There was Ruth Jacobi,
his granddaughter--the only child of the house--who had already reached
an age at which she might be betrothed; and there was Samuel Loth,
the son of Baltazar Loth, old Trendellsohn's oldest friend. Anton
Trendellsohn did not doubt who might be the adopted child to be taken
to fill his place. It has been already explained that there was no
partnership actually existing between the two Trendellsohns. By degrees
the son had slipt into the father's place, and the business by which
the house had grown rich had for the last five or six years been
managed chiefly by him. But the actual results of the son's industry
and the son's thrift were still in the possession of the father. The
old man might no doubt go far towards ruining his son if he were so
minded.
Dreams of a high ambition had, from very early years, flitted across
the mind of the younger Trendellsohn till they had nearly formed
themselves into a settled purpose. He had heard of Jews in Vienna, in
Paris, and in London, who were as true to their religion as any Jew of
Prague, but who did not live immured in a Jews' quarter, like lepers
separate and alone in some loathed corner of a city otherwise clean.
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