Should She Have Left Him? — page 88: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

82 SHOULD SHE HAVE LEFT HIM ? moment, for Dorothy seemed to be waiting for some remark, and evolved finally: “‘ There is always sympathy for the unfortunate.” Dorothy resented the remark with something like impatience. She knew it to be so untrue. But she went on with her statement. ‘Now church and law being responsible for our position, and society inevitably punishing me for being in the position, all the influences would be for further punishment of us by separating us. So, after looking the matter over carefully, we refused to abandon our relations into which we had entered under sanction of law and church, to refuse to per- mit a system, or two systems, which had once pro- nounced us man and wife, to withdraw their sanc- tion because of their own, not our, defects. We determined for ourselves that Henry Trescotte was still my husband, and that I, Dorothy, was still the wife of Henry Trescotte. What God had put together, we would not let any man put asunder.” Mr. Courtenay did not understand, but he was horrified. ‘This is blasphemous!” he stammered. “What is?’’ asked Dorothy argumentatively. “That we refuse to be made victims of defects in social and churchly laws?” “It is blasphemous to talk so!” cried Mr. Courte- nay, clinging to the word which seemed so apt. “‘IT said churchly laws, father,” said Dorothy, “not holy laws, nor the laws of God. Those laws were made by churchmen, therefore are human, and Comicboolkk<s C@ 3}