James Daley

“climbed”
― James Daley, 100 Great Short Stories

“Nothing in Mr. Waterby’s whole experience as a married man had so wrenched his sensibilities and disturbed his faith as Mrs. Waterby’s objection to the purchase of the set of Poe. There was but one way to account for it. She wanted all the money for herself, or else she wanted him to put it into the bank so that she could come into it after he—but this was too monstrous. However, Mrs. Waterby’s conduct helped to give strength to Mr. Waterby’s meanest suspicions. Two or three days after the first conversation she asked: “You didn’t buy that set of Poe, did you, Alfred?” “No, I didn’t buy it,” he answered, as coldly and with as much hauteur as possible. He hoped to hear her say: “Well, why don’t you go and get it? I’m sure that you want it, and I’d like to see you buy something for yourself once in a while.” That would have shown the spirit of a loving and unselfish wife. But she merely said, “That’s right; don’t buy it,” and he was utterly unhappy, for he realized that he had married a woman who did not love him and who simply desired to use him as a pack-horse for all household burdens. As soon as Mr. Waterby”
― James Daley, 100 Great Short Stories