Read "Serapion" by Francis Stevens online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
THAT a man may retire to his bed unknown and wake up famous is a truism of long standing. There is a parallel truth not half so pleasant. A man--a whole family--may retire wealthy and wake up paupers.
My father was the practically inactive senior member of his firm, and the reins had so far left his hands that when the blow fell it was hard for him to get a grasp on the situation or even credit it.