"I take no responsibility, beyond the responsibility of stating the law as it stands, in your case." Mr.Vanborough sat down again at the table, to consider the alternative of asserting or not asserting his freedom from the marriage tie.

He had not had much time thus far for turning the matter over in his mind.
But for his residence on the Continent the question of the flaw in his marriage might no doubt have been raised long since.

As things were, the question had only taken its rise in a chance conversation with Mr.
Delamayn in the summer of that year.
For some minutes the lawyer sat silent, sipping his wine, and the husband sat silent, thinking his own thoughts.

The first change that came over the scene was produced by the appearance of a servant in the dining-room.
Mr.Vanborough looked up at the man with a sudden outbreak of anger.
"What do you want here ?" The man was a well-bred English servant.

In other words, a human machine, doing its duty impenetrably when it was once wound up.