his door, his word could organize a syndicate or a trust,
his nod could smash a "corner." There were fabulous stories about his
wealth, about his luck. This also was Margaret's world. Her ambition
expanded in it with his. The things he set his heart on she coveted.
Alas! there is always another round to the ladder.

Seeing the means by which he gained his ends, and the public condonation
of them, would not his cynicism harden into utter unbelief in general
virtue and goodness? I don't know that Henderson changed much, accented
as his grasping selfishness was on occasion; prosperity had not impaired
that indifferent good-fellowship and toleration which had early gained
him popularity. His presence was nowhere a rebuke to whatever was going
on. He was always accessible, often jocular. The younger members in the
club said Henderson was a devilish good fellow, whatever people said.
The President of the United States used to send for him and consult him,
because he wanted no office; he knew men, and it was a relief to talk
with a liberal rich man of so much bonhomie who wanted nothing.

And Margaret, what view of the world did all this give her? Did she
come in contact with any one who had not his price, who was not going or
wanting to go in the general current? Was it not natural that she should
take Henderson's view? Dear me, I am not preaching about her. We did
not see much of her in those days, and for one or two years of what I
suppose was her greatest enjoyment of her social triumphs. So far as
we heard, she was liked, admired, followed, envied. It could not be
otherwise, for she did not lose her beauty nor her charm, and she tried
to please. Once when I saw her in the city and we fell into talk--and
the talk was gay enough and unconstrained--I was struck with a certain
hardness of tone, a little bitterness quite unlike her old self. It is a
very hard thing to say, and I did not say it even to my wife, but I had
a painful impression that she was valuing people by the money they had,
by the social position they had attained.

Was she content in that great world in which she moved? I had heard
stories of slights, of stabs, of rebuffs, of spiteful remarks. Had
she not come to know how success even in social life is sometimes
attained--the meannesses, the jealousies, the cringing? Even with all
her money at command, did she not know that her position was at the
price of incessant effort? Because she had taken a bold step