He had been bred-up with no expectation of ever having to take his place in the counting-house, had been educated at Eton and Oxford, and had been taught to anticipate a handsome fortune from his father.

All these expectations had been disappointed by Mr.Fenton's sudden death at a period of great commercial disturbance.

The business was found in a state of entanglement that was very near insolvency; and wise friends told Gilbert Fenton that the only hope of coming well out of these perplexities lay with himself.

The business was too good to be sacrificed, and the business was all his father had left behind him, with the exception of a houseful of handsome furniture, two or three carriages, and a couple of pairs of horses, which were sold by auction within a few weeks of the funeral.
Gilbert Fenton took upon himself the management of the business.

He had a clear comprehensive intellect, which adapted itself very easily to commerce.