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THE FINANCIER
«No real trouble, mother», he replied. «Just everything – ducks
and drakes, that’s all».
«Well, ye must ate a good, hearty meal now, and that’ll refresh
ye», observed his mother, genially and feelingly. «Thompson» – she
was referring to the family grocer –»brought us the last of his beans.
You must have some of those».
«Sure, beans’ll fi x it, whatever it is, Owen», joked Callum. «Mother’s got the answer».
«They’re fi ne, I’d have ye know», replied Mrs. Butler, quite unconscious of the joke.
«No doubt of it, mother», replied Callum. «Real brain-food. Let’s
feed some to Norah».
«You’d better eat some yourself, smarty. My, but you’re gay!
I suppose you’re going out to see somebody. That’s why».
«Right you are, Norah. Smart girl, you. Five or six. Ten to fi fteen
minutes each. I’d call on you if you were nicer».
«You would if you got the chance», mocked Norah. «I’d have you
know I wouldn’t let you. I’d feel very bad if I couldn’t get somebody
better than you».
«As good as, you mean», corrected Callum.
«Children, children!» interpolated Mrs. Butler, calmly, looking
about for old John, the servant. «You’ll be losin’ your tempers in
a minute. Hush now. Here comes your father. Where’s Aileen?»
Butler walked heavily in and took his seat.
John, the servant, appeared bearing a platter of beans among
other things, and Mrs. Butler asked him to send some one to call
Aileen.
«It’s gettin’ colder, I’m thinkin’», said Butler, by way of conversation, and eyeing Aileen’s empty chair. She would come soon
now – his heavy problem. He had been very tactful these last two
months – avoiding any reference to Cowperwood in so far as he
could help in her presence.
«It’s colder», remarked Owen, «much colder. We’ll soon see real
winter now».
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THEODORE DREISER
Old John began to offer the various dishes in order; but when all
had been served Aileen had not yet come.
«See where Aileen is, John», observed Mrs. Butler, interestedly.
«The meal will be gettin’ cold».
Old John returned with the news that Aileen was not in
her room.
«Sure she must be somewhere», commented Mrs. Butler, only
slightly perplexed. «She’ll be comin’, though, never mind, if she
wants to. She knows it’s meal-time».
The conversation drifted from a new water-works that was being planned to the new city hall, then nearing completion; Cowperwood’s fi nancial and social troubles, and the state of the stock
market generally; a new gold-mine in Arizona; the departure of Mrs.
Mollenhauer the following Tuesday for Europe, with appropriate
comments by Norah and Callum; and a Christmas ball that was going to be given for charity.
«Aileen’ll be wantin’ to go to that», commented Mrs. Butler.
«I’m going, you bet», put in Norah.
«Who’s going to take you?» asked Callum.
«That’s my affair, mister», she replied, smartly.
The meal was over, and Mrs. Butler strolled up to Aileen’s
room to see why she had not come down to dinner. Butler entered
his den, wishing so much that he could take his wife into his confi dence concerning all that was worrying him. On his desk, as he
sat down and turned up the light, he saw the note. He recognized
Aileen’s handwriting at once. What could she mean by writing him?
A sense of the untoward came to him, and he tore it open slowly,
and, putting on his glasses, contemplated it solemnly.
So Aileen was gone. The old man stared at each word as if it had
been written in fi re. She said she had not gone with Cowperwood.
It was possible, just the same, that he had run away from Philadelphia and taken her with him. This was the last straw. This ended it.
Aileen lured away from home – to where – to what? Butler could
scarcely believe, though, that Cowperwood had tempted her to do
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THE FINANCIER
this. He had too much at stake; it would involve his own and Butler’s
families. The papers would be certain to get it quickly. He got up,
crumpling the paper in his hand, and turned about at a noise. His
wife was coming in. He pulled himself together and shoved the letter in his pocket.
«Aileen’s not in her room», she said, curiously. «She didn’t say
anything to you about going out, did she?»
«No», he replied, truthfully, wondering how soon he should
have to tell his wife.
«That’s odd», observed Mrs. Butler, doubtfully. «She must have
gone out after somethin’. It’s a wonder she wouldn’t tell somebody».
Butler gave no sign. He dared not. «She’ll be back», he said,
more in order to gain time than anything else. He was sorry to
have to pretend. Mrs. Butler went out, and he closed the door. Then
he took out the letter and read it again. The girl was crazy. She was
doing an absolutely wild, inhuman, senseless thing. Where could
she go, except to Cowperwood? She was on the verge of a public
scandal, and this would produce it. There was just one thing to do
as far as he could see. Cowperwood, if he were still in Philadelphia,
would know. He would go to him – threaten, cajole, actually destroy
him, if necessary. Aileen must come back. She need not go to Europe,
perhaps, but she must come back and behave herself at least until
Cowperwood could legitimately marry her. That was all he could
expect now. She would have to wait, and some day perhaps he could
bring himself to accept her wretched proposition. Horrible thought!
