Even Nathaniel was beginning to have doubts about his hero. ‘What I can’t understand,’ he said to Mr Leeman, one summer evening, when his particular group of friends and neighbours was gathered about his dining table, ‘is how he was able to predict the dividend his new company would pay, even before the line was built and the profits were coming in. He must have had a crystal ball.’ ‘That has occurred to a good many of us over the last few years,’ Mr Leeman said and he gave Jane his quiet smile. Then they’re still keeping an eye on him, Jane thought. She’d grown adept at picking up messages at these dinner parties of hers. ‘I can’t believe he would be dishonest,’ Mr Patterson said, smoothing his whiskers. ‘He is a considerable businessman, when all’s said and done, and I daresay they have different ways of doing things.’ ‘So it would appear,’ Mr Leeman said – and again that smile at Jane. ‘And we mustn’t forget he has built us the De Grey Rooms,’ Mrs Patterson said, ‘which are a great adornment to the city.
