It was a bright spring morning. He walked to Pilasters Bank. He had forgotten the smoky taste of London's air, much worse than Boston or New York. He paused for a moment outside the bank, looking at its grandiose facade.
He had told the partners that he wanted to come home on furlough, to see his mother and sister and the old country. But he had another reason for returning to London.
He was about to drop a bombshell.
He had arrived with a proposal to merge Pilasters' North American operation with the New York bank of Madler and Bell, forming a new partnership that would be called Madler, Bell and Pilaster. It would make a lot of money for the bank; it would crown his achievements in the United States; and it would allow him to return to London and graduate from scout to decision maker. It would mean the end of his period of exile.
He straightened his tie nervously and went in.
The banking hall, which years ago had so impressed him with its marble floors and ponderous walkers, now seemed merely staid. As he started up the stairs he met Jonas Mulberry, his former supervisor. Mulberry was startled and pleased to see him. "Mr. Hugh!" he said, shaking hands vigorously. "Are you back permanently?"
"I hope so. How is Mrs. Mulberry?"
"Very well, thank you."
"Give her my regards. And the three little ones?"
"Five, now. All in fine health, God be thanked."
It occurred to Hugh that the Principal Clerk might know the answer to a question on Hugh's mind. "Mulberry, were you here when Mr. Joseph was made a partner?"
"I was a new junior. That was twenty-five years ago come June."
"So Mr. Joseph would have been ..."
"Twenty-nine."
"Thank you."
Hugh went on up to the Partners' Room, knocked on the door and went in. The four partners were there: Uncle Joseph, sitting at the Senior Partner's desk, looking older and balder and more like old Seth; Aunt Madeleine's husband, Major Hartshorn, his nose turning red to match the scar on his forehead, reading The Times beside the fire; Uncle Samuel, beautifully dressed as ever in a charcoal-gray double-breasted cutaway jacket with a pearl-gray waistcoat, frowning over a contract; and the newest partner, Young William, now thirty-one, sitting at his desk and writing in a notebook.
Samuel was the first to greet Hugh. "My dear boy!" he said, getting up and shaking hands. "How well you look!"
