“Don’t be discouraged,” Frederick said. “I can arrange for you to start training with our business analysts on the third floor. Spend a few months in each department. Read the newspapers every day. In the meantime, work on your croquet. It’s likely to be the primary activity once the rest of the family arrives. Watch out for Oscar’s wife. Poppy takes her croquet more seriously than the Duke of Wellington staring down Napoleon at Waterloo.”

Gwen chimed in with a funny story about an epic croquet game from last summer, but Patrick was too distracted to pay attention. Frederick had been masterful in undermining Liam’s confidence and setting the stage to make it impossible for Liam to vote on banking affairs for years to come.

That meant the steel merger would face no opposition. And that Blackstone College wouldn’t have any allies on the board. Oscar’s one-year extension on their funding needed to be made permanent, which meant Patrick needed to help Liam get his voting shares. Banks were governed by operating agreements that were as binding as any public law. It would be a roadmap for how to get Liam on the board.

The evening air grew chilly, and servants began clearing the table. Gwen and Liam retreated inside, but Patrick followed Frederick into the garden.

“Can I have a word, sir?”

The older man hesitated for only a moment before gesturing to a crushed-oyster-shell path heading toward the rose garden. “I could use a smoke,” Frederick said, drawing a cigar from his suit pocket. “You?”

“No, thank you.”

The scratch of the match and the quick scent of sulfur prickled Patrick’s nose as he waited for Frederick to light his cigar, and then they set off for the rose garden.

There was no point in beating around the bush. “I would like to see the operating agreement that governs the bank,” Patrick said.

Frederick blew a puff of smoke into the air. “It makes for dull reading. Ask me what you want to know, and I’ll tell you.”

“I would like to know every word in that agreement,” Patrick replied. “A copy of the document would be the most efficient means of getting it.”

“Are you acting as Liam’s attorney?”

“For the time being. When can I see the operating agreement?”

“There is no hope of elevating an uneducated and politically radical man onto the board before next month’s meeting. It’s going to take years before he will be ready to exercise his voting rights, so why the urgency?”

Patrick deliberately emulated Frederick’s congenial tone. “The good friars at Saint Boniface taught me to pay attention to the letter of the law, and that operating agreement is the Holy Bible of the Blackstone Bank.”

Frederick smiled and nodded. “And what would the good friars say about a man who was repeatedly seen on a fire escape, embracing my granddaughter under the cover of darkness?”