Chapter 55: Zeynep’s Financial Office

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Zeynep’s Financial Office

I

Constantinople, Emin?nü — 1 July 1914

The news from Sarajevo had reached the city three days earlier, and the gazettes still carried the black borders of mourning for the Archduke.

Zeynep laid a closely written charter on the table and asked Ayaan to read it before he spoke.

"The Financial Office of the House shall keep the credit table, the exchange sheets, the reserve in all its tiers, and the books of the Compact," he read. "It shall be directed by Zeynep Han?m, and no sum above two hundred liras shall leave it without a second signature."

"I have kept all of these in my own hand for four years," said Zeynep. "The House has grown beyond what one pair of hands can do well, and the work should be a department, with rules and clerks."

"Where will it sit?"

"In two rooms above the Compact’s hall in Galata, where Agop Efendi is a floor below and the Ottoman Bank is a street away." She turned the page. "I would open it on the ninth."

Ayaan read it a second time, slowly, and found that every clause protected the House from its own haste.

Ayaan signed the charter and passed the pen to her.

"You will not ask my leave for each decision," he said.

"No, but I shall give you a reason for each," said Zeynep, and she signed beneath his name.

II

Constantinople, Galata — 9 July 1914

The two rooms smelled of fresh paint and new ledgers, and a brass plate had been screwed beside the door.

Zeynep had engaged three clerks, and she presented them to the guests who climbed the narrow stair.

"Mihran Efendi served eleven years at the Ottoman Bank, and Samuel Aboab came from Salonica with letters from two merchant houses," she said. "Elias Benveniste is promoted to chief keeper of the books, and he will train them both."

Elias bowed to the guests with his pencil behind his ear and could not hide his pleasure.

Agop Kalfayan inspected the rooms in silence, and then he tapped the long table with his knuckle.

"It is a proper office, Han?m, and the light is good," he said. "I have known banks in Galata that were run from a worse room by men with larger titles."

"I did not ask for a title, Agop Efendi, only for a table."

"You asked for a table, and you have made a bank of it, though you do not yet call it one." He smiled. "Allah grant that it never forgets how small it began."

Hac? Arif read the plate aloud and struck the doorpost lightly with his palm.

"The Financial Office of the House of Hassan," he said. "I have seen worse names given to better-endowed institutions."

III

Constantinople, Galata — 24 July 1914

The Austrian ultimatum to Serbia had been published the evening before, and by morning every exchange house in Galata had widened its rates.

Zeynep summoned the partners to the new office and laid three sheets in a row.

"On the left is the text of the ultimatum, as printed in four gazettes," she said. "In the middle is the rate of the crown, which rose by two parts in a hundred yesterday, and on the right is the one third of our foreign debt that remains uncovered."

"You wish to cover it today," said Ayaan.

"I wish to cover it before the rate moves again, and every figure on this table can be checked by any clerk in the street." She looked at him steadily. "That is the reason that I promised you, and you may examine it."

Ayaan read the ultimatum, the rate, and the debt, and he found no gap in the argument.

"Buy the crowns forward through Monsieur Barrault this morning," he said. "Call in the Rumelian accounts that are due, and hold the money in the strong room."

Zeynep inclined her head, and she wrote both orders in the book of the office before he had finished speaking.

Mihran carried them to the bank himself, and the contract was sealed by noon.

IV

Constantinople, Rüstem Pa?a — 31 July 1914

War had been declared between Austria and Serbia three days earlier, and the news from Vienna ended abruptly.

Pichler and Sons sent a telegram that said the shipment of fine paper would be delayed until further notice.

Zeynep read it in the warehouse office and then counted the stock on the Friday sheets.

"We hold eleven weeks of paper at the ordinary rate of sale," she said. "If the Vienna route stays closed, and the ?zmit mill cannot supply the finer grades, the figure becomes a danger by Christmas."

"Shall we raise the prices?" asked Elias.

"No, the boards shall stay as they are until the stock falls to four weeks, and then we shall change them openly and with notice." She tapped the sheet. "A price that rises on the day of fear is a price that cannot be trusted afterwards."

Cevdet came in from the yard with news that he delivered quietly.

"The Ministry of War has ordered the reservists of the first class to report, and the gazettes will announce it within the week," he said. "Your clerks and porters should know before the posters tell them."

"Then they shall hear it from us today," said Ayaan. "Zeynep, what is the rule for a clerk who is called?"

"His place is kept, and his wage is paid to his family for three months, from the House’s own account." She wrote it on a clean sheet. "It is a charge that I would rather bear than regret."

V

Constantinople, Galata — 4 August 1914

The general mobilization was announced on Monday, and the government proclaimed a moratorium upon debts the same afternoon.

At the Ottoman Bank, Monsieur Barrault received Zeynep in his private room with a face that was courteous and very tired.

