Junia smiled. "What is there in it all for you? If the man I married
did not love me, I'd use the law to be free. What's the good of trying
to destroy a husband who doesn't love you, who never loved you--never."

"You don't know that," retorted Luzanne sharply.

"Yes, I do. He never loved you. He never lived with you for a single
day. That's in the power of a doctor to prove. If you are virtuous,
then he has taken nothing; if you have given your all, and not to Carnac
Grier, what will his mind be about you? Is it money? He has no money
except what he earns. His father left him nothing--not a dollar. Why do
you hate him so? I've known him all my life, and I've never known him
hurt man or animal. When did he ever misuse you, or hurt you? Did he
ever treat you badly? How did you come to know him? Answer that."

She paused and Luzanne flushed. The first meeting! Why, that was the
day Carnac had saved her life, had taken her home safe from danger, and
had begun a friendship with behind it only a desire to help her. And how
had she repaid the saviour of her life? By tricking him into a marriage,
and then by threatening him if he did not take her to his home. Truth is,
down beneath her misconduct was a passion for the man which, not
satisfied, became a passion to destroy him and his career. It was a
characteristic of her blood and breed. It was a relic of ancient
dishonour, inherited and searching; it was atavism and the incorrigible
thing. Beneath everything was her desire for the man, and the mood in
which she had fought for him was the twist of a tortured spirit. She
was not so deliberate as her actions had indicated. She had been under
the malicious influence of her father and her father's friend. She was
like one possessed of a spirit that would not be deterred from its