“Is this venture risky?” she asked. She didn’t seem overly concerned but rather interested.
Roo couldn’t convincingly shrug it off, so he just said, “Yes.”
Roo nodded. “I think we’re going to be richer than you can imagine in a few months.”
She managed a small smile. “I always thought we were rich; I know the house isn’t much to look at, but Father always liked to keep a modest appearance, lest it attract undue notice. But we always had good food, wine, new clothing. If I wanted anything, I only had to ask.”
Roo’s fatigue and nerves made this conversation irritating. He finished his coffee and stood. “I have to get to the shop.” He again kissed her dutifully on the cheek and glanced down at the now sleeping baby. It appeared so alien to Roo he wondered if he would ever feel anything for the child.
“Will you be home for supper?” Karli asked.
“Certainly,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He didn’t wait for a reply as he hurried out the door.
Duncan hailed Roo as he walked into the shop. “Where have you been?”
Roo looked irritated. “Sleeping. You know, when you close your eyes and don’t move for a long time?”
Duncan grinned and said, “Oh, you mean dead. Look, your new business partners would like you to come to Barret’s at once.”
“Jason!” Roo yelled as he turned away from his cousin. “Where are you?”
Jason and Dash came out of the small office and Jason said, “Yes?”
“Where’s our gold? In the strongbox?”
“Yes.”
“How much do we have?”
“We have accounts due in later this week, but right now you have twenty-one thousand, six hundred, and forty-seven gold pieces, and a few silver coins.”
Roo told Dash and Duncan, “Put the box in a wagon and bring it to the coffee house. I’m leaving now.”
He hurried out through the front of the shop and down the street. Moving through the crowd was as trying an ordeal as Roo had ever known, so impatient was he to get this business done.
He reached the coffee house and walked straight past the door waiter, who blinked as Roo admitted himself to the main floor. McKeller, the headwaiter, was moving toward him, and as Roo moved toward the stairs to the second floor, he said, “Welcome, Mr. Avery.”
Roo couldn’t help but grin. He was a member! He mounted the stairs two at a time and reached the top landing, where before he had always come carrying a large serving tray. He glanced around and saw Masterson’s table, and his three new partners and Lender sitting there.
“Glad you could join us,” said Masterson dryly.
“I hope you gentlemen haven’t been waiting too long,” said Roo as he sat. “I have a new baby in the house and things are a bit confused. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
All four men made understanding noises and brief comments about their own children, then Masterson said, “Here we have it, gentlemen: the document forming our new trading syndicate.” He handed copies around and Roo looked at the neatly executed script.
Roo read it twice, and he thought he understood it, but he wasn’t sure. He pointed to a paragraph and said, “Mr. Lender, would you explain this to me, please?”
Lender looked at the indicated paragraph. “That simply pledges your goods and other chattels against any losses beyond those secured by whatever gold you bring to this accounting.”
Roo blinked. “How could we go into debt beyond what we agree to?”
Masterson said, “We usually don’t, but there are instances when circumstances require a decision on the basis of the partnership, and sometimes we must establish lines of credit. If we need cash and don’t have it, a moneylender or admitting new partners are the only alternatives. If we take loans, we often must pledge our personal businesses, even our homes and family heirlooms as security. It’s normal.”
Roo frowned but said nothing. Then he asked, “But no one can do this without our agreement?”
Masterson smiled. “There are four of us. It would take a three-to-one majority to do so.”
Roo was uncertain, but he nodded. Lender said, “If each of you will sign the document before him and pass it to your right, then sign again, we’ll have all these copies executed.”
A waiter appeared and Roo ordered coffee without looking up. He signed his name four times, and when he was done, he held his admission to the high-risk financial community of the city.
“Now,” said Crowley, “to the sums.”
Hume said, “I am comfortable with a position of fifteen thousand sovereigns.”
Crowley said, “Fifteen is fine with me.”
Masterson said, “Mr. Avery?”