T Williams - The Room on the Second Floor

Linda smiled broadly and replied. ‘No, it was just a suggestion from a friend.’

She picked up the rest of that morning’s post. She leafed through the letters before handing him a formal-looking white envelope with the words Strictly Personal, Private and Confidential across the front. Roger opened the envelope to find it was from Mr Heslop, the solicitor.

His meeting with Heslop some weeks previously had afforded him a fascinating insight into the life of his uncle. Heslop, himself well into his sixties, had acted for McKinnon Marine for many years and had known his uncle well. Roger listened in fascination to the tale of this self-made millionaire. His rise from modest beginnings to vast riches had been the stuff of fiction.

Eustace had been obliged to leave university at the end of his first term after wounding a fellow student in a duel. Considering that this would have been well into the nineteen thirties, duelling demonstrated an appreciation of history to which Roger had immediately warmed. In the years leading up to the Second World War, he had travelled the world in the Merchant Navy. Gradually, he worked his way up the ladder. He borrowed heavily, bought a boat, and set up his own shipping line. He was joined by George Jennings some years later. The war made multi-millionaires of them both, and their shares had continued to grow and grow.

In the nineteen nineties, when both were already old men, a scandal had burst upon the company. It was discovered that old Jennings had been filtering money out of the company and into various private accounts. This had been going on unchecked for decades. Chased out of the company by the legal team, he was finally brought to trial for tax evasion. ‘Like Al Capone,’ as Heslop had put it. As a result, he spent a number of years in prison, in spite of his advanced age.

During his time in jail, he produced a steady stream of hate mail, all aimed at Eustace. He delivered enough threats to have himself thrown straight back into prison after release. However, Eustace chose not to press charges against him. Eustace himself, in his final years, was no longer in a fit state to read the letters, let alone respond to them. The death of Jennings not long before Eustace himself, hopefully, ended the affair. Roger had returned to Toplingham reassured, but this new letter indicated that, unfortunately, all was not well after all.

He glanced at the letter in his hands, expecting a bill for the London meeting. Instead, he was surprised to read the following:

I regret to have to inform you of an annoying development. I am in receipt of a letter indicating in no uncertain terms that the descendants of George Jennings intend to seek redress from the descendants of Eustace McKinnon for the suffering caused to George Jennings and the loss of his share in the company, which they feel is still rightfully his .

This is, of course, complete nonsense . I will be happy to reply, on your behalf, to this gentleman, Kevin Jennings, who claims to be the son and heir of Jennings Senior. I would advise you not to be concerned about this matter which can, I am sure, be nipped in the bud once and for all .

The rest of the letter outlined the legal points upon which Heslop intended to reply, if so instructed. Oh dear, Roger thought to himself glumly, there had to be some strings attached to such a wonderful legacy, but he found all these legal complications distasteful. The words of his very own St Bernard, in a letter from Italy to those left behind at his beloved Abbey of Clairvaux, came to mind. …I suffer also from being obliged to move in affairs that trouble the peace of my soul…

Roger definitely felt that Mr Kevin Jennings was troubling his own inner peace but still, Heslop seemed up to the task. Mercifully, the rents from the properties in London were generating far more money than he could possibly spend. Let battle commence, he would tell the solicitor. As long as it did not affect him, or the peace of his soul. The thought of soul mates prompted him to raise his eyes towards Linda, who was looking serene and happy. His own mood immediately improved.

‘So what are you offering me this evening?’

She wanted so badly to reply, ‘Anything you desire.’ But she settled for, ‘Something a bit more straightforward than lobster.’

Chapter 11

Duggie and Tina were also dining together that evening. Both were enjoying the occasion. In fact, to Duggie’s surprise, he and Tina seemed to enjoy most things together. Twice married and twice divorced, he had vowed several years earlier to avoid any further serious relationships. He could barely afford his first divorce, let alone the second. A third would spell total financial disaster. Of course, after Roger’s slice of good fortune, and his own subsequent rise in economic status, things on the financial front were now greatly improved. He leaned across the remains of the Gambas au Cognac and addressed her face, rather than her cleavage. This was a trick he was gradually mastering as the weeks went by.

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