“What, exactly,” I asked, “do you want to get out of him?”
“William, please … you put things so very crudely.”
“It saves time.”
“Yes, yes. You’re right. Time is, alas, important just now. Very well, let’s put it that I’m anxious to do a little business with him. Or shall we say to put him in the way of doing it for himself?”
“How very kind of you!”
Arthur tittered. “I am kind, aren’t I, William? That’s what so few people seem to realize.”
“And what is this business? When is it coming off?”
“That remains to be seen, I hope.”
“I suppose you get a percentage?”
“Naturally.”
“A big percentage?”
“If it succeeds. Yes.”
“Enough for you to be able to leave Germany?”
“Oh, more than enough. Quite a nice little nest-egg, in fact.”
“Then that’s splendid, isn’t it?”
Arthur snarled nervously, regarded his finger-nails with extreme care.
“Unfortunately, there are certain technical difficulties. I need, as so often, your valuable advice.”
“Very well, let’s hear them.”
Arthur considered for some moments. I could see that he was wondering how much he need tell me.
“Chiefly,” he said at length, “that this business cannot be transacted in Germany.”
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“Why not?”
“Because it would involve too much publicity. The other party to the deal is a well-known business man. As you probably know, big-business circles are comparatively small. They all watch each other. News gets round in a moment; the least hint is enough. If this man were to come to Berlin, the business people here would know about it before he’d even arrived. And secrecy is absolutely essential.”
“It all sounds very thrilling. But I’d no idea that Kuno was in business at all.”
“Strictly speaking, he isn’t.” Arthur took some trouble to avoid my eye. “This is merely a sideline.”
“I see. And where do you propose that this meeting shall take place?”
Arthur carefully selected a toothpick from the little bowl in front of him.
“That, my dear William, is where I hope to have the benefit of your valuable advice. It must be somewhere, of course, within easy reach of the German frontier. Somewhere where people can go, at this time of the year, without attracting attention, on a holiday.”
With great deliberation, Arthur broke the toothpick into two pieces and laid them side by side on the table-cloth. Without looking up at me, he added:
“Subject to your approval, I’d rather thought of Switzerland.”
There was quite a long pause. We were both smiling.
“So that’s it?” I said at last.
Arthur redivided the toothpick into quarters; raised his eyes to mine in a glance of dishonest, smiling innocence.
“That, as you rightly observe, dear boy, is it.”
“Well, well. What a foxy old thing you are.” I laughed. “I’m beginning to see daylight at last.”
“I must confess, William, I was beginning to find you a little slow in the uptake. That isn’t like you, you know.”
“I’m sorry, Arthur. But all these riddles make me a bit
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giddy. Suppose you stop asking them and let’s have the whole yarn from the beginning?”
“I assure you, my dear boy, I’m more than ready to tell you all I know about this affair, which isn’t very much. Well, to cut a long story short, Pregnitz is interested in one of the largest glass-works in Germany. It doesn’t matter which. You wouldn’t find his name on the list of directors; nevertheless, he has a great deal of unofficial influence. Of course, I don’t pretend to understand these matters myself.”
“A glass-works? Well, that sounds harmless enough.”
“But, my dear boy,” Arthur was anxiously reassuring, “of course it’s harmless. You mustn’t allow your naturally cautious nature to upset your sense of proportion. If this proposition sounds a little odd to you at first, it’s only because you aren’t accustomed to the ways of high finance. Why, it’s the kind of thing which takes place every day. Ask anybody you like. The largest deals are almost always discussed informally.”
“All right! All right! Go on.”
“Let me see. Where was I? Ah, yes. Now, one of my most intimate friends in Paris is a certain prominent financier”
“Who signs himself Margot?”
But this time I didn’t catch Arthur off his guard. I couldn’t even guess whether he was surprised or not. He merely smiled.
“How sharp you are, William! Well, perhaps he does. Anyhow, we’ll call him Margot for convenience. Yes … at all events, Margot is exceedingly anxious to have a chance of meeting Pregnitz. Although he doesn’t admit it in so many words, I understand that he wishes to propose some sort of combine between Pregnitz’s firm and his own. But that’s entirely unofficial; it doesn’t concern us. As for Pregnitz, he’ll have to hear Margot’s propositions for himself and decide whether they’re to the advantage of his firm or not. Quite possibly, indeed probably, they will be. If not, there’s no harm done. Margot will only have himself to blame. All
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he’s asking me to arrange is that he meets the Baron socially, on neutral ground, where they won’t be bothered by a lot of financial reporters and can talk things over quietly.”
“And as soon as you’ve brought them together, you get the cash?”
“When the meeting has taken place,” Arthur lowered his voice, “I get half. The other half will be paid only if the deal is successful. But the worst of it is, Margot insists that he must see Pregnitz at once. He’s always like that when once he gets an idea into his head. A most impatient man… .”
“And he’s really prepared to give you such a lot simply for arranging this meeting?”
“Remember, William, it seems a mere bagatelle to him. If this transaction is successful, he’ll probably make millions.”
“Well, all I can say is, I congratulate you. It ought to be easy enough to earn.”
“I’m glad you think so, my dear boy.” Arthur’s tone was guarded and doubtful.
“Why, where’s the difficulty? All you have to do is to go to Kuno and explain the whole situation.”
“William!” Arthur seemed positively horror-s(tricken. “That would be fatal!”
“I don’t see why.”
“You don’t see why? Really, dear boy, I must own I credited you with more finesse. No, that’s entirely out of the question. You don’t know Pregnitz as I do. He’s extraordinarily sensitive in these matters, as I’ve discovered to my cost. He’d regard it as an unwarrantable intrusion into his affairs. He’d withdraw at once. He has the true aristocratic outlook, which one so seldom finds in these money-grubbing days. I admit I admire him for it.”
I grinned.
“He seems to be a very peculiar sort of business man, if he’s offended when you offer him a fortune.”
But Arthur was quite heated.
“William, please, this is no time to be frivolous. Surely you must see my point. Pregnitz refuses, and I, for one, entirely
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agree with him, to mix personal with business relationships. Coming from you or from me, any suggestion that he should enter into negotiations with Margot, or with anybody else, would be an impertinence. And he’d resent it as such. Therefore, I do beg of you, don’t breathe one word about this to him, on any account.”
“No, of course I won’t. Don’t get excited. But look here, Arthur, do I understand you to mean that Kuno is to go to Switzerland without knowing that he’s there to meet Mar-got?”
“You put it in a nutshell.”
“H’m … That certainly complicates things, rather. All the same, I don’t see why you should have any special difficulty. Kuno probably goes to the winter sports, anyhow. It’s quite in his line. What I don’t altogether follow is, where do I come in? Am I to be brought along simply to swell the crowd, or to provide comic relief, or what?”