'I am surprised to find,' began Curtis Fenton not looking at all surprised, 'that Miss Leroy will accept the bid of forty thousand dollars for her twenty - five per cent holding in the Richmoiid Group.' He paused before looking up at Abel. 'As I have now secured her agreement, I must ask if you are in a position to disclose your buyer?'
'Yes,' said Abel confidently. 'I will be the principal.'
'I see, Mr. Rosnovski,'again not showing any surprise.'May I ask how you propose to fir~d the forty thousand dollars?'
'I shall liquidate my stock holdings and release the spare cash in my personal account, which will leave me short of about four thousand dollars. I hoped that you would be willing to loan me that sum, as you are so confident that the Richmond Group stock is undervalued. In any case, the four thousand dollars probably represents nothing more than the bank's commission on the deal.'
Curtis Fenton blinked and frowned. Gentlemen did not make that sort of remark in his office : it stung all the more because Abel had the sum exactly right. 'Will you give me a little more time to consider your proposal, Mr. Rosnovski, and then I will come back to you?'
'If you wait long enough, I won't need your loan,' said Abel. 'My other investments will soon be worth the full forty thousand, the way the market is moving at the moment.'
Abel had to wait a further week to be told that Continental Trust was willing to back him. He immediately cleared both his accounts and borrowed a little under four thousand dollars to make up the shortfall on the forty thousand.
Within six months, Abel had paid off his four thousand loan by careful buying and selling of stock from March to August 1929, some of the best days the stock market was ever to know.
By September, both his accounts were slightly ahead again - he even had enough to buy a new Buick - while he was now the owner of twenty - five per cent of the Richmond Group of hotels. Abel was pleased to have acquired such a firm holding in Davis Leroy's empire. It gave him the confidence to pursue his daughter and the other seventy - five per cent, Early in October, he invited Melanie to a programme of Mozart at the Chicago Symphony Hall. Donning his smartest suit, which only emphasised he was gaining some weight, and wearing his first silk tic, he felt confident as he glanced in the mirror that the evening was to be a success. After the concert was over Abel avoided the Richmond, excellent though its food had become, and took Melanie to The Loop for dinner. He was particularly careful to talk only of economics and politics, two subjects about which he knew she was obliged to accept he was greatly the more knowledgeable. Finally, he asked her back for a drink in his rooms. It was the first time she had seen them, and she was both piqued and surprised by their smartness.
Abel poured the Coca - Cola which she requested, dropped two'cubes of ice into the bubbly liquid and gained confidence from the smile he was rewarded with as he passed her the glass. He couldn't help staring at her slim, crossed legs for more than a polite second. He poured himself a bourbon.
'Thank you, Abel, for a wonderful evening.'
He sat down beside her and swirled the drink in his glass reflectively.
'For many years, I heard no music. When I did, Mozart spoke to my heart as no other composer has done!
'How very middle - European you sound sometimes, Abel! She pulled the edge of her silk dress, which Abel was sitting on, free. 'Who would have thought a hotel manager would give a damn for Mozart?'
'One of my ancestors, the first Baron Rosnovski,' said Abel, 'once met the maestro, and he became a close friend of the family so I have always felt he was part of my life.
Melanie's smile was unfathomable. Abel leaned sideways and kissed her cheek just above the ear, where her fair hair was drawn back from her face. She continued the conversation without giving the slightest indication that she had even been aware of his action.
'Frederick Stock captured the mood of the third movement to perfection, wouldn't you say?'
Abel tried the kiss again. This time she turned her face towards him and allowed herself to be kissed on the lips. Then she drew away.
'I think I ought to be getting back to the university!
'But you've only just arrived,' said Abel, dismayed.
'Yes, I know, but I have to be up early in the morning. I have a heavy day ahead of me!
Abel kissed her again. She fell back on the couch and Abel tried to move his hand on to her breast., She broke quickly from the kiss and pushed him away.
'I must be going, Abel,' she insisted.
'Oh, come,on,'he said, 'you don't have to go yet,'and once again he tried to kiss her.