Karli said, “You just got home.”
“I know, but it’s important. More business.”
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Karli said, “Business, tonight?”
Roo’s exhaustion, his anxiety, and his impatience to see Sylvia Estherbrook again came together and caused him to speak more harshly than he had intended. “Yes! Business tonight! I’m having supper with one of the most important investors in the Kingdom!”
Abigail started awake and began to cry at her father’s loud voice. Karli’ s eyes flashed anger, but her voice was a controlled hiss as she said, “Shush.
You’ve woken your daughter.”
Roo wave his hand. “I’m sorry. Deal with her.
I’ve got to clean up and change.” Turning his back, he shouted, “Mary! I need a tub of hot water!”
His shout caused his daughter to cry even louder.
Karli’s face was a mask of control, but her eyes never left her husband’s back as he vanished up the stairs to clean up for his dinner engagement.
Roo hurried, and despite having bathed he felt hot and sweaty under his new clothing. He paused before the gate to the Estherbrook house. He should have driven out in a hired carriage instead of riding out, he thought. Instead of showing up at the Estherbrook door calm and relaxed, he was nearly breathless.
He knocked and almost instantly the postern door in the gate opened and a groom stepped through.
“Yes?”
“I am Rupert Avery. I’m to dine with Mr.
Estherbrook,” answered Roo.
“Yes, sir,” said the groom, and he disappeared through the small door. A moment later the gate swung wide.
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estate and he was dutifully impressed. The house was located on a hillside on the eastern edge of the city, high enough above the next estate that it felt almost rural, though it had taken Roo only a half hour to ride there. The high stone wall had masked the house from his view as he had ridden up the narrow road, except for a small tower of some sort.
Now Roo could see that the tower was actually a constructed observation platform, with a small peaked roof, but with windows looking in four directions. Roo wondered why it was there, then considered it was a perfect place from which to observe the comings and goings at both the caravansarais to the southeast and ships in the harbor. Two moons had risen, and Roo saw a glint of metal and smiled to himself as he dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to the groom. Estherbrook must have one of those clever viewing glasses up there.
The house otherwise was what he had expected.
Two stories in height, it was large, but not palatial by any measure. There were gardens, as Roo could smell blooms in the evening. Lights appeared at several windows and there were sounds of activity from within.
Roo knocked on the door and it opened a moment later. Expecting a servant, Roo was rendered nearly breathless by the sight of Sylvia Estherbrook herself answering his knock.
“Mr. Avery,” she said with a smile that made his stomach hurt. She wore a deep-plunging gown that revealed she wasn’t quite as slender as Roo had thought. It was a pale blue designed to highlight her eyes.
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jewelry. Roo barely got “hello” out as he stepped inside.
“May I take your cloak?” she asked.
Roo fumbled with the tie at his neck and then finally got the new cloak unfastened. “Father is waiting for you in his private room. Down the hail and to the left,” she said, pointing out the way. “I’ll hang this up and see to supper.”
Roo watched as she vanished through a door to the right, and he forced himself to take a deep breath.
Totally intoxicated by the sight of the girl, he knew that dealing with her father was as dangerous as going into combat.
Roo made his way along the hall, glancing through two open doors to see modest rooms with single beds, tables, and nightstands. Servant’s quarters? he wondered.
He reached the large door at the end of the hall, barely seen in the dim hallway—only a single candle on a table halfway along the hall’s length illuminated the way. From inside, a voice said, “Enter, please.”
Roo opened the large door and stepped inside.
Jacob Esterbrook was rising from behind a large desk in the middle of what Roo could only consider a library. He had seen a room in the Prince’s palace once when he was training there that had as many books, and was astonished to discover that someone who wasn’t royalty had this many in his possession.
The room was lit by a pair of candles, one on Estherbrook’s desk and another on a reading stand set against the wall opposite the door, two pools of light in the otherwise dark library.
As he approached the desk, in the dim light Roo saw another figure standing near the wall. Then Roo prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:38 AM Page 363
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saw there were two men in the darkness. They stepped forward and Roo’s hand reflexively went to his side, where his knife usually hung.
“Now, now,” said Estherbrook as if reassuring a pair of children. Into the light came Tim Jacoby, and a younger man, one who looked enough like him that he could only be his brother.
“Mr. Avery, I believe you’ve already met Timothy Jacoby. This other gentleman is his brother, Randolph.” He glanced toward the door and said,
“They were just leaving.”
Roo stood stiffly as if ready to defend himself.
Tim Jacoby said nothing, but his brother said, “Mr.
Avery?” with a nod of his head.
“Mr. Jacoby,” Roo responded, nodding back.
Neither man offered to shake the other’s hand.
Tim turned as they walked toward the door and said, “I will be in touch, Jacob.”
“I expect you will, Timothy,” said Estherbrook.
“Give my regards to your father.”
“I will,” answered Tim.
