This was in the
nature of an absurd prologue, but when she finally came to the
Solitary she grew serious; for she made him in the bygone days a
sensitive child and a dreamy, impetuous youth, with a domineering,
ill-tempered father who was utterly unable and unwilling to
understand or to sympathise with him. His younger brother (for Rhoda
insists on a younger brother) lived at home, while he, the elder,
spent, or misspent, his youth and early manhood in a German
university. As the years went on, the relations between himself and
his father grew more and more strained. Do as the son might, he
could never please, either in his line of thought and study or in his
practical pursuits. The father hated his books, his music, his
poetry, and his artist friends, while he on his part found nothing to
stimulate or content him in his father's tasks and manner of life.
His mother pined and died in the effort to keep peace between them,
but the younger brother's schemes were quite in an opposite
direction. At this time, Mr. Man flung himself into a foolish
marriage, one that promised little in the shape of the happiness he
craved so eagerly. (Rhoda insists on this unhappy marriage; I am in
doubt about it.) Finally his father died, and on being summoned
home, as he supposed, to take his rightful place and assume the
management of the estate, he found himself disinherited.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140