“Come, come, be reasonable,” he said, with his tolerant smile. “You know that’s quite out of the question.”
“Since you are going to pay servants,” she persisted, “why should I idle about the house? Why should not I, an able-bodied person, be out helping in the world’s work somehow—and also helping you to earn a living?”
“Help me earn a living!” He flushed, but his resentment subsided. “When I asked you to marry me I implied in that question that I was able and willing to support you. Really, Katherine, it’s quite absurd for you to talk about it. There is no financial necessity whatever for you to work.”
“You mean, then, that I should not work because, in you, I have enough to live upon?”
“Of course!”
“Do you know any man, any real man I mean,” she returned quickly, “who stops work in the vigour of his prime merely because he has enough money to live upon? Would you give up your work to-morrow if some one were willing to support you?”
“Now, don’t be ridiculous, Katherine! That’s quite a different question. I’m a man, you know.”
“And work is a necessity for you?”
“Why, of course.”
“And you would not be happy without it?” she eagerly pursued.