Alpha Book

"Then why worry about me?"
He folded his arms, sullenly at bay; yet had no premonition of what to
expect from her.
"You were very brutal to me," she said at length.
"I know it; and I did not intend to be. The words came."
"You had me at your mercy; and showed me little--a very little at first.
Afterward, none."
"The words came," he repeated; "I'm sick with self-contempt, I tell
you."
She set her white-gloved elbow on the window sill and rested her chin in
her palm.
"That--money," she said with an effort. "You set--some--aside for me."
"Half," he nodded calmly.
"Why?"
He was silent.
"_Why_? I did not ask for it? There was nothing in the--the legal
proceedings to lead you to believe that I desired it; was there?"
"No."
"Well, then," her breath came unsteadily, "what was there in _me_ to
make you think I would accept it?"
He did not reply.
"Answer me. This is the time to answer me."
"The answer is simple enough," he said in a low voice.


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