"Sir!" Irene interrupted him in a stern, deep voice, which came so suddenly that the word remained unspoken. Then, raising her finger in a warning manner, she said with menace,
"Beware!"
For some moments they stood looking at each other, more like two animals at bay than husband and wife.
"Touching my associations when not in your company?" said Irene at length, repeating his language slowly.
"Yes," answered the husband.
"Touching, my associations? Well, Mr. Emerson—so far, I say well." She was collected in manner and her voice steady. "But what touching your associations when not in my company?"
The very novelty of this interrogation caused Emerson to start and change color.
"Ha!" The blood leaped to the forehead of Irene, and her eyes, dilating suddenly, almost glared upon the face of her husband.
"Well, sir?" Irene drew her slender form to its utmost height. There was an impatient, demanding tone in her voice. "Speak!" she added, without change of manner. "What touching your associations when not in my company? As a wife, I have some interest in this matter. Away from home often until the brief hours, have I no right to put the question—where and with whom? It would seem so if we are equal. But if I am the slave and dependant—the creature of your will and pleasure—why, that alters the case!"
"Have you done?"