It would kill her mother, disgrace her sister. He got up, took down
his hat, put on his overcoat, and started out.
Arriving at the Cowperwood home he was shown into the reception-room. Cowperwood at the time was in his den looking over
some private papers. When the name of Butler was announced he
immediately went down-stairs. It was characteristic of the man that
the announcement of Butler’s presence created no stir in him whatsoever. So Butler had come. That meant, of course, that Aileen had
gone. Now for a battle, not of words, but of weights of personalities.
423
THEODORE DREISER
He felt himself to be intellectually, socially, and in every other way
the more powerful man of the two. That spiritual content of him
which we call life hardened to the texture of steel. He recalled that
although he had told his wife and his father that the politicians, of
whom Butler was one, were trying to make a scapegoat of him,
Butler, nevertheless, was not considered to be wholly alienated as
a friend, and civility must prevail. He would like very much to placate him if he could, to talk out the hard facts of life in a quiet and
friendly way. But this matter of Aileen had to be adjusted now once
and for all. And with that thought in his mind he walked quickly
into Butler’s presence.
The old man, when he learned that Cowperwood was in and
would see him, determined to make his contact with the fi nancier
as short and effective as possible. He moved the least bit when he
heard Cowperwood’s step, as light and springy as ever.
«Good evening, Mr. Butler», said Cowperwood, cheerfully, when
he saw him, extending his hand. «What can I do for you?»
«Ye can take that away from in front of me, for one thing», said
Butler, grimly referring to his hand. «I have no need of it. It’s my
daughter I’ve come to talk to ye about, and I want plain answers.
Where is she?»
«You mean Aileen?» said Cowperwood, looking at him with
steady, curious, unrevealing eyes, and merely interpolating this to
obtain a moment for refl ection. «What can I tell you about her?»
«Ye can tell me where she is, that I know. And ye can make her
come back to her home, where she belongs. It was bad fortune that
ever brought ye across my doorstep; but I’ll not bandy words with
ye here. Ye’ll tell me where my daughter is, and ye’ll leave her alone
from now, or I’ll –» The old man’s fi sts closed like a vise, and his
chest heaved with suppressed rage. «Ye’ll not be drivin’ me too far,
man, if ye’re wise», he added, after a time, recovering his equanimity in part. «I want no truck with ye. I want my daughter».
«Listen, Mr. Butler», said Cowperwood, quite calmly, relishing the situation for the sheer sense of superiority it gave him.
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THE FINANCIER
«I want to be perfectly frank with you, if you will let me. I may know
where your daughter is, and I may not. I may wish to tell you, and
I may not. She may not wish me to. But unless you wish to talk with
me in a civil way there is no need of our going on any further. You
are privileged to do what you like. Won’t you come up-stairs to my
room? We can talk more comfortably there».
Butler looked at his former protege in utter astonishment.
He had never before in all his experience come up against a more
ruthless type – suave, bland, forceful, unterrifi ed. This man had certainly come to him as a sheep, and had turned out to be a ravening
wolf. His incarceration had not put him in the least awe.
«I’ll not come up to your room», Butler said, «and ye’ll not get
out of Philadelphy with her if that’s what ye’re plannin’. I can see to
that. Ye think ye have the upper hand of me, I see, and ye’re anxious to make something of it. Well, ye’re not. It wasn’t enough that
ye come to me as a beggar, cravin’ the help of me, and that I took
ye in and helped ye all I could – ye had to steal my daughter from
me in the bargain. If it wasn’t for the girl’s mother and her sister and
her brothers – dacenter men than ever ye’ll know how to be – I’d
brain ye where ye stand. Takin’ a young, innocent girl and makin’
an evil woman out of her, and ye a married man! It’s a God’s blessin’
for ye that it’s me, and not one of me sons, that’s here talkin’ to ye, or
ye wouldn’t be alive to say what ye’d do».
The old man was grim but impotent in his rage.
«I’m sorry, Mr. Butler», replied Cowperwood, quietly. «I’m willing to explain, but you won’t let me. I’m not planning to run away
with your daughter, nor to leave Philadelphia. You ought to know
me well enough to know that I’m not contemplating anything of
that kind; my interests are too large. You and I are practical men.
We ought to be able to talk this matter over together and reach
an understanding. I thought once of coming to you and explaining
this; but I was quite sure you wouldn’t listen to me. Now that you are
here I would like to talk to you. If you will come up to my room I will
be glad to – otherwise not. Won’t you come up?»