Estherbrook said, “We took a bit longer to finish our business than I had anticipated. I’m sorry if their presence here caused you any alarm.”
Roo said, “It was unexpected.”
“Sit,” said Estherbrook, motioning Roo to a chair at the other side of his large desk. “We have a bit of time before Sylvia fetches us for supper.”
Estherbrook said, “I have made inquiries about you, young Avery.” He sat back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. Roo had never seen him without his hat and saw the man was bald above his ears, but he let the rest of his grey hair hang to his collar in back. He affected long muttonchop side-
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burns, but otherwise was clean-shaven. A look of wry amusement passed over his face.
“Your notion of importing bulk wine from Darkmoor had merit. I think it an enterprise worth pursuing. It’s too bad you ran afoul of the Mockers.
Had I known about you, I could have saved you some loss and saved Sam Tannerson his life.”
Roo said, “I’m impressed at your knowledge of the details.”
Estherbrook made a gesture of dismissal with his right hand. “Information is valuable, but easy to come by if you have resources.” He leaned forward and said, “Remember this: of all the commodities men trade in, information is the most valuable by far.”
Roo nodded. He wasn’t sure he fully understood what Estherbrook was saying, or if he agreed. He decided this wasn’t a debate or even a discussion but most likely a lecture.
“Now, I hope that in the future you and Timothy Jacoby can put aside your differences, however deep the animosity runs, because I might find it difficult
to do business with two men who are at any moment likely to kill each other.”
Roo said, “I wasn’t aware that we are doing business.”
Estherbrook smiled and there was nothing friendly or warm in it. “I think fate has touched you, young Avery. Certainly you have advanced to a station of some notice in a rapid fashion. Marrying Helmut Grindle’s daughter gave you some resources that most men your age would envy, but you’ve prospered far beyond that. Obviously you are well thought of in the palace. Mr. Jacoby’s father was very upset that prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:38 AM Page 365
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your company received the contract to transport goods to the palace; he thought he was the logical choice.
“You’ve cut him badly, twice, I believe, in areas of less reputable trading.”
Roo was forced to laugh. “One thing I’ve learned, despite my youth, Mr. Estherbrook, is not to admit anything.”
Estherbrook laughed, and this time there was genuine amusement in his reaction. “Very well said.” He sighed. “Well then, whatever occurs, I hope we can all manage to work in harmony.”
Roo said, “I have a debt to pay, Mr. Estherbrook, but you are not part of that.”
“Well, at this point, no,” said Estherbrook.
A knock came from the door and Roo was out of his chair as the door opened and Sylvia peeked through. “Supper is served.”
Estherbrook said, “We mustn’t keep the lady of the manor waiting.”
Roo shook his head but said nothing. He followed his host through the doorway, and Estherbrook motioned he should precede him. Roo followed Sylvia down the hall, and as they came into the well-lit antechamber at the entrance to the house, he found himself again captivated by how the candle-light played off her golden hair.
He followed her into the dining hall, his heart beating far too fast for the tiny bit of exertion walking to dinner entailed. He hardly noticed as he moved to a chair at a long table, with his host on his left at the head of the table, and Sylvia across from him.
There was room for another seven people to sit at this table.
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Roo said, “I have never seen a room like this.”
Estherbrook said, “It’s an idea I found in a description of a dining hall in a distant court, in one of the kingdoms down in the Keshian Confederacy.
That king preferred intimate dining to the usual court chaos, and instead of sitting in the middle of the table, which would be to your right by two chairs, with everyone arrayed to his right and left, he decided to turn the table sideways, sit at one end, and be able to talk to everyone.
Sylvia said, “We used to have this very large round table, and you’d have to shout across it to be heard by whoever sat opposite you.”
Roo smiled. “I like it.” To himself he vowed to have one made just like this. Then he realized there was no room for a table this large in his small home.
Suddenly he remembered the gamble he and his partners were taking, and realized that if they won, he would be able to build a house to match this one. He put aside his worry over what would happen should the gamble fail.
Conversation passed quickly, and Roo couldn’t remember half of what was said. Throughout the night he found himself working hard not to stare at Sylvia, but he couldn’t avoid it. She drew his eyes.
By supper’s end he had memorized her features as if they were a map home. He knew every curve of her neck, the set of her lips, the slight imperfection of one tooth in front that was slightly turned and over-lapped the one next to it, the only flaw in her beauty he could ascertain.
Without knowing how, he found himself at the door, bidding his host and hostess good night. Sylvia took his hand and held it tightly, moving up close to prince.qxd 9/4/02 10:38 AM Page 367
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him so that his knuckles brushed lightly against the top of her breasts. “It’s been wonderful, Mr. Avery. I hope you’ll visit us again, and very soon.”
Roo almost stammered as he promised he would call again. He turned and mounted his horse and rode slowly to the gate. He could only wonder at this magic thing that he felt, and from every indication he was amazed to discover that Sylvia Estherbrook was apparently pleased with his company.
