Page 20 of The Songbird of Wychwood
PERCY
On Monday morning I spied two envelopes on my desk. One bore the stamp of our family’s private bank, Rothschild. The other envelope was addressed in flowing purple script. I opened the first envelope to see that a meeting was arranged with James Adler at the bank on Tuesday morning at ten a.m. The second contained, as I expected, a letter from our mysterious host at Wychwood to inform that the club would be open this coming Saturday. By then it would have been three weeks since the last party, and in those three weeks my life had changed immeasurably. No doubt Miss Georgette would be there. I wondered if I should attend, after all, I did not need to avail of the house as an elicit place to meet a male lover. George and I had formed an attachment that was nothing to do with the house, and therefore, we did not need to abide by house rules. But I supposed an evening of fine food; gaming, song, and dance would be welcome after a long week. I could take my joy in watching Miss Georgette perform.
I rang the bell to notify my secretary that I required assistance. When she opened the door I said, “Could you ask Mr. Simmons from the legal department to come and see me at his earliest convenience?”
“Very good, sir.”
Around thirty minutes later Oliver Simmons knocked on my office door. He appeared a little confused as to why I’d asked for him, but I rose from my seat, shook his hand warmly and then gestured for him to take the chair in front of my desk.
“I’m speaking to you with my father’s approval,” I began, “but what we’re about to discuss must remain confidential, do you understand?”
My affable, mousy colleague sat erect in his chair, “Of course sir,” he said eagerly.
I leaned forward, my hands flat on my desk and gave him a huge smile to ease his nerves.
“I was rather inspired by our night at the Middlesex,” I admitted.
“Oh, it was a tremendous night, sir. Always look after your privates, ” he sang tunelessly, “That song was so very funny. It hasn’t left me!” he grinned.
I laughed too with the remembrance of the dashing Captain Rimmer.
“I’d never expected such a good bachelor party for Jonty,” he added.
“Did the wedding go well?”
“Indeed, it did. They’re off on honeymoon, two days at Clacton-on-Sea,” he beamed with pride, as if he were the father of the bride.
“Good, good. Well, I won’t beat around the bush.” I clasped my hands together on the desk. “I’m considering starting a new publishing company. It will deal with popular musical manuscripts. I have a meeting with the bank tomorrow, but I’d like you to draw up a draft contract that I can provide to lyricists and composers whose work I wish to pursue. You’ll need to look into what the standard royalty rate is for sales of loose sheet manuscripts and song book collections. I wish to ensure that the agreement is fair to both parties.”
“This pleases me very much, sir. I can tell you now that my previous employment was with the Lighthouse Publishing Company. They dealt with licensing musical manuscripts for hymns, carols, and congregational works. So, I am very much your man on this matter!” he beamed.
I sat back and mirrored his smile. “I had no idea of your past experience in this area. This is most advantageous. No wonder father told me to speak with you directly! I see I can leave this in your expert hands then.”
“Indeed you can, Mr. Harcourt. I shall draw up a draft contract and have it ready for your appraisal by Wednesday, if that is agreeable.”
“Yes, thank you. If Mr. Davies has a problem with you doing other tasks, please tell him to come and talk to me,” I winked, ensuring the head of the legal department would not sanction Simmons for this extra-curricular task.
“I will do sir. And thank you so much for this opportunity.” Simmons stood and we shook hands again as I showed him to the door.
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Rothschild Bank was founded in Frankfurt, Germany in 1744. Our family had trusted our wealth with the bank since the early 1800s, and, with so many generational connections our family was held in high esteem. Mr. James Adler was our private banker and dealt with the family accounts. He was in his late forties, with blond thinning hair parted to the right and flattened with pomade. He had a heavy-set figure, and wore a dour black suit that made him look like an undertaker. He prized himself out of his captain’s chair and rounded his desk to welcome me into his office.
“Ah, Mr. Harcourt. It’s a pleasure to see you on this fine day. Please take a seat.” He gestured to a chair and then retook his place behind his desk
“Your late grandfather Theodore left you an inheritance nest egg that he stipulated was to be invested into a business. Your father alerted me that you have come to a decision on how to proceed. I believe the business will be publishing music manuscripts, is that correct?” he said with a succinct clipped affectation to his voice.
“Yes, that is the initial idea, but I wish to retain advice on whether this would be an advantageous area of investment.”
Adler steepled his fingers and sat back in his chair. “When I received your father’s letter on Saturday I began looking into this subject. I’ve had a clerk spend a day in the British Library carrying out research and, it appears that, with the increased ownership of musical instruments, demand for sheet music has also increased over the past ten years. Traditionally, music at home was accessible to the aristocracy and so publishers would only print one or two hundred copies of a manuscript. Now, with the increase in the general public playing instruments, they’ll print a minimum of a thousand and sell not only in England, but all over Europe, the colonies, and the Americas,” he paused for a breath. “Also, taking into consideration the popularity of music halls and concerts, music is accessible to all classes of society from the working man to the upper class. I can envisage this development continuing and therefore, I believe music publishing is a very good area of investment.”
“That is excellent news. How do I go about setting up my company?”
“This is where your lawyer comes in. They will have to incorporate your new company, and when you have the required papers, I will open a new bank account in the business name, and then transfer the funds bequeathed by the late Theodore Harcourt into the account for you to draw from. Will there be other shareholders, or do you wish to be the sole owner?”
“The business proposal is still in the early stages. I will meet with my lawyer again tomorrow and write to you when I am clear on how to proceed.” I rose, and offered my hand, which Adler took.
“Thank you so much for your time. I will correspond at the earliest convenience.”
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