That was a near impossible task.
‘I wanted to learn what the East India Company did, to see if there was a place there for me.’
‘And is there?’
‘There might have been,’ he admitted. If he hadn’t seen some of the techniques used by the company. If he hadn’t talked with farmers. If he hadn’t learned how the company forced them to grow poppies, then paid them pennies for the crop. If he hadn’t stood in the factory that processed the opium and witnessed the conditions there. And if he hadn’t befriended the daughter of one of the natives and learned from her all the quiet, untidy things that Englishmen did in India.
He said none of that out loud.
‘I received a letter from my sister begging me to return home. I have three, and they are of an age to marry.’ He shook his head. ‘She needs me to sort through things for them.’
Mr. Richards’s brow lifted. ‘Sort through things?’
Might as well tell it all. ‘Their dowries, sir. My father won’t give them any details.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t know what’s become of the funds.’
‘Yes, you do. Your father gambled it all away.’
‘Most likely.’
‘So what are you going to do?’ The question was posed casually as if it were the same as choosing a cravat for the evening or a new style of haircut. It wasn’t that simple, and even though he was his father’s heir, there was precious little he could do to control the man. Which meant he didn’t have an answer.
Abruptly, Lord Wenshire leaned forwards. His posture, which had been lazy, was suddenly taut as he stared hard at Cedric.
‘What are you going to do?’
Cedric felt his temper flare. He did not like being questioned by anyone, much less a man who had all the advantages of the rich. Lord Wenshire might not be in line for an earldom, but he came from the aristocracy. The second son of a second son. He’d been educated with the elite and had travelled the world making money. He did not know what it was like to have disasters for parents. And to be constantly crippled beneath the weight of his father’s addiction.
‘Lord Domac!’ the man said, his voice harsher than before.
Cedric matched it, his words coming out hard and angry. ‘I tried gambling as a teen. I was clever and understood the games.’ He shook his head. ‘But I could not sustain the profit.’ Not without resorting to trickery, and that was something he could not stomach. ‘I tried businesses in England, learning about mills and factories at home.’ He shook his head. ‘I could not buy my way into any of the profitable ventures. And I haven’t the stomach needed for coal mining.’
Lord Wenshire grunted as he fell back against his chair. ‘I’ve been in a coal mine. Filthy, awful work. And what it does to the children.’ He shook his head.
Cedric shuddered. He’d seen that, as well. Even if he had the money to invest, he couldn’t do it. ‘So I followed Graham to India. There are ways to make money with the company here.’
Lord Wenshire nodded. ‘I worked for them for a decade. It’s the basis of my wealth.’
‘Only a decade? I thought it was longer.’
‘Well, maybe fifteen years.’ The man shook his head. ‘Once I was transferred out of China, I began searching for something different. India worked, for a time, but I wanted something…’ He shrugged. ‘Wholesome.’
Cedric nodded. He understood the desire. ‘Did you find it?’
Lord Wenshire snorted. ‘In lots of different ways. But mostly, I was searching for the right cargo. The right product to take back to England.’
Now this was something he needed to know. ‘What is it? What did you find?’
‘Chinese tea.’ He shook his head. ‘I spent years searching the globe, and in the end…’ He pushed his plate away from him on the table. ‘I came back to the East India Company and tea.’
‘I want to be in shipping,’ Cedric blurted out. It was a shock because he’d never said that aloud before. ‘I am not a farmer. I can manage whatever estate remains from my father, but there is little money there. I will not process opium. It is not…’
‘Wholesome?’
That was as good a word as any. There was medical value in the drug, but also a great deal of abuse. Plus the Chinese government had made it illegal to import, so only black market deals were available.
‘Cargo is the way to go,’ he said. ‘Shipping it from one place to the other, as you do.’ He leaned forwards. ‘I want to learn from you, sir. I want to understand how you have made your fortune—’
‘So you can imitate it?’