Дик Фрэнсис - Break In

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘go on.’

‘Maynard Allardeck said not to worry, he could see why I couldn’t tell my father, it reflected well on me, he said, and he would lend me the money himself, and I could pay him back slowly, and he would just charge me a little over, if I thought that was fair. And I did think it was fair, of course. I was so extremely relieved. I thanked him a lot, over and over.’

‘So Maynard Allardeck paid your bookmaker?’

‘Yes.’ Hugh nodded. ‘I got a final account from him marked “Paid with thanks”, and a note saying it would be best if I laid off betting for a while, but if I needed him in the future, he would accommodate me again. I mean, I thought it very fair and kind, wouldn’t you?’

‘Mm,’ I said dryly. ‘And then after a while Maynard Allardeck told you he was short of money himself and would have to call in the debt?’

‘Yes,’ Hugh said in surprise. ‘How did you know? He was so apologetic and embarrassed I almost felt sorry for him, though he was putting me in a terrible hole. Terrible. And then he suggested a way round it, which was so easy... so simple... like the sun coming out. I couldn’t think why I hadn’t thought of it myself.’

‘Hugh,’ I asked slowly, ‘what did you have, that he wanted?’

‘My shares in the Towncrier,’ he said.

He took my breath away. Oh my Christ, I thought. Bloody bingo.

Talk about the sun coming out. So simple, so easy. Why hadn’t I thought of it myself.

‘Your shares in the Towncrier ...’

‘Yes,’ Hugh said. ‘They were left to me by my grandfather. I mean, I didn’t know I had them, until I was twenty-one.’

‘In August.’

‘Yes. That’s right. Anyway, it seemed to solve everything. I mean it did solve everything, didn’t it? Maynard Allardeck looked up the proper market value and everything, and gave me two or three forms to sign, which I did, and then he said that was fine, we were all square, I had no more debts. I mean, it was so easy. And it wasn’t all of my shares. Not even half.’

‘How much were the shares worth, that you gave Allardeck?’

He said as if such figures were commonplace, ‘Two hundred and fifty-four thousand pounds.’

After a pause I said, ‘Didn’t it upset you... so much money?’

‘Of course not. It was only on paper. And Maynard Allardeck laughed and said if I ever felt like gambling again, well, I had the collateral, and we could always come to the same arrangement again, if it was necessary. I begged him not to tell my father, and he said no, he wouldn’t.’

‘But your father found out?’

‘Yes, it was something to do with voting shares, or preference snares or debentures. I’m really not sure, I didn’t know what they were talking about, but they were busy fending off a takeover. They’re always fending off takeovers, but this one had them all dead worried, and somewhere in the Towncrier they discovered that half of my shares had gone, and Dad made me tell him what I’d done... and he was so angry... I’d never seen him angry... never like that...’

His voice faded away, his eyes stark with remembrance.

‘He sent me here to Saul Bradley and he said if I ever bet on anything ever again I could never go home... I want him... I do... to forgive me. I want to go home.’

He stopped. The intensity of his feelings stared into the lens. I let the camera run for a few silent seconds, and then turned it off.

‘I’ll show him the film,’ I said.

‘Do you think...?’

‘In time he’ll forgive you? Yes, I’d say so.’

‘I could go back to just the odd bet in cash on the Tote.’ His eyes were speculative, his air much too hopeful. The infection too deep in his system.

‘Hugh,’ I said, ‘would you mind if I gave you some advice?’

‘No. Fire away.’

‘Take some practical lessons about money. Go away without any, find out it’s not just numbers on a page, learn it’s the difference between eating and hunger. Bet your dinner, and if you lose, see if it’s worth it.’

He said earnestly, ‘Yes, I do see what you mean. But I might win.’ And I wondered doubtfully whether one could ever reform an irresponsible gambler, be he rich, poor, or the heir to the Towncrier .

I drove back to London, added the Hugh Vaughnley tape to the others in the hotel’s care, and went upstairs for another session of staring blindly at the walls. Then I telephoned Holly, and got Bobby instead.

‘How’s things,’ I said.

‘Not much different. Holly’s lying down, do you want to talk to her?’

‘You’ll do fine.’

‘I’ve had some more cheques from the owners. Almost everyone’s paid.’

‘That’s great.’

‘They’re a drop in the ocean.’ His voice sounded tired. ‘Will your valet cash them again?’

‘Sure to.’

‘Even then,’ he said, ‘we’re right at the end.’

‘I suppose,’ I said, ‘you haven’t heard any more from the Flag ? No letter? No money?’

‘Not a thing.’

I sighed internally and said, ‘Bobby, I want to talk to your father.’

‘It won’t do any good. You know what he was like the other day. He’s stubborn and mean, and he hates us.’

‘He hates me,’ I said, ‘and Holly. Not you.’

‘One wouldn’t guess it,’ he said bitterly.

‘I’ve no rides on Tuesday,’ I said. ‘Persuade him to come to your house on Tuesday afternoon. I’m schooling at Wykeham’s place in the morning.’

‘It’s impossible. He wouldn’t come here.’

‘He might,’ I said, ‘if you tell him he was right all along, every Fielding is your enemy, and you want his help in getting rid of me, out of your life.’

‘Kit!’ he was outraged. ‘I can’t do that. It’s the last thing I want.’

‘And if you can bring yourself to it, tell him you’re getting tired of Holly, as well.’

‘No. How can I? I love her so much... I couldn’t make it sound true.’

‘Bobby, nothing less will bring him. Can you think of anything else? I’ve been thinking for hours. If you can get him there some other way, we’ll do it your way.’

After a pause he said, ‘He would come out of hate. Isn’t that awful? He’s my father...’

‘Yes. I’m sorry.’

‘What do you want to talk to him about?’

‘A proposition. Help for you in return for something he’d want. But don’t tell him that. Don’t tell him I’m coming. Just get him there, if you can.’

He said doubtfully, ‘He’ll never help us. Never.’

‘Well, we’ll see. At least give it a try.’

‘Yes, all right, but for heaven’s sake, Kit...’

‘What?’

‘It’s dreadful to say it, but where you’re concerned... I think he’s dangerous.’

‘I’ll be careful.’

‘It goes back so far... When I was little he taught me to hit things... with my fists, with a stick, anything, and he told me to think I was hitting Kit Fielding.’

I took a breath. ‘Like in the garden?’

‘God, Kit... I’ve been so sorry.’

‘I told you. I mean it. It’s all right.’

‘I’ve been thinking about you, and remembering so much. Things I’d forgotten, like him telling me the Fieldings would eat me if I was naughty... I must have been three or four. I was scared stiff.’

‘When you were four, I was two.’

‘It was your father and your grandfather who would eat me. Then when you were growing up he told me to hit Kit Fielding, he taught me how, he said one day it would be you and I, we would have to fight. I’d forgotten all that... but I remember it now.’

‘My grandfather,’ I sighed, ‘gave me a punchbag and taught me how to hit it. That’s Bobby Allardeck, he said. Bash him.’