Wentworth Consortium Holding

Description

The Wentworth family’s Indian capital is no longer in indigo. The lands at Nadia were sold, and the proceeds were subscribed into the merchant consortium’s godown syndicate on The Strand — the partnership that owns the warehouses through which a great deal of Calcutta’s trade must pass.

It was not theft and it was not stupid. The indigo was failing, the syndicate pays better, and Mullick invited Pargeter in personally.

What It Reveals

• The money is exactly where Pargeter says it is. Nothing has been embezzled.
• It cannot be withdrawn without the consortium’s consent, and the consortium does not consent to anything that reduces its capital base. Pargeter has been asking for two years.
• The syndicate’s books are open to a subscriber who asks. Emma is a subscriber.