If she chose to repudiate her marriage with him, it was her duty to afford him the chance of freeing himself from the legal bond.

What moralist could defend her behaviour?
He worked himself into a mood of righteous indignation, of self-pity.
No; the very least Lilian should have done, in uniting herself to another man, moreover a wealthy man, was to make some provision for her forsaken husband.

That little income of hers should have been transferred to him.

Her action was unexpected; he had thought her too timid, too religious, too soft-hearted, for anything of this kind.
Since the disastrous wedding-day, she had, it was true, declined to hold communication with him; but he always looked forward to a meeting when he regained his freedom, and had faith in his personal influence.
It was not solely for the sake of her money that he wooed and won her; other connections notwithstanding, he felt something like genuine tenderness for Lilian, and even now this sentiment was not extinct.
The morning only confirmed his reluctance to follow Mr.Marks's directions.

Practically, he lost nothing by taking his own course but a five-pound note.