"What do I mean?--Certainly nothing adverse to your character, sir. Your firm in San Francisco, sir, know very well how the affairs of the Company are being transacted on this side of the water. No doubt you are in correspondence with Mr. Fisker. Ask him. The telegraph wires are open to you, sir. But, my Lords and Gentlemen, I am able to inform you that in affairs of this nature great discretion is necessary. On behalf of the shareholders at large whose interests are in our hands, I think it expedient that any general statement should be postponed for a short time, and I flatter myself that in that opinion I shall carry the majority of this Board with me." Mr. Melmotte did not make his speech very fluently; but, being accustomed to the place which he occupied, he did manage to get the words spoken in such a way as to make them intelligible to the company. "I now move that this meeting be adjourned to this day week," he added. "I second that motion," said Lord Alfred, without moving his hand from his breast. "I understood that we were to have a statement," said Montague. "You've had a statement," said Mr. Cohenlupe. "I will put my motion to the vote," said the Chairman. "I shall move an amendment," said Paul, determined that he would not be altogether silenced. "There is nobody to second it," said Mr. Cohenlupe. "How do you know till I've made it?" asked the rebel. "I shall ask Lord Nidderdale to second it, and when he has heard it I think that he will not refuse." "Oh, gracious me! why me? No;--don't ask me. I've got to go away. I have indeed." "At any rate I claim the right of saying a few words. I do not say whether every affair of this Company should or should not be published to the world." "You'd break up everything if you did," said Cohenlupe. "Perhaps everything ought to be broken up. But I say nothing about that. What I do say is this. That as we sit here as directors and will be held to be responsible as such by the public, we ought to know what is being done. We ought to know where the shares really are. I for one do not even know what scrip has been issued." "You've bought and sold enough to know something about it," said Melmotte. Paul Montague became very red in the face. "I, at any rate, began," he said, "by putting what was to me a large sum of money into the affair." "That's more than I know," said Melmotte. "Whatever shares you have, were issued at San Francisco, and not here." "I have taken nothing that I haven't paid for," said Montague. "Nor have I yet had allotted to me anything like the number of shares which my capital would represent. But I did not intend to speak of my own concerns." "It looks very like it," said Cohenlupe.