?"
"By borrowing a hundred thousand dollars?"
A pause followed John's answer, and he walked as far as the window, came back again and stopped.
"If you think it would be conducive to our conjugal happiness that I should owe you a hundred thousand dollars, by all means lend it to me. I will give you very good security and pay you the current rate of interest."
Mrs. Darche hesitated a moment before she spoke again. She was not quite sure that he was in earnest, and being determined to make the utmost use of the opportunity she had created, she dreaded lest if she pressed her offer upon him he should suddenly turn upon her with a brutal laugh.
"Do you really mean it, John?" she asked at last. "Will it help you at all?"
"Oh, if you insist upon it and think it will promote your happiness, I have no objection to taking it," said Darche coolly. "As a matter of fact it would be a convenience to-day, and it might help me to-morrow. It will certainly not be of any importance next week."
"I do not know whether you are in earnest or not, but I am."