She perceived that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She could not at that moment have done other than denied and resisted. She wondered if her husband had ever spoken to her like that before, and if she had submitted to his command.
The answer is defiance, which means rebellion. It seems like the passage shows a woman refusing to submit to her husband, words like "stubborn," "resisted," and "denied' all point to defiance.
