He soon discovered, to his delight, that these fears were groundless.

He found that the very fact that Ruth had made him her sole confidant provided a common bond which brought them closer together.

Ruth's pride in her brother's success at the bank and in the encomiums of the townsfolk had to find expression somewhere.

She could express them to her landlord and she did.
Almost every day she dropped in at the windmill shop for a moment's call and chat, the subject of that chat always, of course, the same.
"I told you he would succeed," she declared, her eyes shining and her face alight.

"I told you so, Jed.