It had been Lord Aldridge’s idea. When Cedrica first realized that he planned to pay the dowry he had promised, she voiced her decision to split it between buying care for her father and helping Marcel pay for the restaurant, but Aldridge advised her to think again.
“The Grenfords owe your father a duty of care,” he assured her. “Invest in the restaurant by all means, but not only in the restaurant. You also need a separate income. I suggest money in the Funds for security and then some other ventures that will give a greater return. You must think of your long-term security, cousin.”
Cedrica had quizzed Marcel on his plans and then spent hours collecting figures and doing sums. “But we will need all that money if we are to open this year.”
“We could work another year,” Marcel suggested, “or open a lesser establishment.”
“Or accept investors,” Aldridge suggested. “You and Cedrica to hold the majority share, and no one else with more than…” He pursed his lips as he considered, “five percent. You would have my support. I am confident you will make me money.”
Her Grace agreed, and so did the Laceys and the Suttons and others. In no time at all, it seemed, they had the funds to make over a building to Marcel’s high standards, the rental on a comfortable home nearby, and investments in the Funds, Aldridge’s cousin’s fur trading company, a woolen mill in Manchester, and a canal building enterprise.
