t him. He was not ill-mannered, or vicious, or
dull--indeed, he could be remarkably interesting. But I received the
impression that there could be no human creature whom he would not
sacrifice in the pursuit of his schemes, in his task of imposing himself
and his will upon the world. Perhaps that was fanciful, but I think not
altogether so. However, the point is that Mabel, I am sorry to say, was
very unhappy. I am nearly twice your age, my dear boy, though you always
so kindly try to make me feel as if we were contemporaries--I am getting
to be an old man, and a great many people have been good enough to
confide their matrimonial troubles to me; but I never knew another case
like my niece's and her husband's. I have known her since she was a
baby, Trent, and I know--you understand, I think, that I do not employ
that word lightly--I know that she is as amiable and honourable a woman,
to say nothing of her other good gifts, as any man could wish. But
Manderson, for some time past, had made her miserable.'

'What did he do?' asked Trent, as Mr. Cupples paused.

'When I put that question to Mabel, her words were that he seemed to
nurse a perpetual grievance. He maintained a distance between them, and
he would say nothing. I don't know how it began or what was behind it;
and all she would tell me on that point was that he had no cause in the
world for his attitude. I think she knew what was in his mind, whatever
it was; but she is full of pride. This seems to have gone on for months.
At last, a week ago, she wrote to me. I am the only near relative she
has. Her mother died when she was a child; and after John Peter died
I was something like a father to her until she married--that was five
years ago. She asked me to come and help her, and I came at once. That
is why I am here now.'

Mr. Cupples paused and drank some tea. Trent smoked and stared out at
the hot June landscape.

'I would not go to White Gables,' Mr. Cupples resumed. 'You know my
views, I think, upon the economic constitution of society, and the
proper relationship of the capitalist to the employee, and you know,
no doubt, what use that person made of his vast industrial power upon
several very notorious occasions. I refer especially to the trouble in
the Pennsylvania coal-fields, three years ago. I regarded him, apart
from an all personal dislike, in the light of a criminal and a disgrace
to society. I came to this hotel, and I saw my niece here. She told
m