"No," the woman coldly replied to her husband's exclamation of astonishment, "I have no intention of opposing any action that you may see fit to take to annul our union, provided——"
She paused abruptly, a sudden alertness in her manner and tone.
"Well?" he questioned impatiently, and with a frown which betokened intolerance of opposition.
"Provided you do not attempt to take Dorothy from me, or to compromise me in any way in your efforts to free yourself."
The man shrugged his broad shoulders and arched his fine eyebrows.
"I am not sighing for publicity for either you or myself, Helen," he observed. "I simply wish to get the matter settled as quickly and quietly as possible. As for Dorothy, however——"
"There can be no question about Dorothy; she is to be relinquished absolutely to me," Helen Hungerford interposed, with sharp decision.
"You appear to be very insistent upon that point," retorted her companion, with sneering emphasis and an unpleasant lifting of his upper lip that just revealed the tips of his gleaming teeth.
"I certainly am; that my child remains with me is a foregone conclusion," was the spirited reply.
"The judge may decree differently——"