This man--Harrison Van Doren by name--had what was termed the best jewelry trade in Colchester.
The "old" families--not that any of them could trace their ancestry back very far--liked to say that "we get all our stuff at Van Doren's."
Young ladies counted it a point in the favor of their lovers if the engagement circlet came from Van Doren's. And Mortimer Darcy, knowing the value of that class of trade, had, when he purchased Mr. Van Doren's business fostered that spirit.