Martin Chuzzlewit Chapter 27

In which the reader is introduced to the grand and bustling establishment of the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company, a venture propelled by enterprising men of questionable means and flamboyant airs, whose outward show of respectability and solid business masks the curious and secretive dealings within. Amidst this scene of meretricious splendour and bustling activity, old acquaintances meet anew under changed guises, exchanging truths half-veiled in jests and speculations, whilst the company’s affairs proceed with a flourish at once magnificent and mysterious.