"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. "Together we had
made a failure of partnership. When that partnership was dissolved,
there remained the joint capital to be divided. And I divided it. Why
not?"

"That capital was yours in the beginning; not mine. What I had of my own
you never controlled; and I took it with me when I went."

"It was very little," he said.

"What of that? Did that concern you? Did you think I would have accepted
anything from you? A thousand times I have been on the point of