"I doubt if John would agree to that arrangement now. He would make you a suitable allowance, of course."
Olive could have choked this girl lying helpless in her chair, and yet holding the whip-hand in their triangle of conflicting interests. She felt as if she had been tripped and thrown without a word of warning. To have travelled to Wiesbaden to play the outraged wife sitting in judgment on the woman who had sinned, and now——!
If only Larssen were here to advise her!
She tried another move, altering her voice to as much sweetness as she could command under her white-hot anger.
"My dear, I appreciate your feelings," she said. "You want to fight for the man you love. You'd even blacken your character for his sake. You'd face the sneers of the world for his sake. I admire you for it. It brings us nearer together. I admit that I had misjudged you a little. That was because I hadn't seen you and spoken to you. Now I know what a fine character you are, and I want you not to bring unnecessary suffering on yourself. I'm older than you, and I've seen very much more of the world. I know that a good woman can't live with a married man for long. The situation becomes intolerable after a time. One can't ignore the conventions of the world one lives in."
"I'm ready to face all that. I've counted the cost."
"But is Clifford ready to? Think of him. Think of his work. He would not only be ostracised socially, but also scientifically. His work would be ignored. You would destroy his life-work. You would kill his ambition!"
Olive's thrust went home, though not to the exact point she aimed at. Elaine remained silent as the thought raced through her of how Olive, if she deemed it to her own interests, might kill Rivière's work.
"So you see, dear," pursued Olive, "that our interests are really very much the same. We both care deeply for Clifford. We both want to help him in his life-work. We both want to do our best for him. That means that we must pull together and not against one another. We must each of us think matters out coolly and dispassionately. Isn't that what you think as well as I?"
"Yes," admitted Elaine.