Джеффри Арчер - This Was a Man

The duke had already invited Virginia to spend Christmas on his estate in Hertford. But she had only accepted when she learned that Camilla and her family wouldn’t be travelling over from New Zealand, as they felt two trips to England within a few months was an unnecessary extravagance.

Virginia had written to Clarence and Alice regularly during the past few weeks, to keep them up to date on everything their father was up to, or at least her version of it. In their replies, both of them made it clear how delighted they were that she would be joining them at Castle Hertford for Christmas. The idea that at the last moment she might have to beat a hasty retreat and spend the New Year in Buenos Aires with a distant cousin wasn’t that appealing.

When the duke finally awoke, he knew exactly where he was. He turned over, delighted to find that Virginia hadn’t already left. He took her in his arms, and spent considerably longer making love a second time. She began to feel confident that this wasn’t going to be a one-night stand.

‘Why don’t you move in with me?’ the duke suggested as Virginia straightened his tie.

‘I’m not sure that would be wise, Perry, especially if the children are staying at the castle over Christmas. Perhaps early in the New Year, once they’ve gone?’

‘Well, at least stay with me until they arrive?’

Virginia happily agreed to his request, but only ever left one change of clothes at Eaton Square, aware that she might be sent packing at a moment’s notice. The morning Clarence landed at Heathrow she reluctantly returned to her little flat in Chelsea, where she soon realized how much she missed not only her new way of life, but also Perry.

‘I’m surprised you didn’t see that one coming, Pops,’ said Jessica as she joined her father for breakfast.

‘And of course you did,’ said Sebastian. Jake began tapping a spoon on his high chair to gain attention. ‘And I don’t need your opinion, young man.’

‘He’s just preparing to take over as chairman of Farthings Kaufman.’

‘I was rather hoping I might be the next chairman.’

‘Not if Lady Virginia continues to run circles around you.’

‘You seem to forget, young lady, that Virginia had the inside track. She was regularly visiting Mellor in prison, and we now know she’d not only read the letter he wrote to his daughter, but had been in touch with her long before my plane touched down in Chicago.’

‘But you had a chance to get control of the company for a pound before that, and you turned it down.’

‘At the time, if I remember correctly, you were against me even visiting Mellor in prison, and made your position very clear.’

‘Touché,’ said Samantha, picking up the spoon Jake had cast on the kitchen floor.

‘You should have realized that if there was even a chance of Virginia making some money on the side,’ pressed Jessica, ignoring her mother, ‘she wasn’t to be trusted.’

‘And may I ask when you worked all this out? During one of your O level economics classes, no doubt?’

‘She didn’t have to,’ said Samantha, placing a rack of toast on the table. ‘She’s been eavesdropping on our breakfast conversations for the past six months. It’s nothing more than hindsight, so don’t rise, Seb.’

‘Plus a little female intuition,’ insisted Jessica.

‘Well, in case you didn’t notice, young lady, Thomas Cook did take over Mellor Travel, and their shares continue to rise, despite your misgivings.’

‘But they had to pay far more than you’d originally intended. And what I’d like to know,’ continued Jessica, ‘is how much of the extra money ended up in Virginia’s pocket.’

Sebastian didn’t know, though he suspected it was more than the bank was paid, but he took Samantha’s advice and didn’t rise to the bait.

‘Not a bad return for half a dozen prison visits,’ were Jessica’s parting words, after giving Jake a huge hug.

Samantha smiled as her daughter left the room. She had told Seb soon after Jake’s birth that she was anxious about how Jessica might respond to the new arrival, having been the centre of attention for so long. But the exact opposite turned out to be the case, because Jake immediately became the centre of Jessica’s life. She was happy to babysit whenever her parents wanted to go out in the evening, and at weekends she would wheel him around St James’s park in his pram, before putting him to bed. Elderly matrons cooed over him, not sure if Jessica was an attentive older sister or a young unmarried mother.

Jessica had settled down quickly in her adopted country, after finally bringing her parents to their senses, and now she rejoiced not only in their happiness, but in the joy of having a baby brother. She adored her new extended family. Pops, who was tolerant, kind and amusing, Grandpops who was wise, thoughtful and inspiring, and Grandma who the press often dubbed ‘the Boadicea of Bristol’, which made Jessica feel Boadicea must have been one hell of a woman.

However, settling into her new school hadn’t proved quite as easy. While some of the girls called her the Yank, others less generously described her as a stick insect. Jessica concluded that the Mafia and the Ku Klux Klan combined could have learnt a great deal about intimidation from the pupils of St Paul’s Girls’ School, and by the end of her first year, she only had one close friend, Claire Taylor, who shared most of her interests, including boys.

During her final year at St Paul’s, Jessica hovered around the middle of the class, regularly beaten by Claire in every subject except art, where she remained unassailable. While most of her classmates were anxious about being offered a university place, no one doubted where Jessica was heading.

Jessica did, however, confide in Claire a fear that if she was offered a place at the Slade, she might discover that Avril Perkins, who came second in art, was right when she remarked within Jessica’s hearing that she was just a big fish in a small pool, who was about to be cast into the ocean where she would undoubtedly sink without trace.

Claire told her to dismiss Avril for the little creep she was, but Jessica still spent her final term at St Paul’s wondering if she might be right.

When the high mistress announced at prize-giving that Jessica Clifton had been awarded the Gainsborough Scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art, Jessica seemed to be the only person in the hall who was surprised. In fact, she took as much pleasure in Claire being offered a place at University College to read English as she did in her own triumph. However, she wasn’t pleased to learn that Avril Perkins would be joining her at the Slade.

‘The chairman would like a word with you, Mr Clifton.’

Sebastian stopped signing letters and looked up to see the boss’s secretary standing in the doorway. ‘I thought he was in Copenhagen?’

‘He came back on the first flight this morning,’ said Angela, ‘and asked to see you the moment he walked into his office.’

‘Sounds serious,’ said Seb, raising an eyebrow, but receiving no response.

‘All I can tell you, Mr Clifton, is that he’s cleared his diary for the rest of the morning.’

‘Perhaps he’s going to sack me,’ said Seb, hoping to tempt Angela into an indiscretion.

‘I don’t think so, because that usually only takes him a couple of minutes.’

‘Not even a clue?’ whispered Sebastian as they left his office and walked along the corridor together.

‘All I’m willing to say,’ said Angela, ‘is that you can’t have missed the fact that Mr Bishara has travelled to Copenhagen six times in the last month. Perhaps you’re about to find out why,’ she added before knocking on the chairman’s door.