«Who's runnin' the railway people over here?» enquired Lord Peter.
«Yankee blighter, John P. Milligan. He's got an option, or says he has. You can't trust these brutes.»
«Can't Anderson hold on?»
«Anderson isn't Levy. Hasn't got the shekels. Besides, he's only one. Levy covers the ground — he could boycott Milligan's beastly railway if he liked. That's where he's got the pull, you see.»
«B'lieve I met the Milligan man somewhere,» said Lord Peter, thoughtfully; «ain't he a hulking brute with black hair and a beard?»
«You're thinkin' of somebody else,» said the Honourable Freddy. «Milligan don't stand any higher than I do, unless you call five-feet-ten hulking — and he's bald, anyway.»
Lord Peter considered this over the Gorgonzola. Then he said:
«Didn't know Levy had a charmin' daughter.»
«Oh, yes,» said the Honourable Freddy, with an elaborate detachment. «Met her and Mamma last year abroad. That's how I got to know the old man. He's been very decent. Let me into this Argentine business on the ground floor, don't you know?»
«Well,» said Lord Peter, «you might do worse. Money's money, ain't it? And Lady Levy is quite a redeemin' point. At least, my mother knew her people.»