s conduct. She was ignored by her brothers and
Norah, who now knew all; and her mother was so taken up with religious
devotions and brooding contemplation of her loss that she was not as
active in her observation of Aileen's life as she might have been.
Besides, Cowperwood and his mistress were more circumspect in their
conduct than they had ever been before. Their movements were more
carefully guarded, though the result was the same. Cowperwood was
thinking of the West--of reaching some slight local standing here in
Philadelphia, and then, with perhaps one hundred thousand dollars in
capital, removing to the boundless prairies of which he had heard
so much--Chicago, Fargo, Duluth, Sioux City, places then heralded in
Philadelphia and the East as coming centers of great life--and taking
Aileen with him. Although the problem of marriage with her was
insoluble unless Mrs. Cowperwood should formally agree to give him up--a
possibility which was not manifest at this time, neither he nor Aileen
were deterred by that thought. They were going to build a future
together--or so they thought, marriage or no marriage. The only thing
which Cowperwood could see to do was to take Aileen away with him, and
to trust to time and absence to modify his wife's point of view.

This particular panic, which was destined to mark a notable change
in Cowperwood's career, was one of those peculiar things which
spring naturally out of the optimism of the American people and
the irrepressible progress of the country. It was the result, to
be accurate, of the prestige and ambition of Jay Cooke, whose early
training and subsequent success had all been acquired in Philadelphia,
and who had since become the foremost financial figure of his day.
It would be useless to attempt to trace here the rise of this man to
distinction; it need only be said that by suggestions which he made and
methods which he devised the Union government, in its darkest hours, was
able to raise the money wherewith to continue the struggle against
the South. After the Civil War this man, who had built up a tremendous
banking business in Philadelphia, with great branches in New York and
Washington, was at a loss for some time for some significant thing to
do, some constructive work which would be worthy of his genius. The war
was over; the only thing which remained was the finances of peace, and
the greatest things in American financial enterprise were those related
to the construc