“You overestimate yourself,” I said, and the flatness in my voice stopped his anger where it stood.

“You used three thousand dollars to price me as a bride.

So let me be equally blunt.

This house of yours is too small and too sad for me.” I picked up my handbag — the cheap one, the one I’d chosen that morning for exactly this.

“I’ll go back to my own estate.

There’s more room to breathe.”