His father assented and listened.
Cosmo then showed how, in such a State as ours, it is necessary that men of great position should ultimately take their share in any quasi-political adventure, and, though, of course, no direct expense was incurred in exciting the interest of politicians, yet indirectly the charges were sometimes heavy, and must, in any case, be foreseen.
Mr Burden, for his part, reminded his son that the smaller the number of an original syndicate the larger the individual contribution. He feared that he must be prepared for an immediate sinking of many thousands of pounds; it might be thirty, it might even be forty. Much more than that had been sunk by the first founders of the Seychelles Company.
Cosmo did not miss so obvious an introduction to his theme. His father could not deny that the men who risked so much upon the Seychelles were now among the greatest and best of the commonwealth; and he showed very clearly that, if such syndicates were not formed by a limited number of men, and those able to and ready to invest largely, the chances of success would be small. Nor did he omit to praise Lord Benthorpe with respect, Mr Barnett with awe, and Mr Harbury with affection.
Across Mr Burden’s mind there passed suddenly the features of his friend, Mr Abbott. For a moment, perhaps, he thought of taking advice in that quarter also. He wisely dismissed the thought from his mind, or at least postponed it until the first step should have been taken.
They had by this time arrived at the top of the hill, and were turned in reverie northward and westward, to where the light was declining redly behind evanescent effects of smoky cloud.
The soft air of Surrey blew upon them as they gazed; it was laden with those peculiar subtleties which only Londoners can understand. It came from the glorious heaths of Putney; from Kingston where the woods and the river meet; it bore the spirit of Battersea, of Clapham, of the Kennington Oval ... there lingered in it suggestions of the “Elephant and Castle,” of Camberwell, of the majestic Thames itself: it blew upon and soothed the father and the son, so that their conclusions ran together, and the old man was ready for the venture which the younger man defended.
When they had stood still a moment, to receive this influence before turning back homewards, Mr Burden, even as they turned, looked at Cosmo and said more softly:
“It will be your money, Cosmo. Remember that. I am speaking to you about your own money.”
Cosmo answered in the voice of one who is touched: a voice, which was perhaps the noblest thing of the many noble things he had acquired in his academic training: