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And not only that: I should have dragged a great many of the men, of the friends who had trusted to my ability, who have believed in me, into the same pit; not only such men as Griffenberg and Wirsch and the Beltons, but the Plaistows, the Clansdales, and the Fitzharfords. They would have suffered with me, would have, considered themselves betrayed." Stafford drew a long breath.
"No, I'd rather talk; which means that you are to talk and I'm to listen: will it exhaust you too much to tell me where the rest of the people are? I left a party in the breakfast-room squabbling over the problem how to kill time; but where are the others? My father, for instance?" "He is in the library with Baron Wirsch, Mr. Griffenberg, and the other financiers.
It pulled him together a bit, and he was going back to the ball-room when several men entered. They were Griffenberg, Baron Wirsch, the Beltons and the other financiers; they were all talking together and laughing, and their faces were flushed with triumph. Close behind them, but grave and taciturn as usual, came Mr. Falconer. At sight of Stafford, Mr.
"I am making for a concession a charter from the government." Falconer nodded again. "And I want a railway from Danville to Bualbec." His voice almost sank to a whisper. "Griffinberg, Wirsch, and the rest are with me or nearly so I have got them down to clench the matter. There are millions in it if I can bring it off; there is what is worth more than millions to me " Falconer nodded.
It's a railway to some place in Africa, and all these fellows the Griffenbergs, and Beltons, that fat German baron, Wirsch, and the rest of them, are in it. Heaven knows why my father wants to worry about it for. I heard one of them say that he calculated to make a million and a half out of it. As if he weren't rich enough!" "A million and a half," she said. "What a large sum it seems.
God, what a bankrupt he was! His father, his sweetheart, his wealth all had been taken from him. He did not think of Maude. At noon the following day there was a large meeting at Gloucester House. There gathered the Beltons, Baron Wirsch, Griffenberg, and the titled and untitled folk who had been concerned in Sir Stephen Orme's big scheme.
By the way, shall I spoil your lunch if I read you out a list of the guests whom we are expecting this afternoon? Sir Stephen was good enough to furnish me with it, with the amiable wish that I might find some friend on it. What do you say to Lord and Lady Fitzharford; the Countess of Clansford; the Baron Wirsch; the Right Honourable Henry Efford; Sir William and Lady Plaistow "
They were all there Griffenberg, Wirsch, the Beltons, Efford, and Fitzharford; and they were all smiling and in the best of humours, presenting by their appearance a striking contrast to that which they had worn when he had seen them on the night when the ruin of the company had been conveyed in that fatal cablegram.
As he said the last words there came a knock at the door, and Murray entered with an injured look. "Mr. Griffenberg and Baron Wirsch, would like to see you, Sir Stephen," he said, significantly. Sir Stephen sprang to the table almost with the alertness of a boy, and caught up the papers lying on his desk. "All right, Murray!" he cried. "Sorry I'm late! Been having a talk with Mr. Stafford.
"Fashion is represented by the Fitzharfords and old Lady Clansford; politics by Efford and the Beltons, and finance by Plaistow and Wirsch. That Griffinberg is coming is a proof that Sir Stephen has got 'a little railway' in his mind; there are several others who seem to have been thrown in, not to increase weight, but to lighten it.
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