The more he considered this explanation the more he was convinced of its probability. A great deal of his genuine warmth in his marriage evaporated. Still—Honora had married him, she had given herself in return for what material advantage he might bring; and he would have to perform his part thoroughly. He ought to have known that——
What he must do now was to save them both from any painful revelation by keeping for ever hid that he was aware of her purpose, he must never expose himself by a word or act; and he must make her understand that whatever he had was absolutely hers. It would be necessary for her to go to the money with entire freedom and without any accounting.
This, he found, was not so easy to establish as he thought. Honora was his wife, but nevertheless there was a well marked reticence between them, a formal nicety with which he was heartily in accord. He couldn't just thrust his fortune before her on the table. He hesitated through the day, on the verge of various blunders; and then, in the evening, said in a studied causality of manner:
“What do you think about fixing some of the rooms over new? You might get tired of seeing the same things for so long. I saw real elegant furniture in Boston.”
She looked about indifferently. “I think I wouldn't like it changed,” she remarked, almost in the manner of a defense. “I suppose it does seem worn to you; but I'm used to it; there are so many associations. I am certain I'd be lost in new hangings.”
Jason was so completely silenced by her reply that he felt he must have shown some confusion, for her gaze deliberately turned to him. “Is there any particular thing you would like repaired?” she inquired.
“No, of course not,” he said hastily. “I think it's all splendid. I wouldn't change a curtain, only—but....” He cursed himself for a clumsy fool while Honora continued to study him. He endeavored to shield himself behind the trivial business of lighting a cheroot; but he felt Honora's query searching him out. Finally, to his extreme dismay, he heard her say:
“Jason, I believe you think I married you for money!”
Pretense, he realized, would be no good now.
“Something like that did occur to me,” he acknowledged desperately.