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THE FINANCIER
work of green. It was like looking through a green-spangled arras to
peer into the woods beyond or behind. The gray stones were already
faintly messy where the water rippled and sparkled, and early birds
were calling – robins and blackbirds and wrens.
«Baby mine», he said, «do you understand all about this? Do you
know exactly what you’re doing when you come with me this way?»
«I think I do».
She struck her boot and looked at the ground, and then up
through the trees at the blue sky.
«Look at me, honey».
«I don’t want to».
«But look at me, sweet. I want to ask you something».
«Don’t make me, Frank, please. I can’t».
«Oh yes, you can look at me».
«No».
She backed away as he took her hands, but came forward again,
easily enough.
«Now look in my eyes».
«I can’t».
«See here».
«I can’t. Don’t ask me. I’ll answer you, but don’t make me look at
you».
His hand stole to her cheek and fondled it. He petted her shoulder, and she leaned her head against him.
«Sweet, you’re so beautiful», he said fi nally, «I can’t give you up.
I know what I ought to do. You know, too, I suppose; but I can’t.
I must have you. If this should end in exposure, it would be quite bad
for you and me. Do you understand?»
«Yes».
«I don’t know your brothers very well; but from looking at
them I judge they’re pretty determined people. They think a great
deal of you».
«Indeed, they do». Her vanity prinked slightly at this.
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THEODORE DREISER
«They would probably want to kill me, and very promptly, for
just this much. What do you think they would want to do if – well,
if anything should happen, some time?»
He waited, watching her pretty face.
«But nothing need happen. We needn’t go any further».
«Aileen!»
«I won’t look at you. You needn’t ask. I can’t».
«Aileen! Do you mean that?»
«I don’t know. Don’t ask me, Frank».
«You know it can’t stop this way, don’t you? You know it. This
isn’t the end. Now, if –» He explained the whole theory of illicit meetings, calmly, dispassionately. «You are perfectly safe, except for one
thing, chance exposure. It might just so happen; and then, of course,
there would be a great deal to settle for. Mrs. Cowperwood would
never give me a divorce; she has no reason to. If I should clean up in
the way I hope to – if I should make a million – I wouldn’t mind
knocking off now. I don’t expect to work all my days. I have always
planned to knock off at thirty-fi ve. I’ll have enough by that time.
Then I want to travel. It will only be a few more years now. If you
were free – if your father and mother were dead» – curiously she
did not wince at this practical reference –»it would be a different
matter».
He paused. She still gazed thoughtfully at the water below, her
mind running out to a yacht on the sea with him, a palace somewhere – just they two. Her eyes, half closed, saw this happy world;
and, listening to him, she was fascinated.
«Hanged if I see the way out of this, exactly. But I love you!»
He caught her to him. «I love you – love you!»
«Oh, yes», she replied intensely, «I want you to. I’m not afraid».
«I’ve taken a house in North Tenth Street», he said fi nally, as they
walked over to the horses and mounted them. «It isn’t furnished yet;
but it will be soon. I know a woman who will take charge».
«Who is she?»
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THE FINANCIER
«An interesting widow of nearly fi fty. Very intelligent – she is
attractive, and knows a good deal of life. I found her through an advertisement. You might call on her some afternoon when things are
arranged, and look the place over. You needn’t meet her except in
a casual way. Will you?»
She rode on, thinking, making no reply. He was so direct and
practical in his calculations.
«Will you? It will be all right. You might know her. She isn’t
objectionable in any way. Will you?»
«Let me know when it is ready», was all she said fi nally.
CHAPTER XXI
The vagaries of passion! Subtleties! Risks! What sacrifi ces are not
laid willfully upon its altar! In a little while this more than average
residence to which Cowperwood had referred was prepared solely to
effect a satisfactory method of concealment. The house was governed by a seemingly recently-bereaved widow, and it was possible
for Aileen to call without seeming strangely out of place. In such surroundings, and under such circumstances, it was not diffi cult to persuade her to give herself wholly to her lover, governed as she was by
her wild and unreasoning affection and passion. In a way, there was
a saving element of love, for truly, above all others, she wanted this
man. She had no thought or feeling toward any other. All her mind
ran toward visions of the future, when, somehow, she and he might
be together for all time. Mrs. Cowperwood might die, or he might
run away with her at thirty-fi ve when he had a million. Some adjustment would be made, somehow. Nature had given her this man.
