They knew and understood its weight perfectly well.

When their client had married one of Reuben Vanderpoel's daughters, they had felt that extraordinary good fortune had befallen him and his estate.

Their private opinion had been that Mr.
Vanderpoel's knowledge of his son-in-law must have been limited, or that he had curiously lax American views of paternal duty.

The firm was highly reputable, long established strictly conservative, and somewhat insular in its point of view.

It did not understand, or seek to understand, America.