Squire Dudley remained silent, digesting this piece of knowledge, while Mr. Stewart proceeded—
“We directors are not necessarily his puppets because he brought us together. Although he obtained our names, and qualified us to act on the board, he did not thereby obtain dominion over us, body and soul for ever. Evidently, Mr. Dudley, you are not a man of business, and you do not understand much about commercial matters—indeed, Mr. Black implied that fact to me; therefore, as I happened to be staying with Miss Baldwin, I thought I would walk over, and have a little friendly conversation with you.”
“Do you mean,” asked Mr. Dudley, harking back to the original question, “that you absolutely refuse to purchase these premises in Lincoln’s Inn Fields?”
“That is my meaning,” was the reply; “if you press the matter, of course it will be brought before the board, Mr. Black, probably, acting as your mouthpiece; but if you take my advice, you will not press the point, nor have it brought before the board; for I tell you fairly, the line must be drawn somewhere, and at that point I mean it to be marked broadly.”
“You are not the proprietor of the Company, are you?” asked Arthur.
“No; but I am the largest shareholder and the most influential man on the board,” was the reply.
“And what do you think of the scheme?” inquired Arthur, eagerly.
“I think the scheme a good one, if it be not swamped; if the capital be not all jobbed away on such purchases, for instance, as this house of yours.”
“Do you imply that I——,” began the Squire; but Mr. Stewart cut across his sentence with—
“I imply nothing; all I would suggest is, that as at Mr. Black’s instance you bought a very bad bargain, you should not seek to foist that bargain at a profit on your own Company, but wait patiently for dividends, and be thankful for any profit on your shares the Lord may in due time send you.”