You can print all the politics you want, but it must be clean politics, straight out from the shoulder." He had lapsed into sullen silence, too stunned to interrupt the placid flow of her speech.

She had not only meddled in his affairs in a fashion that would afford comfort to his enemy, but she was now dictating terms--this old woman whose mild tone was in itself maddening.

The fear of incurring his wife's wrath alone checked an outburst of indignation.
In all his life no one had ever warned him to his face that he was pursuing a course that led to destruction.

He had always enjoyed her capriciousness, her whimsical humor, but there was certainly nothing for him to smile at in this interview.

She had so plied the lash that it cut to the quick.