Whereas old Dr Gruffen, of whom but few people spoke well, had made a fortune in Guestwick, and even still drew from the ailments of the town a considerable and hardly yet decreasing income.

Now this was hard upon Dr Crofts--unless there was existing some such well-understood arrangement as that above named.
He had been known to the family of the Dales long previous to his settlement at Guestwick, and had been very intimate with them from that time to the present day.

Of all the men, young or old, whom Mrs Dale counted among her intimate friends, he was the one whom she most trusted and admired.

And he was a man to be trusted by those who knew him well.

He was not bright and always ready, as was Crosbie, nor had he all the practical worldly good sense of Bernard Dale.