Jonas Mulberry interjected a practical question. "What about our liquidity, Mr. Hugh? We'll need a large deposit before the end of the week to meet routine withdrawals. We can't sell the harbor bonds--it would depress the price."
That was a thought. Hugh worried at the problem for a moment then said: "I'll borrow a million from the Colonial Bank. Old Cunliffe will keep it quiet. That should tide us over." He looked around at the others. "That takes care of the immediate emergency. However, the bank is dangerously weak. In the medium term we have to correct the position just as fast as we can."
William said: "What about Edward?"
Hugh knew what Edward had to do: resign. But he wanted someone else to say it, so he remained silent.
Eventually Samuel said: "Edward must resign from the bank. None of us could ever trust him again."
William said: "He may withdraw his capital."
"He can't," Hugh said. "We haven't got the cash. That threat has lost its power."
"Of course," William said. "I hadn't thought of that."
Sir Harry said: "Then who will be Senior Partner?"
There was a moment of silence. Samuel broke it by saying: "Oh, for goodness' sake, can there be any question? Who uncovered Edward's deceit? Who took charge in the crisis? Who have you all looked to for guidance? During the last hour all the decisions have been made by one person. The rest of you have just asked questions and looked helpless. You know who the new Senior Partner must be."
Hugh was taken by surprise. His mind had been on the problems facing the bank, and he had not given a thought to his own position. Now he saw that Samuel was right. The others had all been more or less inert. Ever since he noticed the discrepancy in the weekly summary he had been acting as if he were the Senior Partner. And he knew he was the only one capable of steering the bank through the crisis.
Slowly it dawned on him that he was about to achieve his life's ambition: he was going to be Senior Partner of Pilasters Bank. He looked at William, Harry and George. They all had a shamefaced air. They had brought about this disaster by allowing Edward to become Senior Partner. Now they knew Hugh had been right all along. They were wishing they had listened to him before, and they wanted to make up for their error. He could see in their faces that they wanted him to take over.
But they had to say it.
He looked at William, who was the most senior Pilaster after Samuel. "What do you think?"
