Page 68 (1/1)
And,--let it be said with regret, for Paul Montague was at heart honest and well-conditioned,--he took to living a good deal at the Beargarden A man must dine somewhere, and everybody knows that a man dines cheaper at his club than elsewhere It was thus he reasoned with hiarden were not cheap He saw a good deal of his brother directors, Sir Felix Carbury and Lord Nidderdale, entertained Lord Alfred reat chairnificence of merchant-princely hospitality in Grosvenor Square It had indeed been suggested to hireat Marie Melain declared his intention of running, owing to considerable pressure put upon him by certain interested tradesmen, and with this intention had become one of the directors of the Mexican Railway Co, Sir Felix was the favourite for the race aenerally
The middle of April had come, and Fisker was still in London Whenperhaps to s and orphans, as Fisker remarked,--a man was forced to set his own convenience on one side But this devotion was not left without reward, for Mr Fisker had 'a good tiarden, as an honorary ood deal of reat affairs, that whatever you spend on yourself can be no er-beer are all the same when you stand to win or lose thousands,--with this only difference, that cha results which thethat the greatness of these operations relieved the to sne direction, both on Fisker and Montague, and the result was deleterious The Beargarden, no doubt, was a ue found that he could not wake up on these London hts as satisfactory as those which attended his pillow at the old Manor House
On Saturday, the 19th of April, Fisker was to leave London on his return to New York, and on the 18th a farewell dinner was to be given to him at the club Mr Melmotte was asked to meet him, and on such an occasion all the resources of the club were to be brought forth Lord Alfred Grendall was also to be a guest, and Mr Cohenlupe, ent about a good deal with Melue, and Miles Grendall were ave the dinner No expense was spared Herr Vossner purveyed the viands and wines,--and paid for theht hand, and Mel lord, was supposed to have done the thing well There were only two toasts drunk, to the healths of Mr Melmotte and Mr Fisker, and two speeches were of course made by theenuineness of that English birth which he claimed by the aardness and incapacity which he showed on the occasion He stood with his hands on the table and with his face turned to his plate blurted out his assurance that the floating of this railway coreatest and most successful commercial operations ever conducted on either side of the Atlantic It was a great thing,--a very great thing;--he had no hesitation in saying that it was one of the greatest things out He didn't believe a greater thing had ever coive his hu,--and so on These assertions, not varying much one from the other, he jerked out like soto look his friends in the face at each, and then turning his countenance back to his plate as though seeking for inspiration for the next atteentleustus Melht probably make them all rich men, and they cheered him to the echo Lord Alfred had reconciled himself to be called by his Christian na two or three hundred pounds on the security of shares which were to be allotted to hi Wonderful are the ways of trade! If one can only get the tip of one's little finger into the right pie, what noble morsels, what rich esculents, will stick to it as it is extracted!