Джеффри Арчер - The Prodigal Daughter

As soon as they could escape from those who wished to buttonhole Richard, either to congratulate him or to tell him how they felt Lester’s should be run, Florentyna led him away to the chairman’s office. He stood and stared at the portrait of his father that hung over the fireplace and turned to his wife.

‘How did you manage it, Jessie?’

‘Well, I remembered a piece of advice my governess had taught me when I was younger. Contingency, Miss Tredgold used to say. Always have a contingency plan ready in case it rains. When you called from Montreal I was afraid there might be an outside chance it would pour and you wouldn’t make the meeting. So I called Thaddeus Cohen and explained what my contingency plan was and he spent the morning drawing up the necessary documents.’

‘What documents?’ said Richard.

‘Patience, Mr. Kane. I do feel after my triumph that I have the right to spin out this tale a little longer.’

Richard remained impatiently silent.

‘When I had the vital document in my hand, I phoned Jake Thomas and asked if he could see me twenty minutes before the stockholders’ meeting was due to start. Had you arrived in time, I would have canceled the confrontation with Mr. Thomas, but you didn’t.’

‘But your plan—’

‘My father — no fool — told me once a skunk, always a skunk, and he turned out to be right. At the meeting with Thomas, I informed him that we were in possession of fifty-one percent of Lester’s stock. He was disbelieving until I mentioned the name of Sir Colin Emson, and then he turned quite pale. I placed the whole bundle of certificates on the table in front of him and, before he could check them, told him that if he sold me his two percent before two o’clock I would still pay him the full fourteen dollars per share. I added that he must also sign a document saying he would resign as chairman and make no attempt to interfere in any future dealings involving Lester’s Bank. For good measure, although it was not in the contract, he must propose you for chairman.’

‘My God, Jessie, you have the nerve of ten men.’

‘No. One woman.’

Richard laughed. ‘What was Thomas’s response?’

‘Asked what I would do if he refused. If you refuse, I told him, we’ll sack you publicly without compensation for loss of office. Then I pointed out to him that he would have to sell his stock for the best price he could get on the open market because as long as we had fifty-one percent of Lester’s he would play no part in the future of the bank.’

‘And then?’

‘He signed there and then without even consulting his fellow directors.’

‘Brilliant, Jessie, both in conception and execution.’

‘Thank you, Mr. Kane. I do hope that now you are chairman of a bank you won’t be running all over the world getting yourself delayed, missing meetings and having nothing to show for your troubles other than a model of a red London bus. By the way, did you remember to bring a present for Annabel?’

Richard looked embarrassed. Florentyna bent down and handed him an F. A. O. Schwarz shopping bag. He lifted out a package that showed a picture of a toy typewriter on the outside with ‘Made in England’ printed all along the bottom of the box.

‘Just not your day is it, Mr. Kane? By the way, Neil Armstrong got back quicker than you did. Perhaps we should invite him to join the board?’

Richard read Vermont Royster’s article in The Wall Street Journal the next morning:

Richard Kane seems to have won a bloodless coup in his bid to become chairman of Lester’s. There was no vote taken by shareholders at the extraordinary meeting, and his succession to the chair was proposed by the retiring incumbent, Jake Thomas, and carried unanimously.

Many stockholders present at the meeting referred to the traditions and standards set by the late William Lowell Kane, the present chairman’s father. Lester’s stock ended the day up two points on the New York Exchange.

‘That’s the last we’ll hear of Jake Thomas,’ said Florentyna.

Richard had never heard of Major Abanjo before that morning. Neither had anyone else in America other than those who took an overzealous interest in the affairs of Nambawe, Central Africa’s smallest state. Nevertheless, it was Major Abanjo who caused Richard to run late for his most important appointment that day, the eleventh birthday of his only son.

When Richard arrived back at the apartment on Sixty-fourth Street, Major Abanjo was driven from his mind by Annabel, who had a few minutes earlier poured a pot of tea over William’s hand because she wasn’t receiving enough attention. She hadn’t realized that it was boiling hot. It seemed that Carol had been in the kitchen fussing over the birthday cake at the time. Annabel was getting even less attention now that William was screaming at the top of his voice, and all the other children had to be sent home. A few minutes later Annabel was also screaming, after Richard had placed her across his knee and administered six hard whacks with his slipper before both children were put to bed — William with two aspirins and an ice bag to help him sleep and Annabel as a further punishment. Eleven candles — and one to grow on — had burned themselves down to the icing on the large cake that remained untouched on the dining room table.

‘I’m afraid William will have a scar on his right hand for the rest of his life,’ said Florentyna after she had checked to see that her son was at last asleep.

‘Still, he took it like a man.’

‘I don’t agree,’ said Florentyna. ‘He never once grumbled.’

‘It probably wouldn’t have happened if I had been on time,’ said Richard, ignoring her comment. ‘Damn Major Abanjo.’

‘Who is Major Abanjo?’ asked Florentyna.

‘A young army officer who was behind the coup in Nambawe today.’

‘Why should a little African state stop you from being on time for William’s birthday party?’

‘That little African state has an outstanding five-year loan agreement of three hundred million dollars that Lester’s led on in 1966 and the repayment is due in three months.’

‘We are in for three hundred million dollars?’ said Florentyna, flabbergasted.

‘No, no,’ said Richard. ‘We covered the first fifteen percent of the loan, and the remaining two hundred and fifty million was divided among thirty-seven other financial institutions.’

‘Can we survive a loss of forty-five million dollars?’

‘Yes we can, as long as the Baron Group remains our friends,’ said Richard, smiling at his wife. ‘It’s three years’ profits down the drain, not to mention a severe blow to our reputation with the other thirty-seven banks and the inevitable drop in our stock price tomorrow.’

Lester’s stock dropped the next day by more than Richard had anticipated, for two reasons. The newly self-appointed President of Nambawe, Major Abanjo, announced that he had no intention of honoring previous government commitments made with any ‘Fascist regime’ including America, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Richard wondered how many Russian bankers were boarding planes to Central Africa at that moment.

The second reason became apparent when a reporter from The Wall Street Journal called Richard and asked him if he had any statement to make about the coup.

‘I really have nothing to say,’ said Richard, trying to sound as if the whole episode were about as troublesome to him as brushing a fly off his sleeve. ‘I feel sure the problem will sort itself out during the next few days. After all, the loan is only one of many that Lester’s is involved with at the present time.’

‘Mr. Jake Thomas might not agree with that opinion,’ said the journalist.