She relied on him implicitly. When he told her that he would take
care of her so that nothing evil should befall, she believed him fully.
Such sins are the commonplaces of the confessional.
It is a curious fact that by some subtlety of logic in the Christian
world, it has come to be believed that there can be no love outside
the conventional process of courtship and marriage. One life, one
love, is the Christian idea, and into this sluice or mold it has been
endeavoring to compress the whole world. Pagan thought held no
such belief. A writing of divorce for trivial causes was the theory of
the elders; and in the primeval world nature apparently holds no
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THE FINANCIER
scheme for the unity of two beyond the temporary care of the young.
That the modern home is the most beautiful of schemes, when based
upon mutual sympathy and understanding between two, need not
be questioned. And yet this fact should not necessarily carry with it
a condemnation of all love not so fortunate as to fi nd so happy a denouement. Life cannot be put into any mold, and the attempt might
as well be abandoned at once. Those so fortunate as to fi nd harmonious companionship for life should congratulate themselves and
strive to be worthy of it. Those not so blessed, though they be written
down as pariahs, have yet some justifi cation. And, besides, whether
we will or not, theory or no theory, the basic facts of chemistry and
physics remain. Like is drawn to like. Changes in temperament bring
changes in relationship. Dogma may bind some minds; fear, others.
But there are always those in whom the chemistry and physics of life
are large, and in whom neither dogma nor fear is operative. Society
lifts its hands in horror; but from age to age the Helens, the Messalinas, the Du Barrys, the Pompadours, the Maintenons, and the Nell
Gwyns fl ourish and point a freer basis of relationship than we have
yet been able to square with our lives.
These two felt unutterably bound to each other. Cowperwood,
once he came to understand her, fancied that he had found the one
person with whom he could live happily the rest of his life. She was
so young, so confi dent, so hopeful, so undismayed. All these months
since they had fi rst begun to reach out to each other he had been
hourly contrasting her with his wife. As a matter of fact, his dissatisfaction, though it may be said to have been faint up to this time, was
now surely tending to become real enough. Still, his children were
pleasing to him; his home beautiful. Lillian, phlegmatic and now
thin, was still not homely. All these years he had found her satisfactory enough; but now his dissatisfaction with her began to increase.
She was not like Aileen – not young, not vivid, not as unschooled in
the commonplaces of life. And while ordinarily, he was not one who
was inclined to be querulous, still now on occasion, he could be.
He began by asking questions concerning his wife’s appearance –
165
THEODORE DREISER
irritating little whys which are so trivial and yet so exasperating and
discouraging to a woman. Why didn’t she get a mauve hat nearer
the shade of her dress? Why didn’t she go out more? Exercise would
do her good. Why didn’t she do this, and why didn’t she do that?
He scarcely noticed that he was doing this; but she did, and she felt
the undertone – the real signifi cance – and took umbrage.
«Oh, why – why?» she retorted, one day, curtly. «Why do you ask
so many questions? You don’t care so much for me any more; that’s
why. I can tell».
He leaned back startled by the thrust. It had not been based on
any evidence of anything save his recent remarks; but he was not
absolutely sure. He was just the least bit sorry that he had irritated
her, and he said so.
«Oh, it’s all right», she replied. «I don’t care. But I notice that you
don’t pay as much attention to me as you used to. It’s your business
now, fi rst, last, and all the time. You can’t get your mind off of that».
He breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t suspect, then.
