But of course he knew nothing about all this.

He had never expected or wished to be allowed to enjoy such things; he had always been of opinion that they were never intended for the likes of him.

He called himself a Conservative and was very patriotic.
At the time when the Boer War commenced, Linden was an enthusiastic jingo: his enthusiasm had been somewhat damped when his youngest son, a reservist, had to go to the front, where he died of fever and exposure.
When this soldier son went away, he left his wife and two children, aged respectively four and five years at that time, in his father's care.

After he died they stayed on with the old people.

The young woman earned a little occasionally by doing needlework, but was really dependent on her father-in-law.