As the gate closed behind him, Roo wondered at that improbable fact.
Sylvia waited until the door was closed and then moved to a window beside the door, watching as Roo rode off. Turning to her father, she said, “What do you think?”
Jacob Estherbrook replied, “A young man with unlikely promise.”
“He’s certainly unattractive, though there’s a wit about him that’s charming enough, in a rat-faced sort of way,” she said dryly. “But his hand was surprisingly strong.” She tapped her teeth with her fingernail. “Those wry lads, they tend to have … great stamina.”
“Sylvia,” scolded her father, “you know I don’t like that sort of talk.”
Sweeping past her father as she made to climb the stairs to her bedroom, she said, “Father, you know what I am. You made me this way.” She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Are you going to kill him?”
Estherbrook said, “I hope not to; he has wit, and from some of the things I’ve heard of his soldiering days, he has the ability to survive. He would make a better ally than foe, I think.”
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Sylvia started to climb the stairs, “But that still doesn’t keep you from trying to ruin him.”
Estherbrook waved away the comment as he turned toward his library. “Ruining a man is far different from killing him. If he’s ruined in this wheat speculation, I may even offer him a position with one of my companies. Then I would not have to worry about a rising competitor, and he might be made a valuable asset.”
Sylvia vanished at the top of the stairs and Jacob walked back toward the library. To himself he said,
“Besides, if I need to, I’ll have Tim Jacoby kill him.”
Roo sipped at his coffee. It was his fifth or sixth cup of the day and he was drinking from habit, not any enjoyment of the drink.
Dash hurried up the stairs to the table where Roo sat with his partners. “Message for you.”
He handed a note to Roo. The gem buyer in Salador had offered a price lower than Roo hoped for, but not too low to make Roo consider shopping for a better deal. He quickly calculated and said,
“Reply by fast rider. Forward the gold at once.”
Dash said, “And Duncan says there’s starting to be some rumblings around the inn. A miller was overheard last night, while he was getting drunk, saying that he has no wheat to grind because the farmers aren’t bringing it into the city.”
Roo nodded. “Keep me informed.”
Dash hurried away and Roo said, “It’s starting.”
Masterson nodded and signaled for a waiter to come to the table. The young man did and Masterson wrote out a note and handed it to the waiter. “Take this down to the floor, please. It’s for Mr. Amested.”
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Roo sighed. “How are we doing?”
Masterson said, “We are now in debt, or have paid out six hundred thousand golden sovereigns’ worth of wheat options. You have created the largest single seizure of wheat in the history . . . of the world!” He ran his hand over his face. “I doubt there’s a grain of wheat between Malac’s Cross and the Far Coast that’s not going to show up at the city gates in the next two weeks with our name on it. We’d better have guessed right, Roo.”
Roo smiled. “None of you would have gone along with my plan if you didn’t realize it would work.” He hiked his thumb toward the floor below. “It all turns on one fact, Jerome. Everyone here, including you and me, is a greedy bastard.�
�
Masterson laughed. “There’s more truth in that than not, Roo.” He leaned forward. “Truth to tell, when I was a boy I cut purses for a living. Got a chance to go straight and I did, in the army, during the Great Uprising. I was little more than a kid, but like every man serving, I got the King’s pardon. I decided to turn my hand to honest business, and found that the biggest difference between honest business and dishonest is in how you approach your mark.” He leaned back. “Oh, it’s not like I’m taking everything a fellow has, and if we work well together, we both end up making money, but often it’s just as vicious as if I cut his purse and ran through the market.”
Roo said, “Where are we with price?”
“We’re steady at three silver pieces for ten bushels against a six percent guarantee.”
Roo said, “I’m too tired to calculate the numbers.
How much do we stand to make?”
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Masterson said, “I have no idea. We still need grain buyers from the Free Cities to show up and start running up the price.
“Not for a few more days, I hope,” said Roo. “We still need to buy a few more cheap options.” He lowered his voice. “Duncan reports word is starting to spread that wheat from the outlying farms isn’t coming in. In a few days no one will be making offers.
We need to finish this today, by tomorrow at the latest.”
“I’m out of gold, and I’ve put up everything I own as security to the moneylenders,” said Masterson. He laughed. “I should be scared to death, but the truth is I haven’t felt this happy since I was a boy running through the city with the City Watch hot on my tail!”
Roo said, “I know what you mean. It’s . . . like putting your life on the line for one toss of the knucklebones.”
“Never cared for dice,” said Masterson. “Always preferred cards. Lin-lan or pokiir. You against the other fellows.”
Roo said, “I’ve got gold coming from Salador.
Another ten thousand, if we need it.”
“We’re going to need it,” said Hume, who had just walked up. “We’re so overbought now we don’t have the coppers to pay for our coffee.” He leaned over.
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