But after a little time, as he grew more and more in sympathy
with Aileen, he was not so disturbed as to whether his wife might
suspect or not. He began to think on occasion, as his mind followed
the various ramifi cations of the situation, that it would be better if
she did. She was really not of the contentious fi ghting sort. He now
decided because of various calculations in regard to her character
that she might not offer as much resistance to some ultimate rearrangement, as he had originally imagined. She might even divorce
him. Desire, dreams, even in him were evoking calculations not as
sound as those which ordinarily generated in his brain.
No, as he now said to himself, the rub was not nearly so much in
his own home, as it was in the Butler family. His relations with Edward Malia Butler had become very intimate. He was now advising
with him constantly in regard to the handling of his securities, which
were numerous. Butler held stocks in such things as the Pennsylvania Coal Company, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the Morris and
Essex Canal, the Reading Railroad. As the old gentleman’s mind had
166
THE FINANCIER
broadened to the signifi cance of the local street-railway problem in
Philadelphia, he had decided to close out his other securities at such
advantageous terms as he could, and reinvest the money in local
lines. He knew that Mollenhauer and Simpson were doing this,
and they were excellent judges of the signifi cance of local affairs.
Like Cowperwood, he had the idea that if he controlled suffi cient of
the local situation in this fi eld, he could at last effect a joint relationship with Mollenhauer and Simpson. Political legislation, advantageous to the combined lines, could then be so easily secured.
Franchises and necessary extensions to existing franchises could be
added. This conversion of his outstanding stock in other fi elds, and
the picking up of odd lots in the local street-railway, was the business of Cowperwood. Butler, through his sons, Owen and Callum,
was also busy planning a new line and obtaining a franchise, sacrifi cing, of course, great blocks of stock and actual cash to others, in
order to obtain suffi cient infl uence to have the necessary legislation passed. Yet it was no easy matter, seeing that others knew what
the general advantages of the situation were, and because of this
Cowperwood, who saw the great source of profi t here, was able, betimes, to serve himself – buying blocks, a part of which only went to
Butler, Mollenhauer or others. In short he was not as eager to serve
Butler, or any one else, as he was to serve himself if he could.
In this connection, the scheme which George W. Stener had
brought forward, representing actually in the background Strobik,
Wycroft, and Harmon, was an opening wedge for himself. Stener’s
plan was to loan him money out of the city treasury at two per
cent., or, if he would waive all commissions, for nothing (an agent
for self-protective purposes was absolutely necessary), and with it
take over the North Pennsylvania Company’s line on Front Street,
which, because of the shortness of its length, one mile and a half,
and the brevity of the duration of its franchise, was neither doing
very well nor being rated very high. Cowperwood in return for
his manipulative skill was to have a fair proportion of the stock –
twenty per cent. Strobik and Wycroft knew the parties from whom
167
THEODORE DREISER
the bulk of the stock could be secured if engineered properly. Their
plan was then, with this borrowed treasury money, to extend its
franchise and then the line itself, and then later again, by issuing
a great block of stock and hypothecating it with a favored bank, be
able to return the principal to the city treasury and pocket their
profi ts from the line as earned. There was no trouble in this, in so far
as Cowperwood was concerned, except that it divided the stock very
badly among these various individuals, and left him but a comparatively small share – for his thought and pains.
But Cowperwood was an opportunist. And by this time his fi nancial morality had become special and local in its character. He did
not think it was wise for any one to steal anything from anybody
where the act of taking or profi ting was directly and plainly considered stealing. That was unwise – dangerous – hence wrong. There
were so many situations wherein what one might do in the way of
taking or profi ting was open to discussion and doubt. Morality varied, in his mind at least, with conditions, if not climates. Here, in
Philadelphia, the tradition (politically, mind you – not generally)
was that the city treasurer might use the money of the city without
interest so long as he returned the principal intact. The city treasury
and the city treasurer were like a honey-laden hive and a queen bee
around which the drones – the politicians – swarmed in the hope of
profi t. The one disagreeable thing in connection with this transaction with Stener was that neither Butler, Mollenhauer nor Simpson,
who were the actual superiors of Stener and Strobik, knew anything
about it. Stener and those behind him were, through him, acting
for themselves. If the larger powers heard of this, it might alienate
them. He had to think of this. Still, if he refused to make advantageous deals with Stener or any other man infl uential in local affairs,
he was cutting off his nose to spite his face, for other bankers and
brokers would, and gladly. And besides it was not at all certain that
Butler, Mollenhauer, and Simpson would ever hear.
