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It's May 4th, 1904, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.

Businessman Charles Roles paces back and forth in the hotel lobby.

He's dressed in a fine suit, his hair slipped back with plummet.

Charles is a wealthy man, courtesy of family money and his own business ventures.

He's a man of action, and he's impatient to get on with his upcoming meeting.

Justice Charles checks his watch again.

Engineer Henry Royce enters the hotel lobby.

A short, stocky man with a thick beard and mustache, Henry is dressed in a plain simple suit.

Unlike Charles, Henry comes from a poor background,

but he carries himself with the air of a man confident in his abilities.

The two men shake hands, and Charles leads Henry to a table in the corner of the lobby.

As they sit down, Henry eyes his counterpart apprehensively.

Charles looks young to him, and indeed Charles is young.

At just 26, he's 14 years Henry's junior.

But he has important resources to offer the engineer.

Henry has just built a new car,

but he needs someone wealthy and well-connected to help manufacture and sell it.

Charles is an affluent automobile salesperson,

and seems like the perfect person to help Henry.

...