Cartwright had begun to feel it was time to let others work while he looked on.

His control counted for less than he had thought; things went without much guidance and it was enough to give them a push in the proper direction now and then.

To rouse himself for an effort was getting harder and he would have been satisfied to rest, had not his pride, and, to some extent, his step-children's antagonism, prevented his doing so.

He needed money and would not use his wife's.
One must pay for old extravagances, and the bills were coming in; Mrs.
Seaton's expected call was an example.

Ellen was a widow, but before she married Seaton, Cartwright knew she counted him her lover.