“Really?” asked Steele. “I met him only once, but he seemed rather genial.”
“A great business man, a great business man,” hurriedly muttered Metcalfe, obviously trying to get himself under control once more, playing for time, and not quite knowing what he was saying.
“So I have been informed,” remarked Steele with easy carelessness. “One of the Amalgamated Soap group, I understand.”
“Quite so,” rejoined Metcalfe, his own man once more. “You see, Mr. Steele, I thought it would strengthen us tremendously if I could get a man like Nicholson to become interested in our project. The mere rumour that Amalgamated Soap was behind us would have been worth millions to us at the present juncture.”
“I quite agree with you, Metcalfe. Amalgamated Soap is a name to conjure with. The public worship success, and there you have success in its most highly developed form. Why didn’t you let me know? I might have been of some assistance to you.”
“Well, in the first place, I did not wish to mention so important a matter until I was sure of carrying it through. No use of giving promises that you cannot make good. In the second place, I was not aware that you knew Nicholson.”
“Oh, you were quite right; it was just a casual meeting, when we were introduced by a mutual friend. I don’t flatter myself that my views would have any influence upon a man of Nicholson’s standing in the financial world. But there is another part I don’t quite understand. I admit the value of Nicholson’s name to us, but why wasn’t his connection divulged in time to influence subscriptions?”
“You see, it was like this,” hesitated Metcalfe, for a liar must be a most agile person, and Steele’s questions had a fashion of touching the spot. “It was like this. I did not really conclude my arrangement with Nicholson until this morning. He’s a very difficult man to handle, and he knows as well as anyone his own value. I imagine he wished to see which way the cat was going to jump before he committed himself.”
“Well, Metcalfe, the cat has jumped entirely our way, even if the leap did not reach the furthest mark we staked out. The success of the subscriptions, then, induced Nicholson to join us?”
“Quite so, quite so, with the proviso that he is to have the vacant seat at the board, unless you have any objection.”