In great things and small his brother had been his antagonist from his early manhood, through eighteen years of married life to the present day.

And yet, without Paolo, he could hardly have hoped to find himself in his present state of fortune.
This was one of the chief sources of his humiliation in his own eyes.
With such a character as his, it is eminently true that it is harder to forgive a benefit than an injury.

He might have felt less bitterly against his brother if he had not received at his hands the orders and commissions which had turned into solid money in the bank.

It was hard to face Paolo, knowing that he owed two-thirds of his fortune to such a source.

If he could get rid of the priest he would be relieved at once from the burden of this annoyance, of this financial subjection, as well of all that embittered his life.