Albert Kinross

“ He had begun with an office-boy and himself; now he had a traveller and a typist as well. At thirty-five he would marry, at fifty he would take a partner, at fifty-five he would retire and move away from London and live in a red-brick villa, something like Uncle John.
He was as sure and as inevitable as ebb and flow, as almanacks and changes of the moon. Never had Jessie Tolputt listened to a human being so convincing, so irresistible, so merciless in all he set about, so filled with knowledge and prophetic ways. ”

“ When, as usual, Uncle John announced that supper was waiting for them in the parlour, Sherwell produced his bottle of rare old port.
It was an impressive moment, and no one felt its passing with more gravity and awe than Jessie Tolputt. She was a slim little soul, with large black eyes, a pointed chin, and lots of dark, dark hair. It was so dark because her face was almost pale—olive-pale rather than white-pale. She was slender and round in one, strong and yet fragile; she might have been a nymph escaped from Croy Wood or from Sandling Wood inland. ”

“ Awe-filled and amazed, she listened to Sherwell, who gave away bottles of rare old port, who was a great man in the city of London, who had a warehouse of his own in Bread Street, and a traveller to do his will. In her small world he was the most marvellous creature that had ever entered it. She was like the savage woman in Klinger's etching, and Sherwell was her first sight of the sea. And like the sea he paid no heed to any mortal, not even to Uncle John ”

“ The good old man was hearty and kind, and kissed her good-night and good-morning, and gave her heaps of pocket-money, and spoilt her; but Sherwell was Olympian, a god who came out of a warehouse, who owned a traveller, an office-boy, and typist, who dwelt in London, and to whom all things befel precisely as he desired, commanded, or ordained. ”

“ It was best to make up your mind about important matters; the little things always arranged themselves. But important matters—“It was best to make up your mind and then stick to it,” said Paul Sherwell.... At fifty-five he would retire. He wasn't all for work. Forty working years were enough for any man, and he had begun life at fifteen. At thirty-five he would marry, and at fifty-five he would retire. ”

“ He had filled hours with his doings, with his boastings, with his firmness and his strength; and, at the first test, he fell and was like other people. Less than other people. Weaker and more infirm than she! ”