w that
matrimony, with its visions of slippers and cradles, would be
fatal to any ambition of that kind. She liked Jefferson
immensely--more, perhaps, than any man she had yet met--and she
did not think any the less of him because of her resolve not to
get entangled in the meshes of Cupid. In any case he had not asked
her to marry him--perhaps the idea was far from his thoughts.
Meantime, she could enjoy his friendship freely without fear of
embarrassing entanglements.

When, therefore, she first conceived the idea of portraying in the
guise of fiction the personality of John Burkett Ryder, the
Colossus of finance whose vast and ever-increasing fortune was
fast becoming a public nuisance, she naturally turned to Jefferson
for assistance. She wanted to write a book that would be talked
about, and which at the same time would open the eyes of the
public to this growing peril in their midst--this monster of
insensate and unscrupulous greed who, by sheer weight of his
ill-gotten gold, was corrupting legislators and judges and trying
to enslave the nation. The book, she argued, would perform a
public service in awakening all to the common danger. Jefferson
fully entered into her views and had furnished her with the
information regarding his father that she deemed of value. The
book had proven a success beyond their most sanguine expectations,
and Shirley had come to Europe for a rest after the many weary
months of work that it took to write it.

The acquaintance of his son with the daughter of Judge Rossmore
had not escaped the eagle eye of Ryder, Sr., and much to the
financier's annoyance, and even consternation, he had ascertained
that Jefferson was a frequent caller at the Rossmore home. He
immediately jumped to the conclusion that this could mean only one
thing, and fearing what he termed "the consequences of the insanity
of immature minds," he had summoned Jefferson peremptorily to his
presence. He told his son that all idea of marriage in that
quarter was out of the question for two reasons: One was that
Judge Rossmore was his most bitter enemy, the other was that he
had hoped to see his son, his destined successor, marry a woman of
whom he, Ryder, Sr., could approve. He knew of such a woman, one
who would make a far more desirable mate than Miss Rossmore. He
alluded, of course, to Kate Roberts, the pretty daughter of his
old friend, the Senator. The family interests would benefit by
this alliance, which was desir