"And next day,me Lud,the respondent left by the steamship Tuscarora for Buenos Aires.Since then we have nothing from him but a cabled refusal in answer to the letter which my client wrote the following day in great distress,begging him to return to her.
With your Ludship's permission.I shall now put Mrs.Dartie in the box."When his mother rose,Val had a tremendous impulse to rise too and say:'Look here!I'm going to see you jolly well treat her decently.'He subdued it,however;heard her saying,'the truth,the whole truth,and nothing but the truth,'and looked up.She made a rich figure of it,in her furs and large hat,with a slight flush on her cheek-bones,calm,matter-of-fact;and he felt proud of her thus confronting all these 'confounded lawyers.'The examination began.Knowing that this was only the preliminary to divorce,Val followed with a certain glee the questions framed so as to give the impression that she really wanted his father back.
It seemed to him that they were 'foxing Old Bagwigs finely.'
And he received a most unpleasant jar when the Judge said suddenly:
"Now,why did your husband leave you--not because you called him 'the limit,'you know?"Val saw his uncle lift his eyes to the witness box,without moving his face;heard a shuffle of papers behind him;and instinct told him that the issue was in peril.Had Uncle Soames and the old buffer behind made a mess of it?His mother was speaking with a slight drawl.
"No,my Lord,but it had gone on a long time.""What had gone on?"
"Our differences about money."
"But you supplied the money.Do you suggest that he left you to better his position?"'The brute!The old brute,and nothing but the brute!'thought Val suddenly.'He smells a rat he's trying to get at the pastry!'