‘I still wish I knew how you made a profit out of burned blankets,’ said Charles, peeling an apple with his penknife.

Collis smiled. ‘Whatever you’ve got, there’s always somebody willing to buy it. I was lucky, that’s all.’

‘How much is in here?’ asked Leland, his eyebrows lowered with displeasure.

‘Enough to cover those shares you made over, plus a little more, which you can take as an investment in new stock.’

Leland looked at the purse balefully and wiped his mouth with his napkin. ‘You know something?’ he said. ‘I still find it difficult to believe that a man of your background should wish to become involved in a hardware business. I know what you’ve said about gaining experience. I know all of that. But it doesn’t seem to ring authentic.’

Collis sipped his wine, and didn’t answer at first.

Charles said, ‘You’ve shown the enthusiasm, haven’t you, Collis? That’s all that counts.’

‘I’ve shown the colour of my money,’ said Collis, ‘and that counts even more. If you don’t like it, Leland, you know what you can do.’

‘I wasn’t doubting your integrity,’ Leland said huffily.

Collis pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘Mary,’ he said, ‘I want to thank you for your dinner. Jane, it was a pleasure to spend an evening in your company. Charles, thank you.’

There was a difficult pause. Then Collis turned to Leland and gave him a mock-respectful nod of the head.

‘We’ll be friends, Leland, I don’t have any doubt of it.’

‘Friends?’ Leland said darkly. ‘We shall see.’

The following morning, a boy with gingery hair and freckles arrived with a letter for Collis. It had come on the steamboat Persephone, which his own ship had actually passed on the way up to Sacramento. The Persephone had run aground on the mud flats, and had only been refloated in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Collis was half-way through checking the stores that had been delivered from San Francisco. He was standing outside 54 K in his shirtsleeves, a cheroot between his teeth, directing three casual labourers as they rolled kegs of nails and gunpowder into the store. There were always plenty of drifters and unlucky placers in Sacramento who were glad of a few hours’ employment. It was a fresh, chilly day, with a southwest wind blowing in from the river.

Collis looked at both sides of the letter before he opened it. The boy stood and watched him. The envelope was cream vellum, and sealed with green wax. He couldn’t make out the crest on the wax, but it looked as if it had been impressed with a heavy signet ring. The writing was lyrical and strong, in black ink.