It was three o’clock in the afternoon, after the fund managers had been sent back to New York and San Francisco. Blake and Fred were relaxing in the armchairs of the sitting area in Jack’s office. Blake had his feet up on the coffee table. Fred was signing some papers that Catherine McDonald had brought in. She was standing, as much over as in front of him.

“Did you say that Jack was on his way back from Walter Weckstein’s office?”

“Yes, Mr. Bonham. He stopped there after lunch. I expected him back by now. There’s another signature line on the second page of that one.”

“OK, Miss McDonald. Take these down to Treasury and ask Alan Schwartz to let me know how our position looks at the end of the week. That’s all. And could you pull that door shut? Thanks.”

Blake looked across the table at Fred. “Mr. Bonham, what did you think of lunch?”

“Well, Mr. Reynolds, I think Jack O’Brien could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.”

“I guess I’d be inclined to agree.” Blake chuckled. “Jack was right at home. He can be so wooden at times, but when he’s really comfortable, especially when he gets going on the vision thing, he’s a different person.” Blake leaned forward. “Tell me, while we’re waiting on Jack, what do you make of this New York Trust idea?”

“It’s like I said on the plane, I don’t like the idea of expanding by acquisition in such a big way. All the business we have now we got by starting something and growing it. This deal is gonna change everything.”

“I’ve looked at his memo,” said Blake, “and it’s a pretty convincing argument. Where’s the fatal flaw?”

“That’s just it, Blake. Maybe there isn’t one. Jack’s convinced that we can’t keep on the way we’ve been. He’s sure we have to do something major.”

Blake rubbed the palm of his hand against his chin. He put his feet on the floor. “Do you think we have to do something, Fred?”

“That depends on what you mean by ‘have to.’ When we were losing money faster than I could count it, we had to do something. There’s nothing like that forcing our hand here. But you know, there’s other realities we have to consider now. Like the fact that we’re managing this place for the benefit of guys we had lunch with today. And you heard their questions about earnings growth. So now, if you’re asking me, ‘Do we have to do something to keep a three-times book valuation?’ then the answer is, yeah, we probably gotta do something.”

“But not this something, right?”

“Oh, heck, I don’t know, Blake. Here’s what I think we ought to do. I’ll put together a team of our own analysts. I’ll have ’em work up in New York with the guys from Morell Finch so no one asks any questions around here. Let’s say by the end of January, early February, we ought to bring in the division heads for their opinions on what we can cut from the combined companies. Then… well… I guess we put our heads down and go for it.” Fred looked across the table. “Don’t worry, Blake. The way I see it, the worst that can happen is that we stick our tails between our legs and come on back home.