"Mr Merdle's right hand was filled with the evening paper, and the
evening paper was full of Mr Merdle. His wonderful enterprise, his
wonderful wealth, his wonderful Bank, were the fattening food of
the evening paper that night. The wonderful Bank, of which he was
the chief projector, establisher, and manager, was the latest of
the many Merdle wonders. So modest was Mr Merdle withal, in the
midst of these splendid achievements, that he looked far more like
a man in possession of his house under a distraint, than a
commercial Colossus bestriding his own hearthrug, while the little
ships were sailing into dinner."

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Dis*traint"\, n. [OF. destrainte distress, force.]
(Law)
The act or proceeding of seizing personal property by
distress. --Abbott.

Mr. Merdle is an humble oddity, Colossus that he is, isn't he? What did he end up doing in this story, wwh?

He borrowed a tortoise shell penknife, and severed his jugular vein.
Incidentally, though he must have had a Ponzi type of
scam, he didn't have the flambouyance of a typical Ponzi.
I think Dickens goofed in his portrayal of him as totally
colorless, seeking no publicity.

He's complex, isn't he? I suppose I'd have to read the book to see what else there is about this Richard Cory sort of character...

Dickens makes only a straw man out of him, just to make the plot possible. To me that part of the plot just doesn't gel.
It is from Little Dorrit.
And I'll bet few of us could really believe that Little Dorrit could be so completely devoted to her father.