After all, he had said his motive for wanting to get married was loneliness, and she truly believed he had meant it at the time. Then gambling fever had struck, and he had changed, but she felt she owed it to him to attempt reason. It was the middle of the afternoon when she finally found him in a hotel room, daring to hope he would be sober by then. Instead, he was in a foul mood due to a heavy gambling loss the night before and feeling the effects of all the whiskey he had consumed in an effort to ease the pain. Tess tried very hard to express her concern for his welfare so he would not think she was just being a nagging wife, but he lost his temper and went into a rage. Still in his nightshirt, he stormed about the room yelling loud enough for anyone nearby to hear that he had lived up to his bargain to see that she had everything she wanted, and it was none of her business what he did otherwise. Tess knew it was the liquor making him so mean and that there was no use in continuing to try to talk to him.
