A Bottle in the Smoke Part 25

"Be you sure I did. But that I should be a Madras barrister seemed the goal of my aunt's ambition. She brought me up, you know. I fell into the trap, being young and foolish; moreover, she always a.s.sured me that the reigning partner, Mr. Fyson, was as hard as a nail, and that he would never give me a bite of the plum."

"I've always thought Fyson a very good sort--straight man to deal with,"

remarked Melford musingly.

"Well, I shall have an opportunity of testing him to-morrow. I'm rather looking forward to it," returned Rayner, brushing the ash from his cheroot.

"So you're bent on business at once? I thought you might have come to my office first, and then Carrie has a project for the afternoon--an invitation to go up the Hoogly in a steam launch with friends. She accepted for you, thinking you would enjoy it. I may manage to get off for the afternoon too, and make one of the party. You're sure to enjoy a trip on the river, Rayner."

"Yes, but business must come before pleasure! I certainly hope to do the Calcutta sights later but Truelove Brothers call me first. But I won't be the whole day with them. I hope I may be able to join the pleasure trip in the afternoon."

"Of course you will! You can meet me at my office and we'll drive home to tiffin together. My place isn't far from Truelove's. A tikka-gharry will fetch you. You look a bit tired, Rayner! Suppose we turn in? Carrie and I keep early hours."

"Thanks, I shan't object! I want to be fresh to-morrow. I say, Melford, if I present a good front don't you think they may be so enamoured of me that they will conclude the bargain at once, and the indenture of partnership go forward without a hitch?"

"Not such an easy matter, Rayner," replied his host, shaking his head.

He being chief a.s.sistant in a good mercantile firm hoped one day if fortune favoured him to become a small partner, but he knew too well the obstacles to be overcome to be able to a.s.sure his friend of a speedy success. He acknowledged that Rayner's close relationship with the well-known firm put him on a favourable footing; and certainly Alfred Rayner had an a.s.sertive air, the humble man meekly acknowledged, which sometimes spelt success.

CHAPTER XXV.

Mr. Rayner and his hostess had quite made friends when they parted next morning, he to accompany her husband to his office. He a.s.sured Mrs.

Melford that he would not fail to return to tiffin, and also to avail himself of the pleasure of a sail up the Hoogly. Seated in his host's gharry as they rattled along the bustling streets, Rayner contrasted it with the leisurely ongoings of the Mount Road in Madras, and the comparison seemed to him all in favour of the Europeanised city.

"Why, one seems to live and move and be here, Melford!" he exclaimed.

"This place suits me down to the ground. I declare, I think I shall make a bid for a share of Truelove Brothers' lacs without delay!"

The gharry now drew up in front of a handsome block of buildings to which Mr. Melford introduced him as his employers' premises, and, alighting, he arranged to meet him again at Ballygunge Road, whither he intended to return when his call was over. "You'll easily pick up a tikka-gharry at Truelove's. They're as thick as flies there about," his host a.s.sured him as they parted.

The quarters of the old merchants' firm looked more ancient and dull than that of Melford's employers, but they had a dignified air of respectability which was quite in keeping with the best traditions of such offices.

Rayner handed his card to one of the _durwans_ in attendance in the marble-paved hall around which were many doors marked with the names of the occupants of the chambers. From one of these the _durwan_ emerged now and requested the visitor to follow him. He led him into a smaller hall from which a staircase led to the upper rooms; and into one of these, a large lofty apartment, Mr. Rayner was ushered.

A tall, middle-aged man with a kindly, sagacious face was pacing up and down dictating to a Eurasian clerk who sat at the table. He paused in his walk, bowing to his visitor as he said: "How do you do, sir!"

Rayner noticed that a pair of shrewd eyes were fixed upon him with a quiet, scrutinising glance.

"Ha, he don't half like this chip of the old block coming to claim his own," he said to himself as he returned the bow with a broad smile.

"Sorry to disturb you on a busy morning, sir. I've just remembered that this is our English mail day," he began, as the clerk began to gather his papers to retire.

"Oh, as to that we're always pretty well up to time here," returned the other, motioning his visitor to the seat which the clerk had just vacated, and taking a chair opposite him.

"Well, I suppose I'd better come to the point at once," began Mr. Rayner briskly. "The fact is I've taken this run to Calcutta to see my birthplace, and I thought I might use the opportunity to call on the present representative of Truelove Brothers. I believe you are now the senior partner of the firm?"