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THEODORE DREISER
Butler saw that Cowperwood had the advantage. He might as
well go up. Otherwise it was plain he would get no information.
«Very well», he said.
Cowperwood led the way quite amicably, and, having entered
his private offi ce, closed the door behind him.
«We ought to be able to talk this matter over and reach an understanding», he said again, when they were in the room and he
had closed the door. «I am not as bad as you think, though I know
I appear very bad». Butler stared at him in contempt. «I love your
daughter, and she loves me. I know you are asking yourself how
I can do this while I am still married; but I assure you I can, and that
I do. I am not happily married. I had expected, if this panic hadn’t
come along, to arrange with my wife for a divorce and marry Aileen. My intentions are perfectly good. The situation which you can
complain of, of course, is the one you encountered a few weeks ago.
It was indiscreet, but it was entirely human. Your daughter does
not complain – she understands». At the mention of his daughter in this connection Butler fl ushed with rage and shame, but he
controlled himself.
«And ye think because she doesn’t complain that it’s all right, do
ye?» he asked, sarcastically.
«From my point of view, yes; from yours no. You have one view of
life, Mr. Butler, and I have another».
«Ye’re right there», put in Butler, «for once, anyhow».
«That doesn’t prove that either of us is right or wrong. In my
judgment the present end justifi es the means. The end I have in view
is to marry Aileen. If I can possibly pull myself out of this fi nancial scrape that I am in I will do so. Of course, I would like to have
your consent for that – so would Aileen; but if we can’t, we can’t».
(Cowperwood was thinking that while this might not have a very
soothing effect on the old contractor’s point of view, nevertheless
it must make some appeal to his sense of the possible or necessary.
Aileen’s present situation was quite unsatisfactory without marriage in view. And even if he, Cowperwood, was a convicted embez-
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THE FINANCIER
zler in the eyes of the public, that did not make him so. He might get
free and restore himself – would certainly – and Aileen ought to
be glad to marry him if she could under the circumstances. He did
not quite grasp the depth of Butler’s religious and moral prejudices.)
«Lately», he went on, «you have been doing all you can, as I understand it, to pull me down, on account of Aileen, I suppose; but that
is simply delaying what I want to do».
«Ye’d like me to help ye do that, I suppose?» suggested Butler,
with infi nite disgust and patience.
«I want to marry Aileen», Cowperwood repeated, for emphasis’
sake. «She wants to marry me. Under the circumstances, however
you may feel, you can have no real objection to my doing that, I am
sure; yet you go on fi ghting me – making it hard for me to do what
you really know ought to be done».
«Ye’re a scoundrel», said Butler, seeing through his motives quite
clearly. «Ye’re a sharper, to my way of thinkin’, and it’s no child of
mine I want connected with ye. I’m not sayin’, seein’ that things are
as they are, that if ye were a free man it wouldn’t be better that she
should marry ye. It’s the one dacent thing ye could do – if ye would,
which I doubt. But that’s nayther here nor there now. What can ye
want with her hid away somewhere? Ye can’t marry her. Ye can’t
get a divorce. Ye’ve got your hands full fi ghtin’ your lawsuits and
kapin’ yourself out of jail. She’ll only be an added expense to ye, and
ye’ll be wantin’ all the money ye have for other things, I’m thinkin’.
Why should ye want to be takin’ her away from a dacent home and
makin’ something out of her that ye’d be ashamed to marry if you
could? The laist ye could do, if ye were any kind of a man at all, and
had any of that thing that ye’re plased to call love, would be to lave
her at home and keep her as respectable as possible. Mind ye, I’m
not thinkin’ she isn’t ten thousand times too good for ye, whatever
ye’ve made of her. But if ye had any sinse of dacency left, ye wouldn’t
let her shame her family and break her old mother’s heart, and that
for no purpose except to make her worse than she is already. What
good can ye get out of it, now? What good can ye expect to come of
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THEODORE DREISER
it? Be hivins, if ye had any sinse at all I should think ye could see that
for yerself. Ye’re only addin’ to your troubles, not takin’ away from
them – and she’ll not thank ye for that later on».
He stopped, rather astonished that he should have been drawn
into an argument. His contempt for this man was so great that he
could scarcely look at him, but his duty and his need was to get
Aileen back. Cowperwood looked at him as one who gives serious
attention to another. He seemed to be thinking deeply over what
Butler had said.
