Cast Adrift | Page 8

questioning fear began to creep in, a sense of insecurity, a dread of
hidden danger. The daughter did not fully trust her mother, nor the
husband his wife.

CHAPTER II.

THE reception of young Granger was as cordial as Mrs. Dinneford
chose to make it. She wanted to get near enough to study his character
thoroughly, to discover its weaknesses and defects, not its better
qualities, so that she might do for him the evil work that was in her
heart. She hated him with a bitter hatred, and there is nothing so subtle
and tireless and unrelenting as the hatred of a bad woman.
She found him weak and unwary. His kindly nature, his high sense of
honor, his upright purpose, his loving devotion to Edith, were nothing
in her eyes. She spurned them in her thoughts, she trampled them under
her feet with scorn. But she studied his defects, and soon knew every
weak point in his character. She drew him out to speak of himself, of
his aims and prospects, of his friends and associates, until she
understood him altogether. Then she laid her plans for his destruction.
Granger was holding a clerkship at the time of his marriage, but was
anxious to get a start for himself. He had some acquaintance with a
man named Lloyd Freeling, and often spoke of him in connection with
business. Freeling had a store on one of the best streets, and, as
represented by himself, a fine run of trade, but wanted more capital.

One day he said to Granger,
"If I could find the right man with ten thousand dollars, I would take
him in. We could double this business in a year."
Granger repeated the remark at home, Mrs. Dinneford listened, laid it
up in her thought, and on the next day called at the store of Mr.
Freeling to see what manner of man he was.
Her first impression was favorable--she liked him. On a second visit
she likes him better. She was not aware that Freeling knew her; in this
he had something of the advantage. A third time she dropped in, asking
to see certain goods and buying a small bill, as before. This time she
drew Mr. Freeling into conversation about business, and put some
questions the meaning of which he understood quite as well as she did.
A woman like Mrs. Dinneford can read character almost as easily as
she can read a printed page, particularly a weak or bad character. She
knew perfectly, before the close of this brief interview, that Freeling
was a man without principle, false and unscrupulous, and that if
Granger were associated with him in business, he could, if he chose,
not only involve him in transactions of a dishonest nature, but throw
upon him the odium and the consequences.
"Do you think," she said to Granger, not long afterward, "that your
friend, Mr. Freeling, would like to have you for a partner in business?"
The question surprised and excited him.
"I know it," he returned; "he has said so more than once."
"How much capital would he require?"
"Ten thousand dollars."
"A large sum to risk."
"Yes; but I do not think there will be any risk. The business is well
established."
"What do you know about Mr. Freeling?"
"Not a great deal; but if I am any judge of character, he is fair and
honorable."
Mrs. Dinneford turned her head that Granger might not see the
expression of her face.
"You had better talk with Mr. Dinneford," she said.
But Mr. Dinneford did not favor it. He had seen too many young men
go into business and fail.
So the matter was dropped for a little while. But Mrs. Dinneford had

set her heart on the young man's destruction, and no better way of
accomplishing the work presented itself than this. He must be involved
in some way to hurt his good name, to blast his reputation and drive
him to ruin. Weak, trusting and pliable, a specious villain in whom he
had confidence might easily get him involved in transactions that were
criminal under the law. She would be willing to sacrifice twice ten
thousand dollars to accomplish this result.
Neither Mr. Dinneford nor Edith favored the business connection with
Freeling, and said all they could against it. In weak natures we often
find great pertinacity. Granger had this quality. He had set his mind on
the copartnership, and saw in it a high road to fortune, and no argument
of Mr. Dinneford, nor opposition of Edith, had power to change his
views, or to hold him back from the arrangement favored by Mrs.
Dinneford, and made possible by the capital she almost compelled her
husband to supply.
In due time the change from clerk