"I am," said Mr. Fyson laconically.

"Well, naturally sentimental reasons prompted me to wish to see the inside of the business house where my father was a partner."

Mr. Fyson raised his eyebrows but made no response.

"I speak of David Rayner. Of course you are aware that I am his son?"

"There was never a David Rayner partner in this firm, but I believe a John Rayner once held some office here."

"My uncle, of course."

"Your uncle, was he? I never saw Mr. John Rayner. He had left before my time; but he held only a subordinate place in the firm. I could tell you what it was by looking up records."

"It's of no account! Then, sir, if you were not in the firm at that time you may not be aware of the fact that my father, David Rayner, was a partner."

Mr. Fyson shook his head negatively, and the young man continued in a louder voice:

"Pray, why else does your firm supply me with an allowance?--has done so for years--since I was a child of four, sent at my father's death to England with my aunt, Mrs. John Rayner."

"Your father's death!" repeated Mr. Fyson; and Alfred Rayner felt certain that his voice faltered when he uttered these words.

"Ha, there's some villainy here--the old story I expect of an orphan defrauded of his rights," thought Rayner, but he resolved to be nothing if not practical, and bending forward with a facetious smile, he said in a tone of well-simulated frankness: "Well, I'll be open with you, Mr.

Fyson. The fact is I came to see whether the firm can allow me a bigger share of the profits than I've been drawing. I'll even consent to let bygones be bygones if you'll deal straight with me at last. I'm a man now and a lawyer to boot, and you'll not make me believe that the only son of an old partner of the firm has not a right to a bigger slice of the profits of this prosperous house than the paltry sums I've been having."

As he spoke he felt as if he were placing an ultimatum in the hands of a trapped man on whose face he now fixed his eyes, saying to himself: "He's fairly caught now, and if I can get gold enough to pull me through my present involvements I'll defer my claim for a time."

He continued to watch Mr. Fyson, who preserved silence for some moments, his face wearing a perplexed air. Pa.s.sing his hand across his forehead, his lips parted as if he were going to speak, then he closed them again, appearing still in doubt as to what his answer should be. At length he said very slowly:

"Your plea for a larger allowance is unfortunately flanked by more than one fallacy. I am really at a loss to know where to disentangle these."

He cleared his throat and went on: "For the second time I must tell you that no such person as David Rayner ever existed in this firm, either as partner or underling. Second, that the allowance which you receive is not from the profits of this firm but from a private source. In fact, you are not as you suppose the fatherless son of any old partner of Truelove Brothers."

"My allowance not from this firm!" cried Rayner in open-mouthed astonishment. "Do I not receive half yearly from your house the sum of five thousand rupees?"

"It is true that the money does pa.s.s through our hands--more I am not at liberty to disclose," said Mr. Fyson firmly.

"A plot, I declare!" cried the young man with flashing eyes. "Not at liberty to disclose where my income is derived from? Why, you forget that you are not addressing a child, but a member of the Madras bar and a sharp one too!" His temper visibly rose as he spoke.

Mr. Fyson's keen face twitched uneasily. He patted the crisp papers which lay on his writing table and lowered his eyes as if to seek counsel in a dilemma. Then, fixing his keen grey orbs on his visitor, he looked at him steadily as if to take stock of him more fully. He then seemed to decide on his course of action, and began to speak in a matter of fact tone:

"You mention your allowance--I should tell you that I have before me your recent application for an increase----"

"That won't satisfy me now! I want my rights," broke in Rayner sulkily.

"Will you allow me to finish what I have to say without interruption?"

There was a severe note in the senior partner's voice which acted as a check. "I was about to write to you on the subject. My reply was to be that your allowance will be increased on one condition only, that you will give a pledge,--for the keeping of which due means will be taken--namely, that you will give up all betting, card-playing for money, gambling in any form. If you agree to this I think I can venture to say--in fact I am authorised to state that your allowance will be doubled"; and again Mr. Fyson patted his papers.

As he listened to the calm, even tones, Alfred Rayner's face darkened to a scowl which seemed to transform the smiling young fellow, who had walked into Mr. Fyson's room a few minutes before, into an evil spirit.

"I never heard a more insulting proposal from one man to another!" he exclaimed in a choking voice. "Do you take me for a kid you can tie to the leg of a table, that you are trying this impertinence on me? I tell you I won't stand it for a moment! I'll have a case filed against you."

The older man pa.s.sed his fingers through his whitening hair and shook his head in evident perplexity.