He is now of an age--perhaps thirty years. He was a small child when he came to London--he has become more English than the English themselves. His activity and industry are very great; he forms plans of such magnitude and numbers that they would compel his grandfather to turn in his coffin. I am in indifferent health.
I live much at Homburg and Marienbad and at Cairo.
Practically speaking, I have retired from business.
There remain branches of our house--in several places--but the London house has become the centre of all things--and Robert has become the London house. This I make plain to your mind, do I, Mr. Thorpe?"The other, with his chin sunk within the collar of his white waistcoat, and scrutinizing the narrator with a steadfast though impassive glance, made the faintest possible nod of assent.
"I had great confidence in Robert, "the old man went on.
His eyes were dimming with tears, and his voice quavered uncertainly. "His plans seemed wise, even if they risked more than formerly. The conditions of business are wholly altered since my youth--and it was best, I thought, to make Robert free to act under these conditions, which he understood much better than I could pretend to do. Thus it was that when he said it was necessary for Fromentin Brothers to belong to the Stock Exchange, I did not object. He was active and bold and clever, and he was in the thick of the fight. Therefore he should be the judge in all things. And that is our ruin.
In the time of the South African excitement, he won a great deal of money. Then he lost it all and more.
Then gambling began, and his fortunes went now up, now down, but always, as his books show to me now--sinking a little on the average. He grew more adventurous--more careless.
He put many small counters upon different numbers on the table. You know what I mean? And in an accursed moment, because other gamblers were doing the same, he sold two thousand of your shares, without having them in his hands.
Voila! He wishes now to put a bullet through his brain.
He proposes that as the fitting end of Fromentin Freres."Thorpe, his chin on his breast, continued to regard the melancholy figure opposite with a moody eye. It seemed a long minute before he broke the tense silence by a sigh of discomfort. "I do not discuss these things with anybody,"he said then, coldly. "If I had known who you were, I don't think you'd have got in."The Marquis of Chaldon intuitively straightened himself in his chair, and turned toward the speaker a glance of distressed surprise.
"Or no--I beg your pardon," Thorpe hastened to add, upon the instant hint of this look--"that doesn't convey my meaning. Of course, our Chairman brings whom he pleases.
His friends--as a matter of course--are our friends.
What I should have said was that if this had been mentioned beforehand to me, I should have explained that it wasn't possible to discuss that particular business.""But--pardon me"--said Lord Chaldon, in a quiet, very gentle, yet insistent voice, which seemed now to recall to its listeners the fact that sovereigns and chancellors had in their day had attentive ears for its tones--"pardon me, but why should it not be possible?"Thorpe frowned doubtfully, and shifted his position in his chair. "What could I say, if it were discussed?"he made vague retort. "I'm merely one of the Directors.
You are our Chairman, but you see he hasn't found it of any use to discuss it with you. There are hard and fast rules about these things. They run their natural course.
You are not a business man, my Lord----"
"Oh, I think I may be called a 'business man,'"interposed the nobleman, suavely. "They would tell you so in Calcutta, I think, and in Cairo too.
When one considers it, I have transacted a great deal of business--on the behalf of other people.
And if you will permit me--I do not impute indirection, of course--but your remark seems to require a footnote.
It is true that I am Chairman of the Board on which you are a Director--but it is not quite the whole truth.
I as Chairman know absolutely nothing about this matter.
As I understand the situation, it is not in your capacity as a Director that you know anything about it either.
Yet----"
He paused, as if suddenly conscious of some impropriety in this domestic frankness before a third party, and Thorpe pounced through his well-mannered hesitation with the swiftness of a bird of prey.
"Let me suggest," he said roundly, lifting his head and poising a hand to hold attention, while he thought upon what it was he should suggest--"this is what I would say.
It seems rather irregular, doesn't it? to debate the matter in the presence of an outsider. You see it yourself.
That is partly what I meant. Now I have met Mr. Fromentin,"he gave the name its English vowels with an obstinate emphasis, "and I have heard his statement. You have heard it too.
If he wishes to lay more facts before us, why, well and good.
But then I would suggest that he leave the matter in our hands, to discuss and look into between ourselves.
That seems to you the proper course, doesn't it, Lord Chaldon?"The French banker had been studying with strained acuteness the big lymphatic mask of the Director, with sundry sharp glances aside at the Chairman.
The nervous changes on his alert, meagre old face showed how intently he followed every phase of their talk.
A certain sardonic perception of evil in the air curled on his lip when he saw the Marquis accede with a bow and wave of the hand to Thorpe's proposition. Then he made his bow in turn, and put the best face possible upon the matter.