In this connection, there was another line, which he rode on occasionally, the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line, which he
168
THE FINANCIER
felt was a much more interesting thing for him to think about, if
he could raise the money. It had been originally capitalized for fi ve
hundred thousand dollars; but there had been a series of bonds to
the value of two hundred and fi fty thousand dollars added for improvements, and the company was fi nding great diffi culty in meeting the interest. The bulk of the stock was scattered about among
small investors, and it would require all of two hundred and fi fty
thousand dollars to collect it and have himself elected president
or chairman of the board of directors. Once in, however, he could
vote this stock as he pleased, hypothecating it meanwhile at his father’s bank for as much as he could get, and issuing more stocks
with which to bribe legislators in the matter of extending the line,
and in taking up other opportunities to either add to it by purchase
or supplement it by working agreements. The word «bribe» is used
here in this matter-of-fact American way, because bribery was what
was in every one’s mind in connection with the State legislature.
Terrence Relihan – the small, dark-faced Irishman, a dandy in dress
and manners – who represented the fi nancial interests at Harrisburg, and who had come to Cowperwood after the fi ve million bond
deal had been printed, had told him that nothing could be done at
the capital without money, or its equivalent, negotiable securities.
Each signifi cant legislator, if he yielded his vote or his infl uence,
must be looked after. If he, Cowperwood, had any scheme which he
wanted handled at any time, Relihan had intimated to him that he
would be glad to talk with him. Cowperwood had fi gured on this
Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street line scheme more than once,
but he had never felt quite sure that he was willing to undertake it.
His obligations in other directions were so large. But the lure was
there, and he pondered and pondered.
Stener’s scheme of loaning him money wherewith to manipulate
the North Pennsylvania line deal put this Seventeenth and Nineteenth Street dream in a more favorable light. As it was he was constantly watching the certifi cates of loan issue, for the city treasury, –
buying large quantities when the market was falling to protect it
169
THEODORE DREISER
and selling heavily, though cautiously, when he saw it rising and to
do this he had to have a great deal of free money to permit him to
do it. He was constantly fearful of some break in the market which
would affect the value of all his securities and result in the calling of
his loans. There was no storm in sight. He did not see that anything
could happen in reason; but he did not want to spread himself out
too thin. As he saw it now, therefore if he took one hundred and fi fty
thousand dollars of this city money and went after this Seventeenth
and Nineteenth Street matter it would not mean that he was spreading himself out too thin, for because of this new proposition could
he not call on Stener for more as a loan in connection with these
other ventures? But if anything should happen – well –
«Frank», said Stener, strolling into his offi ce one afternoon after
four o’clock when the main rush of the day’s work was over – the relationship between Cowperwood and Stener had long since reached
the »Frank» and «George» period –»Strobik thinks he has that
North Pennsylvania deal arranged so that we can take it up if we
want to. The principal stockholder, we fi nd, is a man by the name of
Coltan – not Ike Colton, but Ferdinand. How’s that for a name?»
Stener beamed fatly and genially.
Things had changed considerably for him since the days when
he had been fortuitously and almost indifferently made city treasurer. His method of dressing had so much improved since he had been
inducted into offi ce, and his manner expressed so much more good
feeling, confi dence, aplomb, that he would not have recognized
himself if he had been permitted to see himself as had those who
had known him before. An old, nervous shifting of the eyes had almost ceased, and a feeling of restfulness, which had previously been
restlessness, and had sprung from a sense of necessity, had taken its
place. His large feet were incased in good, square-toed, soft-leather
shoes; his stocky chest and fat legs were made somewhat agreeable to
the eye by a well-cut suit of brownish-gray cloth; and his neck was
now surrounded by a low, wing-point white collar and brown-silk
tie. His ample chest, which spread out a little lower in around and
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