Marie Douglas-David has a fighting chance of squeezing a few extra million from her estranged husband, George David.

The Swedish countess’s lawyers argued yesterday that she helped her husband with private business deals when he was CEO of United Technologies Corp. Douglas-David, 36, they said, helped Mr. David make pivotal decisions on "large-scale mergers" and "quarterly financial reports," all of which involved private information. Hartford Courant reports:

In one example, Douglas-David’s team suggested the former CEO of UTC discussed the possible acquisition of 3M Corp. by UTC with his wife. David, when asked during a break in his divorce trial whether UTC is still discussing an acquisition of 3M, responded, "Of course not." Douglas-David’s lawyers also suggested that David talked with his wife about other large-scale merger talks, including UTC’s purchase of ChubbPLC and Kidde, and its attempt to buy Honeywell Corp.

David called the accusations rubbish, New York Post reports. Not only did he say that Douglas-David had nothing to do with building his fortune, but he even compared the conversations he had with his wife to an owner talking to his dog. He said:

It’s like you go home and talk to the dog. I don’t mean to equate her to a dog. I just mean you go home after work and you talk to whoever is there.

Obviously a beauty with brains, Douglas-David was a vice president and an aerospace analyst at Lazard Freres earning $400,000 a year when she met her husband in 2001. David, 66, now the Chairman of the multi-billion dollar research and development company, is worth an estimated $329 million. The Swedish countess has said she deserves about a third of that, despite a pre-nuptial agreement worth about $36 million.

The trial won’t resume until July. The delay — which is due to the busy schedules of the wife, husband and lawyers — disappoints us a bit. Let’s admit it, following this toxic divorce has become somewhat of a guilty pleasure.