Yet when she was silent, he felt forced to continue. “I believe that the companies should get this franchise; all the noise over it is absurd. As for the corruption charges, they’re always made. Probably there’s been plenty of grease used in this matter. But we have to do it, here, and that’s all there is about it.”
“And suppose you lose? Suppose the governor is an honest man and vetoes the bill?”
Wilbur laughed. “You don’t suppose I’d have three hundred thousand in it if I didn’t know which way the governor is going to jump. He came high, but—well, Wrightington is nervy. You will see that he will play it out well; the governor’ll hold off, and have a hearing, and go through all the forms. But he’ll sign.”
Mrs. Wilbur gave a quick gasp. Wilbur put his arm about her. “You are nervous, Adela. You wouldn’t be so freaky over this business if you were all right. And, Ady, it means the house. If this goes through, the house is all right, but we were getting into a bad way.”
This argument hardly appeased her. So their home was to represent this transaction. She could never cross the threshold without feeling that Wrightington had given it to them; it was a morsel of Wrightington’s plunder.
“And there are plenty of men in Chicago who have taken the same chances! The Ralstons, and the Browns, and the Heckers are mighty stuck on themselves. But what with false assessments, and contributions to the city council, watered industrials, and tips on sugar, I guess they needn’t boast.”
“Don’t you think there are any honest men in this city?”
“A great many, from my point of view. Not so many from yours. A woman can’t understand it. Business is like life: you’ve got to play as the others do and play hard all the time, or you’ll be chucked out. You can’t be dainty.”
She knew that this opinion was final. He was not a bad man, he was not corrupt; he was merely heartily of his times, and her scruples were unintelligible to him. He was the same Wilbur that had convinced her in Paris of the desirability of action. He had developed, and she had caught sight of his claws. That was all. So she gave up the contest, as he lit a cigar and lowered the carriage window. The frosty air hung in clouds about the eaves of the houses, and the hard roadbed of the boulevard gave a chill thud to the horses’ hoofs, while they rolled swiftly through this city of men.
Was marriage altogether like a partnership?