“Has she not returned since I saw you last?”
“No, my lord.”
“That’s very strange,” murmured Stranleigh, more to himself than to the other. “Shows how blooming inaccurate those newspapers are.”
He took out from his inside pocket a thin memorandum book, searched slowly among some slips of loose paper, and at last took out a cutting from some daily journal.
“The paper from which I clipped this was issued a day or two after we last met. My attention was called to the item by the fact that so shortly before we had been in negotiation regarding the Rajah; successful and pleasant negotiation, if I remember rightly, and I signed the papers you presented to me without consulting a solicitor, and the impression left on my mind is that you went away satisfied.”
“Oh, I was perfectly satisfied, my lord, perfectly satisfied. Yes, you very kindly signed the renewal of the charter.”
“You said, if I remember rightly, that the trip of the Rajah was merely an experiment. It had something to do with the cattle business; a ranch, or several ranches, in the Argentine Republic.”
“Quite right, my lord. I regret to say the business has not been as prosperous as I had hoped.”
“I am sorry to hear that. I have always looked on ranching as a sure way to wealth, but it seems there are exceptions. Now, you said to me that if the experiment did not prove successful, which, regrettably, seems to be the case, you would turn the Rajah over to me when she returned.”
“But she has not returned, my lord.”