e was the story of his
marriage with a beautiful, penniless girl, not of his own faith, whom
he had taken in the face of strong opposition from his family. She
had been an exquisite creature, fair and ethereal, as degenerates
sometimes are; she had cynically married him for his money, deceiving
him easily enough, for he was willing to be blinded; but differences
had soon arisen between them, and had turned to open quarrelling, and
Mr. Van Torp had taken it upon himself to defend her and to reconcile
them, using the unlimited power his position gave him over his partner
to force the latter to submit to his wife's temper and caprice, as the
only alternative to ruin. Her friendship for Van Torp grew stronger,
till they spent many hours of every day together, while her husband
saw little of her, though he was never altogether estranged from her
so long as they lived under one roof.

But the time came at last when Bamberger had power too, and Van Torp
could no longer hold him in check with a threat that had become vain;
for he was more than indispensable, he was a part of the Nickel Trust,
he was the figure-head of the ship, and could not be discarded at
will, to be replaced by another.

As soon as he was sure of this and felt free to act, Isidore Bamberger
divorced his wife, in a State where slight grounds are sufficient. For
the sake of the Nickel Trust Van Torp's name was not mentioned. Mrs.
Bamberger made no defence, the affair was settled almost privately,
and Bamberger was convinced that she would soon marry Van Torp.
Instead, six weeks had not passed before she married Senator Moon,
a man whom her husband had supposed she scarcely knew, and to
Bamberger's amazement Van Torp's temper was not at all disturbed by
the marriage. He acted as if he had expected it, and though he hardly
ever saw her after that time, he exchanged letters with her during
nearly two years.

Bamberger's little daughter Ida had never been happy with her
beautiful mother, who had alternately spoilt her and vented her temper
on her, according to the caprice of the moment. At the time of the
divorce the child had been only ten years old; and as Bamberger was
very kind to her and was of an even disposition, though never very
cheerful, she had grown up to be extremely fond of him. She never
guessed that he did not love her in return, for though he was cynical
enough in matters of business, he was just according to his lights,
and he would not let h