"I am almost certain," he said, "that I saw him on the platform at Raynham--the nearest station to Mandeleys--yesterday. He seemed marvellously little altered." "He has probably taken up his abode down there, then," David observed. The Marquis's face darkened. He brushed the subject aside. "There is a matter concerning which I wish to speak to you, Mr. Thain," he said. "You are one of the fortunate ones of the earth, who have attained, by your own efforts, I believe, an immense prosperity." David listened in silence, watching the ash at the end of his cigar. "Your money, my son-in-law, Sir Robert, tells me," the Marquis continued, "has been made in brilliant and sagacious speculation. There have no doubt been others who have followed in your footsteps, and, in a humbler way, have shared your success." David had developed a rare gift of silence. He smoked steadily, and his expression was remarkably stolid. "I find myself in need of a sum," the Marquis proceeded, with the air of a man introducing a business proposition, "of two hundred and twenty thousand pounds--there or thereabouts." There was a momentary gleam of interest in David's eyes, gone, however, almost as soon as it had appeared. For the first time he made a remark. "Over a million dollars, eh?" The Marquis inclined his head. "My position," he continued, "naturally precludes me from making use of any of the ordinary methods by means of which men amass wealth. I have at various times, however, made small but not entirely unsuccessful speculations--upon the Stock Exchange. The position in which I now find myself demands something upon a larger scale." "What capital," David Thain enquired, "can you handle?" The Marquis stroked his chin thoughtfully. He was aware of a pocketbook a shade fuller than usual, of three overdrawn banking accounts, and his recent interview with his lawyers. "Capital," he repeated. "Ah! I suppose capital is necessary." "In any gambling transaction, you always have to take into account the possibility," David reminded him, "that you might lose." "Precisely," the Marquis assented, selecting another cigarette, "but that is not the class of speculation I am looking for. I am anxious to discover an enterprise, either by means of my own insight into such matters, which is not inconsiderable, or the good offices of a friend, in which the chances of loss do not exist." David was a little staggered. He contemplated his host curiously. "Such speculations," he said at last, "are difficult to find." "Not to a man of your ability, I am sure, Mr. Thain," the Marquis asserted. "Do I gather that you wish for my advice?" The Marquis inclined his head. "That," he intimated, "was my object." David smoked steadily, and his host contemplated him with a certain artistic satisfaction. He had been something of a sculptor in his youth, and he saw possibilities in the shape and pose of the great financier.