"Of course, she's not going to do it," he said as if expressing an inevitable conclusion.
"I'm going to leave here this very day," she declared firmly.
"And plunge into the scandal of a divorce proceeding?" Her brother bestowed a reproachful glance upon her. "Grace, you know how I feel toward your husband. Long ago I urged you to divorce him, but you refused. Now you must consider me. Think of the notoriety! My approaching marriage must not be overcast by the awful scandal that will follow your trip to Reno. Were we less prominent socially, it might be different. But the newspapers will be full of it. No, Grace, don't do anything hasty—not just now."
"You counsel me to continue living with him?" she inquired.
"I simply ask you to continue as you're doing."
She bent forward in her chair, her face set in an expression of unalterable determination.
"I love Herbert," she declared calmly, unmindful of the amazement which her avowal produced. "I have loved him a long while," she continued undismayed. "I crave him—I loathe the man to whom I am wedded."
"I sympathize with you," the brother hastened to assure her, "and, were it not for my marriage, I should urge you to leave him at once. He's a cad—"
"I'm not the sort of cad that permits another man to destroy his home," blurted Collins.
The others ignored his interruption.