cerns he never threw over
the railway, or delegated to other less experienced hands those cares
which the commercial world had intrusted to his own. Lord Alfred was
there, with Mr Cohenlupe, the Hebrew gentleman, and Paul Montague, and
Lord Nidderdale,--and even Sir Felix Carbury. Sir Felix had come, being
very anxious to buy and sell, and not as yet having had an opportunity
of realizing his golden hopes, although he had actually paid a
thousand pounds in hard money into Mr Melmotte's hands. The secretary,
Mr Miles Grendall, was also present as a matter of course. The Board
always met at three, and had generally been dissolved at a quarter
past three. Lord Alfred and Mr Cohenlupe sat at the chairman's right
and left hand. Paul Montague generally sat immediately below, with
Miles Grendall opposite to him;--but on this occasion the young lord and
the young baronet took the next places. It was a nice little family
party, the great chairman with his two aspiring sons-in-law, his two
particular friends,--the social friend, Lord Alfred, and the commercial
friend Mr Cohenlupe,--and Miles, who was Lord Alfred's son. It would
have been complete in its friendliness, but for Paul Montague, who had
lately made himself disagreeable to Mr Melmotte;--and most ungratefully
so, for certainly no one had been allowed so free a use of the shares
as the younger member of the house of Fisker, Montague, and Montague.

It was understood that Mr Melmotte was to make a statement. Lord
Nidderdale and Sir Felix had conceived that this was to be done as it
were out of the great man's heart, of his own wish, so that something
of the condition of the company might be made known to the directors
of the company. But this was not perhaps exactly the truth. Paul
Montague had insisted on giving vent to certain doubts at the last
meeting but one, and, having made himself very disagreeable indeed,
had forced this trouble on the great chairman. On the intermediate
Friday the chairman had made himself very unpleasant to Paul, and this
had seemed to be an effort on his part to frighten the inimical
director out of his opposition, so that the promise of a statement
need not be fulfilled. What nuisance can be so great to a man busied
with immense affairs, as to have to explain,--or to attempt to
explain,--small details to men incapable of understanding them? But
Montague had stood to his guns. He had not intended, he said, to
dispute the commercial success of t