Iain Pears - Stone's Fall

That was the essence of my long conversation with Mr Franklin who, bless him, presented all his information in a way which was almost understandable. Even better, he clearly enjoyed it, and ended by saying that if I had any more questions, I should not hesitate . . .

I wouldn't. I now had some inkling of how little I knew, and how little everyone else knew. I wasn't alone, but no one else but me had the problem of finding anything out. Ravenscliff's way of life was intricate and veiled, almost deliberately so. He had successfully hidden the vastness of his wealth from the world, to the point where he scarcely figured in the public mind.

The thought also occurred to me that, if he could do that, how easy it would have been for him to hide a child where no one could find it.

I wasn't really sure why it was, considering the task at hand, that I devoted myself to trying to understand Ravenscliff's manner of business. I reckoned it was important to know the sort of man I was dealing with, and so far I had learned little. Only his wife had referred to his character, and I assumed her testimony was unreliable. He must have had some friends, surely? Someone who knew and understood him. While the doings of the Rialto Investment Trust would offer little insight into his passions and emotions, they might at least lead to someone who had known him. So I hoped, anyway.

The following day I had a quick lunch with a friend who worked as a jobber at the Exchange; not a grand figure in that world, but one who was around all the time, and the jobber's bread and cheese depends on knowing even the least wisp of gossip. Fortunes are made, companies rise and fall on catching a muttered comment in a pub or club or tavern before anyone else hears of it. The firm which employed Leighton was moderately prosperous, so I understood, and so must do tolerably well in listening.

Not that Leighton looked like a man who spent his time closeted in dark rooms, listening to idle gossip. If there was anyone less obviously suited to the life he led, then I have never met him. Leighton gave the impression of one born to rule an empire, or at least explore it. It would have been more fitting to come across him a few miles from the source of the Nile than the Stock Exchange.

He was huge, and at one time had been a useful rugger player. He had a booming voice incapable of speaking quietly and was inevitably overheard in all that he said. He had prodigious energy, and once took a bet that he could leave the Exchange at six in the evening, walk all the way to Brighton and back, and be at his post (in foreign railways) at nine the next morning. Ninety miles in fifteen hours. Naturally, the betting was intense; some thousand pounds was wagered on the outcome, with Anderson's, Leighton's firm, making the book. More or less the whole of the City was there to see him off, and a large number cycled alongside him to make sure that there was no cheating. Even many of these gave up through tiredness or hunger, but Leighton marched on, large, red in the face and sweating profusely until the day cooled enough for him to become chilled. Through the night he walked, never stopping for a moment, even eating his dinner – two bottles of burgundy, three pheasant, and four dozen oysters – as he marched, a member of his firm driving an automobile alongside him laden with food, which was passed to him as required.

His return the next morning was rather like a Roman triumph. No work was done because of the excitement; the finances of the Empire were neglected until all was over. Even the Rothschild's men emerged from their great palace in New Court to be present at the conclusion, a frivolity never witnessed before or since.

He walked up the steps of the Exchange with fifteen minutes to spare, and was carried shoulder high by his comrades to his place on the floor with firecrackers being let off, bottles of champagne popping and the bread rolls flying. He had become a legend with a job for life, for who could ever dispense with the services of such a fine fellow? Of such things are careers and reputations made in the City of London.

Such was Leighton and, as I could be certain that anything I told him would be all around the Exchange within five minutes of our conversation finishing, I had to be careful about what I said. So I told him simply that I had been commissioned to write a biography, and that I was completely lost.

'Grieving wife, wanting a memorial, eh?' he boomed cheerfully. 'Why not? She's got the money, or will have soon enough. I can't say that it will be a book I'll buy, though.'

'Why not?'

'I've never heard an interesting story about the man. He came, he amassed money, he died. There! I've written it for you.'

'I think Lady Ravenscliff wants a little more than that. Did you ever meet him?'

'Once, but not to speak to. Not a very sociable man, you understand. But even he had to show up to the occasional reception and ball. Very handsome wife, I must say. Charming woman.'

'Do you know anything about her?'

'Hungarian countess, I think. Who knows anything about Hungarian countesses? I would guess she had not a penny to her name, but the name was something. Run-down old schloss somewhere in the Transylvanian mountains . . .'

'Are they in Hungary?'

'Who knows? Who cares? You get the picture though.'

'What about Ravenscliff?'

He pursed his lips. 'Perfectly polite, but a bit frightening. Didn't say much. Always had a look about him as if he wished he wasn't there. He rarely showed up to anything at all, and would often enough leave as soon as he could. His wife has little time for City society either, so I gather.'

'Not much of a figure, then?'

'Oh, Lord, yes. He was immensely powerful. That was why there was such a panic when he died.'

'Was there a panic? I didn't notice anything.'

'Well, you wouldn't, would you, because you don't pay attention to these things. But there was. Obviously there was.'

'Why obviously?'

'Because the instant reaction when someone like that drops out of a window is to think that maybe he jumped. And then you worry that his investments have gone all wobbly. So people start selling shares, just in case.'

'The Rialto Investment Trust,' I said proudly.

Leighton nodded. 'And the underlying investments. What if he had topped himself because Rialto was in Queer Street? It has happened before, it'll happen again. So the moment the rumour started spreading—'

'People started selling.'

'Right again. But, and this is the curious thing, they didn't fall much. Even before the stories were in circulation, buyers were coming into the market, picking up every share on offer and supporting the price. We did a roaring trade on behalf of the Consolidated Bank in Manchester. Don't know who they were buying for, though.'

'So?'

'If you offer something for sale, and no one wants it, then you drop the price until you find a taker, correct? No one will buy shares in a company which might be insolvent, so the quoted price can fall through the floor. If, on the other hand there is a buyer, then the price stabilises. No panic, the owners of the shares are reassured, and stop trying to unload them. Understand?'

I nodded.

'With Rialto, of course, the price has been very low lately.'

'Why of course?'

'Same with all the armaments companies,' he said reflectively. 'No orders. The government isn't buying. They've been going through hard times. Anyway, the point is, all of a sudden, there were buyers all over the place. The shares went up, can you credit it? The question is, who was buying? Somebody knew something, but I'm damned if I could find out what. And later Cazenove came into the market, acting for Barings. And the funny thing was, Barings seemed to be trading on their own account.'