The Doll - Bolesaw Prus [101]
‘Ten thousand roubles is the basis for a reasonable standard of living for at least twenty families,’ Wokulski went on.
‘A drop in the ocean,’ one of the merchants muttered.
‘But there is yet another aspect,’ Wokulski added, ‘which only concerns capitalists. I have at my disposal merchandise worth three to four million roubles a year…’
‘My word!’ the marshal murmured.
‘That is not my fortune,’ Wokulski continued, ‘mine is much more modest.’
‘Upon my word, I like such men,’ said the round-shouldered Count.
‘Oh dear me, yes,’ added the ‘Englishman’.
‘That three to four million is my personal credit and brings me in a very small interest as middle-man,’ said Wokulski, ‘but I must point out that if cash could replace this credit, then the interest would amount to fifteen to twenty per cent, perhaps more. This aspect of the matter concerns you gentlemen who invest your money in banks at low rates of interest. Others use this money and draw interest for themselves. I am offering you the opportunity to use it directly and increase your own incomes. That is all.’
‘Excellent,’ the round-shouldered Count exclaimed, ‘but would it not be possible to have more details?’
‘I can only discuss them with my partners,’ Wokulski replied.
‘You may rely on me,’ said the round-shouldered Count, and gave Wokulski his hand.
‘Oh dear me, yes,’ the pseudo-Englishman added, giving him two fingers.
‘Gentlemen,’ exclaimed a clean-shaven individual from the group of gentry who hated the magnates, ‘you have been referring to the calico trade, which does not interest us…But, gentlemen, we have corn in our granaries,’ he added in a tearful voice, ‘we have spirits in our warehouses, which the middle-men take advantage of to exploit us in a way I can only describe as…deplorable.’ He looked around the study. The group of gentry who hated the magnates cheered him on.
The face of the Prince, glowing with discreet joy, lit up at this moment with a flash of genuine inspiration: ‘But, gentlemen,’ he exclaimed, ‘today we have been referring to the calico trade, but what is to prevent us debating on other matters tomorrow or the day after?’
‘Goodness me, how well the dear Prince talks, to be sure,’ the marshal exclaimed.
‘Go on, go on!’ the lawyer urged, forcefully showing that he was trying to put a brake on his own enthusiasm for the Prince.
‘Well, gentlemen,’ the Prince went on, moved, ‘I propose further meetings: one to discuss the corn trade, another the spirits trade…’
‘And credit for the farmers?’ asked one of the disunited gentry.
‘A third on credit for farmers,’ said the Prince, ‘a fourth…’
‘The fourth and fifth,’ the lawyer hurried on, ‘to be devoted to solving the general economic problems…’
‘Of our unhappy country,’ the Prince concluded, almost with tears in his eyes.
‘Gentlemen,’ the lawyer cried, blowing his nose in excitement, ‘let us honour our host, the well-known citizen, the most respected of men…’
‘Ten thousand roubles, my goodness!’ the marshal exclaimed.
‘…by rising!’ the lawyer hastily finished.
‘Bravo! Long live the Prince!’ everyone cried, to the accompaniment of the scraping of feet and chairs. The group of magnate-hating gentry cheered loudest of all.
The Prince began embracing his guests, no longer restraining his emotion; assisted by the lawyer, he embraced everyone and wept copiously.
Some men gathered around Wokulski. ‘I shall come in with fifty thousand roubles at first,’ said the round-shouldered Count, ‘next year though…let us wait and see.’
‘Thirty, sir, thirty thousand roubles, my dear sir…’ added the Baron who looked like Mephistopheles.
‘And I—thirty thousand, oh dear me, yes,’ added the ‘English’ Count, nodding his head.
‘And I’ll contribute twice—no, three times as much as our dear Prince. Goodness me!’ said the marshal.
A few opponents from the merchant group also approached Wokulski. They said nothing, but their appreciative glances were a hundred times more eloquent than the most affectionate words. Then Wokulski was approached by a young man, shabby, with a thin