By Heaven! That was the idea! And there'd be a chance for him at cards! ...
Only, of course, Plank would ask Leila too.

...

But what did he care! He was no longer afraid of her; he'd soon be independent of her and her pittance.

Let her go to the courts for her divorce! Let her-- He sat up rather suddenly, perplexed with a new idea which, curiously enough, had not appealed to him before.

The astonishing hint so coolly dropped by his wife concerning her fearlessness of divorce proceedings had only awakened him to the consciousness of his own vulnerability and carelessness of conduct.
Now it occurred to him, for the first time, that if it were not a mere bluff on Leila's part, this sudden coquetting with the question of divorce might indicate an ulterior object.