«To tell you the truth, Mr. Butler», he said, «I did not want Aileen to leave your home at all; and she will tell you so, if you ever
talk to her about it. I did my best to persuade her not to, and when
she insisted on going the only thing I could do was to be sure she
would be comfortable wherever she went. She was greatly outraged to think you should have put detectives on her trail. That, and
the fact that you wanted to send her away somewhere against her
will, was the principal reasons for her leaving. I assure you I did not
want her to go. I think you forget sometimes, Mr. Butler, that Aileen
is a grown woman, and that she has a will of her own. You think
I control her to her great disadvantage. As a matter of fact, I am very
much in love with her, and have been for three or four years; and
if you know anything about love you know that it doesn’t always
mean control. I’m not doing Aileen any injustice when I say that
she has had as much infl uence on me as I have had on her. I love
her, and that’s the cause of all the trouble. You come and insist that
I shall return your daughter to you. As a matter of fact, I don’t know
whether I can or not. I don’t know that she would go if I wanted her
to. She might turn on me and say that I didn’t care for her any more.
That is not true, and I would not want her to feel that way. She is
greatly hurt, as I told you, by what you did to her, and the fact that
you want her to leave Philadelphia. You can do as much to remedy
that as I can. I could tell you where she is, but I do not know that
I want to. Certainly not until I know what your attitude toward her
and this whole proposition is to be».
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THE FINANCIER
He paused and looked calmly at the old contractor, who eyed
him grimly in return.
«What proposition are ye talkin’ about?» asked Butler, interested by the peculiar developments of this argument. In spite of
himself he was getting a slightly different angle on the whole situation. The scene was shifting to a certain extent. Cowperwood appeared to be reasonably sincere in the matter. His promises might
all be wrong, but perhaps he did love Aileen; and it was possible that
he did intend to get a divorce from his wife some time and marry
her. Divorce, as Butler knew, was against the rules of the Catholic Church, which he so much revered. The laws of God and any
sense of decency commanded that Cowperwood should not desert
his wife and children and take up with another woman – not even
Aileen, in order to save her. It was a criminal thing to plan, sociologically speaking, and showed what a villain Cowperwood inherently
was; but, nevertheless, Cowperwood was not a Catholic, his views of
life were not the same as his own, Butler’s, and besides and worst of
all (no doubt due in part to Aileen’s own temperament), he had
compromised her situation very materially. She might not easily be
restored to a sense of the normal and decent, and so the matter was
worth taking into thought. Butler knew that ultimately he could not
countenance any such thing – certainly not, and keep his faith with
the Church – but he was human enough none the less to consider
it. Besides, he wanted Aileen to come back; and Aileen from now on,
he knew, would have some say as to what her future should be.
«Well, it’s simple enough», replied Cowperwood. «I should
like to have you withdraw your opposition to Aileen’s remaining in
Philadelphia, for one thing; and for another, I should like you to
stop your attacks on me». Cowperwood smiled in an ingratiating
way. He hoped really to placate Butler in part by his generous attitude throughout this procedure. «I can’t make you do that, of
course, unless you want to. I merely bring it up, Mr. Butler, because
I am sure that if it hadn’t been for Aileen you would not have taken
the course you have taken toward me. I understood you received
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THEODORE DREISER
an anonymous letter, and that afternoon you called your loan with
me. Since then I have heard from one source and another that
you were strongly against me, and I merely wish to say that I wish
you wouldn’t be. I am not guilty of embezzling any sixty thousand
dollars, and you know it. My intentions were of the best. I did not
think I was going to fail at the time I used those certifi cates, and if
it hadn’t been for several other loans that were called I would have
gone on to the end of the month and put them back in time, as I always had. I have always valued your friendship very highly, and I am
very sorry to lose it. Now I have said all I am going to say».
Butler looked at Cowperwood with shrewd, calculating eyes.
The man had some merit, but much unconscionable evil in him.
Butler knew very well how he had taken the check, and a good
many other things in connection with it. The manner in which he
had played his cards to-night was on a par with the way he had
run to him on the night of the fi re. He was just shrewd and calculating and heartless.
«I’ll make ye no promise», he said. «Tell me where my daughter
is, and I’ll think the matter over. Ye have no claim on me now, and
I owe ye no good turn. But I’ll think it over, anyhow».
«That’s quite all right», replied Cowperwood. «That’s all
I can expect. But what about Aileen? Do you expect her to leave
Philadelphia?»
«Not if she settles down and behaves herself: but there must be
an end of this between you and her. She’s disgracin’ her family and
ruinin’ her soul in the bargain. And that’s what you are doin’ with
yours. It’ll be time enough to talk about anything else when you’re
a free man. More than that I’ll not promise».
Cowperwood, satisfi ed that this move on Aileen’s part had done
her a real service if it had not aided him especially, was convinced
that it would be a good move for her to return to her home at once.
He could not tell how his appeal to the State Supreme Court would
eventuate. His motion for a new trial which was now to be made
under the privilege of the certifi cate of reasonable doubt might not
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