"Why should I?" he said. "Julia and I have enough to live upon. If I am out of business I can devote myself more entirely to her."
This reasoning satisfied his young wife, and for a time all went well. But Hartley joined a fashionable club, formed a taste for gambling, indulged in copious libations, not unfrequently staggering home drunk, to the acute sorrow of his wife, and then excesses soon led to ill-treatment. The money, which he could spend in a few years, melted away, and he tried to gain possession of the remainder of his wife's property. But, meanwhile, Althea was born, and a consideration for her child's welfare strengthened the wife in her firm refusal to accede to this unreasonable demand.
"You shall have the income, John," she said—"I will keep none back; but the principal must be kept for Althea."
"You care more for the brat than you do for me," he muttered.
"I care for you both," she answered. "You know how the money would go, John. We should all be left destitute."
"That meddling sister of yours has put you up to this," he said, angrily.
"There was no need of that. It is right, and I have decided for myself."
"Your first duty is to your husband."
"I feel that in refusing I am doing my duty by you."