His Family Ernest Poole (top ten books of all time .txt) đ
- Author: Ernest Poole
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âNo, this time itâs divorce!â she declared, at the end of her first outburst, in which she had told in fragments of her husbandâs double life. âIâve stood it long enough! Iâm through!â
âYou mean you donât care for him,â Deborah said. She was fighting for time to think it out. âYou want a divorce. Very well, Laura dearâ âbut how do you think you are going to get it? The laws are rather strict in this state. They allow but one cause. Have you any proofs?â
âNo, I havenâtâ âbut I donât need any proofs! He wants it as badly as I do! Waitâ âIâll give you his very words!â Lauraâs face grew white with fury. âââItâs entirely up to you, Sweetieââ âthe beast!â ââYou can have any kind of divorce you like. You can let me bring suit on the quiet or you can try to fight me in court, climb up into the witness chair in front of the reporters and tell them all about yourself!âââ
âYour husband is to bring suit against you?â Deborahâs voice was loud and harsh. âFor Godâs sake, Laura, what do you mean?â
âMean? I mean that he has proofs! He has used a detective, the mean little cur, and heâs treating me like the dirt under his feet! Just as though it were one thing for a man, and anotherâ âquiteâ âfor a woman! He even had the nerve to be mad, to get on a high horse, call me names! Turn me!â âturn me out on the street!â Deborah winced as though from a blow. âOh, it was funny, funny!â Laura was almost sobbing now.
âStop, this minute!â Deborah said. âYou say that youâve been doingâ âwhat he has?â she demanded.
âWhy shouldnât I? What do you know about it? Are you going to turn against me, too?â
âI amâ âpretty nearlyâ ââ
âOh, good God!â Laura tossed up her hands and went on with her walking.
âQuiet! Please try to be clear and explain.â
âExplainâ âto you? How can I? You donât understandâ âyou know nothing about itâ âall you know about is schools! Youâre simply a nun when it comes to this. I see it nowâ âI didnât beforeâ âI thought you a modern womanâ âwith your mind open to new ideas. But it isnât, it seems, when it comes to a pinchâ âitâs shut as tight as Edithâs isâ ââ
âYes, tight!â
âThank you very much! Then for the love of Heaven will you kindly leave me alone! Iâll have a talk with father!â
âYou will not have a talk with fatherâ ââ
âI most certainly willâ âand heâll understand! Heâs a man, at leastâ âand he led a manâs life before he was married!â
âLaura!â
âYou canât see it in himâ âbut I can!â
âYouâll say not a word to him, not one word! He has had enough this year as it is!â
âHas he? Then Iâm sorry! If you were any help to meâ âinstead of acting like a nunâ ââ
âWill you please stop talking like a fool?â
âIâm not! Iâm speaking the truth and you know it! You know no more about love like mine than a nun of the middle ages! You neednât tell me about Allan Baird. You think youâre in love with him, donât you? Well then, Iâll tell you that youâre notâ âyour love is the kind that can wait for yearsâ âbecause itâs cold, itâs cold, itâs coldâ âitâs all in your mind and your reason! And so I say youâre no help to me now! Hereâ âlook at yourself in the glass over there! Youâre just plain angryâ âfrightened!â
âYesâ âI amâ âIâm frightened.â While she strove to think clearly, to form some plan, she let her young sister talk rapidly on:
âI know you are! And you canât be fair! Youâre like nearly all American womenâ âmarried or single, young or oldâ âyouâre all of you scared to death about sexâ âjust as your Puritan mothers were! And you leave it aloneâ âyou keep it downâ âyou never give it a chanceâ âyouâre afraid! But Iâm not afraidâ âand Iâm living my life! And let me tell you Iâm not alone! There are hundreds and thousands doing the sameâ âright here in New York City tonight! Itâs been so abroad for years and yearsâ âin Rome and Berlin, in Paris and Londonâ âand now, thank God, it has come over here! If our husbands can do it, why canât we? And we areâ âweâre startingâ âitâs come with the war! You think war is hell and nothing else, donât youâ âbut youâre wrong! Itâs not only killing menâ âitâs killing a lot of hypocrisies tooâ âitâs giving a jolt to marriage! Youâll see what the women will do soon enoughâ âwhen there arenât enough men any longerâ ââ
âSuppose you stop this tirade and tell me exactly what youâve done,â Deborah interrupted. A simple course of action had just flashed into her mind.
âAll right, I will. Iâm not ashamed. Iâve given you this âtiradeâ to show you exactly how I feelâ âthat itâs not any question of sin or guilt or any musty old rubbish like that! I know Iâm right! I know just what Iâm doing!â
âWhoâs the man? That Italian?â
âYes.â
âWhere is he?â
âRight here in New York.â
âDoes he mean to stand by you?â
âOf course he does.â
âWill he marry you, Laura?â
âYes, he willâ âthe minute Iâm free from my beast of a husband!â
âAnd your husband will keep his suit quiet, you said, if you agree not to fight him.â
âYes.â
Deborah rose abruptly.
âThen will you stay right here tonight, and leave this matter to me?â she asked.
âWhat do you mean to do?â
âSee your husband.â
âWhat for? When?â
âTonight, if I can. I want to be sure.â
Laura looked for the moment nonplussed.
âAnd what of my wishes?â she inquired.
âYour wishes,â said Deborah steadily. âYou want a divorce, donât youâ âso do I. And you want it quietâ âand so do I. I want it so hard that I want to make sure.â Deborahâs tone was kinder now, and she came over close to her sister. âLook here, Laura, if Iâve been hard, forgive meâ âpleaseâ âand let me help. Iâm not so narrow as you think. Iâve been through a
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