The indignation was gone. The older man was red-faced with fury now, though his voice managed to remain calm as he replied, “You have that a bit backwards, sir. If your brother’s business failed, it was because he was buying cargoes—my cargoes, already contracted to me—at ridiculously high prices, so he was unable to sell them at even close to a return on the investment. I had assumed he had an unlimited supply of funds to do this, which is why I gave up trying to regain the markets he was stealing from me, and sailed west to find new markets. I hadn’t heard that he failed, or I wouldn’t have left.”

“So you’re saying that Albert tried to drive you to ruin, and ruined himself in the process?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s rather convenient, you’ll agree, an easy claim to make against a man who can’t step forward to deny it, because he’s dead.”

“The truth is not always easy to swallow, sir, though it can usually be verified. You have only to question my captains, or perhaps the merchants involved, who ignored valid contracts with me to reap quick profits from your brother. These cargoes weren’t on the open market to be bid upon as you mentioned, they had set prices already agreed upon. Or perhaps question your brother’s own captains, who can tell you that their orders were to obtain cargoes at any costs. Now, whether his captains acted on their own or under his direction, the results were the same. They followed my ships specifically, showing up in all the same ports.”

“So now you would put the blame on his captains?” Vincent said.

George sighed. “Actually, I put the blame where it belongs, on your brother. I spoke to him before I left England, to try to find out why he was throwing away good money on underhanded tactics, rather than put a little effort into finding new markets for himself where he could have made easy profits. In all fairness, he struck me as a man who simply didn’t know what he was doing, but was too proud to admit it. Ironically, his tactics would have worked if he had enough money to see it through. Obviously he didn’t have enough, and instead, he ruined himself and nearly ruined me in the process.”

Vincent shook his head. “Do you really think I would believe you over my brother? I know his faults, and he has never denied them, nor his mistakes. So why would he lie in this instance? He claimed that you, and you specifically, caused him to fail.”