Notwithstanding their just displeasure, Oliver’s old allies and patrons did not at once give him the cut direct, to his face. As Mrs. Hilliard had shrewdly defined the position, he could not rid himself in a moment of the independent fortune his father had left him, and of his university training. His going into trade might be a mere passing skit, like the freaks of some other University men tinged with the craze of doing something, at once out of the common and communistic, which distinguished a few of the young scholars and geniuses of the era; or it might be a simple step to winding up the business and getting rid of it; or it might be feeling Oliver’s way to popularity with some dim notion of getting into Parliament at a later date. If so, though the fellow might be a dreaming scheming fool for his pains, it would be a totally different kind of folly, which society could not afford to condemn severely. And a mistake might be awkward. The Fremantles and Co. could not be altogether sure of the motive at work, and, like politic people, they were disposed to temporise and refrain for a while from compromising themselves strongly. In addition the Friarton magnates wondered a little how Constable would get on, how he would manage to combine qualifications which the Wrights and Fremantles were accustomed to consider far apart. In the dearth of sources of social interest and excitement, Oliver’s former friends retained a great curiosity, in the middle of their indignation and disgust, with regard to his proceedings. Therefore ladies and gentlemen greeted him in his new character blandly at first, and even made half-jesting allusions to his having become what the speakers termed courteously a ‘business man,’ just hinting that he would be a _rara avis_ among the common shopkeepers at Friarton. The Wrights and Fremantles showed that it would not be their fault if they did not drop young Constable—supposing they were compelled to drop him—by imperceptible degrees, and with a gentle decorum and consideration both for themselves and him.