"The bank may pay out only small sums to each depositor until the situation is clearer," he said. "I regret it, madame, and I ask you to understand that it is not distrust."

"I understand it, monsieur, and I shall not ask for more than the rule allows." She folded her gloves. "I came instead to tell you what the House will do."

"I am listening."

"The House will pay its wages and its suppliers from the strong room, and it will keep its bills with the Compact’s members at the old terms." She laid a sheet before him. "It will also extend the credit of every merchant whose son has been called to the army, by one month for each month of service."

Barrault read the sheet slowly.

"A merchant who lends in a moratorium is a rare creature," he said. "I shall note that the House’s cash did not leave my bank in haste."

When she returned to the office, the long table was already crowded with Compact members who held bills they could neither collect nor pay.

Zeynep took her place at the head, and she heard each of them in turn until the lamps were lit.

VI

Constantinople, Emin?nü — 9 August 1914

Mehmed was four years old, and the garden was filled with the sound of his small drum.

Mustafa had brought a wooden horse from the Süleymaniye bazaar, and Zeynep had made sweet pastries for the guests.

When the guests had gone, Zeynep sat on the stair and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.

"I have not slept more than five hours a night for a week," she said. "The office has three clerks and thirty-one members who need me, and I have not yet learned to say no."

Ayaan sat beside her and said nothing for a time.

"You have said no to me, and I have never forgotten how it felt," he said. "It was the beginning of the House’s rules."

"That was easy, for I knew that I was right." She smiled wearily. "It is harder to say no to a widow who wishes an extension of three months."

"Then do not say it to her, but give her the month and the rule together."

She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I wished to ask you for the next reason," she said. "You told me that a war would last years, and I have written it in no book, but I have prepared the office for it nonetheless."

"I have no reason for that tonight that a clerk could check," said Ayaan. "Prepare it as a precaution, and I shall give you checkable reasons as they come."

"Then it is a precaution, and Allah willing, it will prove unnecessary," said Zeynep.

VII

Constantinople, Kas?mpa?a — 12 August 1914

Herr Imhof stood at the foundry gate on the morning of the wages with the pay sheets in his hand.

"The bank pays out a few liras at a time, and the foundry has two hundred and ten mouths to feed," he said. "I do not know how the cashier will find the coin."

"He will find it in the strong room, Herr Imhof," said Ayaan. "The Financial Office sent four sealed bags at dawn, and Elias counted them twice."

The workmen filed past the table and took their wages in silver, one by one, and each signed against his own name.

Selim stood at the end of the line with his cap in his hands.

"I have received my paper, Efendi, and I report to the barracks on Monday," he said. "I wished to thank you for the engineers’ school, and for the Saturday hour that taught me to count francs."

"Your place is kept, and your wage will go to your mother every month," said Ayaan. "Come back and finish the lathe."

Selim bowed, and he walked out through the gate with a straight back.

VIII

Constantinople, Galata — 20 August 1914

Cevdet climbed the narrow stair to the Financial Office at dusk, and he stood at the window for some time before he spoke.

"The office is now the place where the House’s secrets are written in one hand," he said. "A man who wished to know them could do worse than to study this room."

"I have thought of it, Cevdet Efendi," said Zeynep.

"Then I would suggest three things." He counted them upon his fingers. "A second lock on the book of the reserve, a code of numbers for the letters to Geneva, and no visitor in the inner room without a clerk beside him."

"Elias shall draft the code on Monday, and Mihran shall learn it first." Zeynep wrote the three items in her book. "Do you think that the Berlin house will come?"

"I think that every house in Galata will come, in one guise or another, to learn who holds money in a war." Cevdet inclined his head. "You have chosen a good moment to learn to be careful."

"I did not choose it, Cevdet Efendi, but I shall make use of it," said Zeynep.

He smiled for the first time that evening and took his leave without another word.

IX

Constantinople, Galata — 1 September 1914

On the first morning of the month, Mihran Efendi unlocked the door of the Financial Office and found a line of members already waiting on the stair.

Zeynep arrived at eight and read the daily position from the board, and she wrote each figure in the book of the office with her own pen.

By noon the office had received forty-one visitors and had refused none of them a hearing.

Agop Kalfayan came up at four, and he stood in the doorway for a long minute.

"I have seen a few offices open in a war, and most of them closed within the year," he said. "This one has begun to do a bank’s work."

"It is an office, Agop Efendi, and it will remain one."

"Then let it be the best office in Galata, Han?m, and Allah keep it from the habits of banks."

When he had gone, Zeynep took a small ledger from the shelf and wrote the date on its first page.

The first year of the office: Mobilization declared. Moratorium in force. Stock eleven weeks. Cash held. Members served: forty-one.

She closed the ledger and set it at the corner of the table, where the morning sun would find it.