Mr. Bell (Brian Protheroe)
Mr. Bell is Mr. Hale's old friend from Oxford. He is always light and detached from the problems surrounding industry. He's an academic with a lot of money and power, but he has not had to work as Mr. Thornton has. He becomes the catalyst that enables the story to turn out so well. When he dies, he leaves all his money to Margaret. She gives it to Thornton to run his mill proving that despite all the changes, "old money" still has power in Europe.