Martin Chuzzlewit

character and book by Charles Dickens, acted by Paul Scofield in BBC series

They didn’t know, behind the scenes,
he was observing devious schemes:
though not almighty, yet he seems
to have the wisdom, kindness, means
to cut right through some tangled skeins.

His stubborness and selfishness,
he later saw,
precipitated some distress, –
they maybe could have known before
of his true heart, had he not wanted privacy
to test, investigate, in secrecy.