”Alright.”

He gave her a small smile, ”apropos to nothing, but you know what F. Scott Fitzgerald said, right?”

“Which saying of his?”

“The test of a first rate intelligence is to hold two opposed ideas at the same time, and still be able to function. Or something like that.”

Bette gave him a small smile. “You’re full of quotes tonight,” she said wryly.

He flashed a boyish grin back. “Better. You, or we, are going to need your best available, first rate, sharpest, intelligence on this one. So I hope we can set whatever differences we may have developed earlier tonight aside. Okay?”

She nodded imperceptibly.

“Let me start with gold as an investment asset.”

Bette leaned forward, and focused more sharply on Tycho, including his body language, not just on what he was saying.

“I’m increasingly being exposed to the operations of the London Bullion Market, because of what our clients are asking. And, from what I’ve seen, since the financial crisis, operations there have been escalating lately, with counterparties increasingly focused on the underlying value of traditional assets, like stocks, bonds. More and more people are looking to gold as collateral, or a basis to support other investments.”

”Because I deal so frequently with players there, I understand now that there are several reasons why investors consider the London market to be unique in its support of efforts to use gold as collateral.”

He licked his lips, and put a thumb up to signal, ”First, London sets the international benchmark for physical quality of gold that is globally accepted. There is no other standard that competes, in fact. This standard, ”London Good Delivery,” is backed by rigorous specifications as to size and purity, which means a physical gold bar needs to meet pre-set standards before it can be bought or sold. This ensures there is little to no variation between one bar and the next.  This consistency ensures that a buyer of gold will receive gold from a seller with an expected quality (99.5% fine) — which allows the metal to be easily transferred between members of the London Bullion Market. Ultimately, this facilitates trading and market liquidity—both desirable attributes for collateral, as I’m sure you agree.”

Bette stood, walked over to the bar, filled two glasses with ice, and then twisted the cap of a large bottle of sparkling water.