For Waterman Trust was sending thousands upon thousands of dollars in bank drafts to every conceivable and some inconceivable exchanges in Europe. Each letter of request from Ulster Scarlett was precisely worded and the instructions absolute. The demand for confidence, for silence, in the transactions was emphatic. The breaking of this confidence to be penalized by the immediate withdrawal of his interests from Waterman.… One-third of the Scarlett trusts. One-half of the Scarlatti inheritance.
There was no question about it. Ulster Scarlett had benefited from his sessions at the bank. He knew exactly how to expedite his financial demands and did it in the language of the banking profession. Still, Jefferson Cartwright was uneasy. He could be subject to criticism at a later date. There still remained two-thirds of the trusts and the second half of the inheritance. He solved his insoluble dilemma by sending the following—then variations of it—to Ulster Scarlett’s brother.
Dear Chancellor:
Just to keep you up-to-date—as we so successfully established during your brother’s sessions here at Waterman—Ulster is transferring considerable sums to European banks to cover what must be the finest honeymoon in the history of marriage. Nothing is too good for his beautiful wife! You’ll be happy to learn that his correspondence is most businesslike.
A number of such notes were received by Chancellor Drew, who smiled indulgently at his reformed younger brother’s devotion to his wife. And to think he was corresponding like a businessman. Progress had been made.
What Jefferson Cartwright did not explain was that Waterman Trust also received endless bills and charges validated by Ulster’s signatures from countless hotels, railroads, stores, and lending institutions throughout Europe. What disturbed Cartwright was that the flexibility he had authorized during the dirigible incident would have to be employed again.
It was inconceivable but there it was! Ulster Scarlett’s expenses were going to exceed the income from the trust fund. In the space of several months—when one added the charges to the transferals—Ulster Stewart Scarlett was reaching the eight-hundred-thousand-dollar mark.
Inconceivable!
Yet there it was.
And Waterman was subject to losing one-third of the Scarlatti interest if he divulged the information.
In August Ulster Stewart Scarlett sent word back to his mother and brother that Janet was pregnant. They would remain in Europe for a minimum of three more months as the doctors deemed it best that she do as little traveling as possible until the baby was well along.
Janet would remain in London, while Ulster traveled with friends to do some hunting in southern Germany.
He’d be gone for a month. Possibly a month and a half.
He’d cable when they decided to come home.
In mid-December the cable arrived. Ulster and Janet would be home for the holidays. Janet was to remain fairly inactive as the pregnancy was a difficult one, but Ulster hoped Chancellor had checked on the decorators and that his brownstone on Fifty-fourth Street would be comfortable for her.
He instructed Chancellor Drew to have someone meet a prior ship to escort a new housekeeper Ulster had found on the Continent. She had been highly recommended and Ulster wanted her to feel at home. Her name was Hannah.
Language would be no problem.
She spoke both English and German.
During the remaining three months of Janet’s pregnancy Ulster resumed his sessions at Waterman Trust and his mere presence had a calming effect on Jefferson Cartwright. Although he never spent more than two hours at the bank, he seemed somewhat more subdued, less given to fits of irritation than he had been before his honeymoon.
He even began taking work home in the hand-tooled leather briefcase.
In reply to Cartwright’s confidential and offhand questions about the large sums of money forwarded by the bank to Ulster in Europe, the Scarlatti heir reminded Waterman’s third vice-president that it was he who had made it clear that nothing prohibited him from using the income from his trust fund for investments. He reiterated his request that all his European transactions remain confidential between the two of them.
“Of course. I understand completely. But you must realize that in the event we transfer funds from the second trust to cover your expenses—as surely we’ll have to this year—I must record it for the Scarlatti records.… We’ve paid enormous sums all over Europe on your signature.”
“But you won’t have to do that for a long time, will you?”
“At the end of the fiscal year, which for the Scarlatti Industries is June thirtieth. The same as the government’s.”
“Well”—the handsome man sighed as he looked at the agitated Southerner—“on June thirtieth I’ll just have to stand up and face the music. It won’t be the first time my family’s been upset. I hope it’s the last.”