Джеффри Арчер - The Prodigal Daughter

She had made no notes because she wanted what she had to say to sound off the cuff, even though she had been rehearsing every word for the past ten days. Richard had wanted to accompany her, but she told him not to bother, because everything had been virtually decided upon before the first word was spoken. The truth was that she did not want him there because his support might cast doubt on her apparent innocence.

When the chairman sat down, Florentyna came forward to the center of the stage and stood directly in front of Ralph Brooks.

‘Mr. Chairman, I have come to Chicago today to announce that I am not a candidate for the United States Senate.’

She paused and there were cries of ‘Why not?’ and ‘Who stopped you?’

She went on as though she had heard nothing. ‘I have had the privilege of serving my district in Illinois for eight years in the United States House of Representatives and I look forward to working for the best interests of the people in the future. I have always believed in party unity—’

‘But not party fixing,’ someone shouted.

Once again, Florentyna ignored the interruption. ‘—so I shall be happy to back the candidate you select to be on the Democratic ticket,’ she said, trying to sound convincing.

An uproar started, amid which cries of ‘Senator Kane, Senator Kane’ were clearly audible.

David Rodgers looked pointedly at Florentyna as she continued. ‘To my supporters, I say that there may come another time and another place, but it will not be tonight, so let us remember in this key state that it is the Republicans we have to defeat, not ourselves. If Mrs. Rodgers becomes the next senator, I feel certain that she will serve the party with the same ability we have grown to expect from her husband. Should the Republicans capture the seat, you can be assured that I shall devote myself to seeing we win it back in six years’ time. Whatever the outcome, the committee can depend on my support in this crucial state during election year.’

Florentyna quickly resumed her seat in the second row as her supporters cheered and cheered.

When the chairman had brought the hall to order, which he tried to do as quickly as possible, he called upon the next United States Senator from Illinois, Mrs. Betty Rodgers, to address the meeting. Until then, Florentyna had kept her head bowed, but she could not resist glancing up at her adversary. Betty Rodgers clearly had not been prepared for any opposition and looked in an agitated state as she fidgeted with her notes. She read a prepared speech, sometimes almost in a whisper, and although it was well researched the delivery made her husband sound like Cicero. Florentyna felt sad and embarrassed for her and almost despised the committee for putting Betty Rodgers through such an ordeal. She began to wonder to what extremes Ralph Brooks would go to keep her out of the Senate. When Betty Rodgers sat down she was shaking like jelly, and Florentyna quietly left the platform and stepped out of a side door so that she would no longer embarrass them. She hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to O’Hare Airport.

‘Sure thing, Mrs. Kane,’ came the quick reply. ‘I hope you’re going to run for the Senate again. You’ll win the seat easy this time.’

‘No, I shall not be running,’ Florentyna said flatly. ‘The Democratic candidate will be Betty Rodgers.’

‘Who’s she?’ asked the taxi driver.

‘Senator Rodgers’s wife.’

‘What’s she know about the job? Her husband wasn’t that hot,’ the driver said testily, and drove the rest of the way in silence. It gave Florentyna the opportunity to reflect that she would have to run as an independent candidate if she was ever going to have any chance of winning a seat in the Senate. Her biggest anxiety was splitting the vote with Betty Rodgers and letting a Republican take the seat. The party would never forgive her if that was the eventual outcome. It would spell the end of her political career. Brooks now looked as if he were going to win either way. She cursed herself for not beating him when she had the chance.

The cab came to a halt outside the terminal building. As she paid the driver he said, ‘It still doesn’t make sense to me. I’ll tell you, lady, my wife thinks you’re going to be President. I can’t see it myself, because I could never vote for a woman.’

Florentyna laughed.

‘No offense meant, lady.’

‘No offense taken,’ she said, and doubled his tip.

She checked her watch and made her way to the boarding gate: another thirty minutes before takeoff. She bought copies of Time and Newsweek from the newsstand. Bush on both covers: the first shots of the Presidential campaign were being fired. She looked up at the telemonitor to check the New York gate number: ‘12C.’ It amused her to think of the extremes the officials at O’Hare went to in order to avoid ‘Gate 13.’ She sat down in a red plastic swivel chair and began to read the profile on George Bush. She became so engrossed in the article that she did not hear the loudspeaker. The message was repeated: ‘Mrs. Florentyna Kane, please go to the nearest white courtesy telephone.’

Florentyna continued reading about the Zapata Oil Company executive who had gone through the House, the Republican National Committee, the CIA and the U.S. Mission to China to become Vice President. A TWA passenger representative came over and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She looked up.

‘Mrs. Kane, isn’t that for you?’ the young man said, pointing at a loudspeaker.

Florentyna listened. ‘Yes, it is, thank you.’ She walked across the lounge to the nearest phone. At times like this, she always imagined that one of the children had been involved in an accident and even now she had to remind herself that Annabel was over twenty-one and William was married. She picked up the phone.

Senator Rodgers’s voice came over loud and clear. ‘Florentyna, is that you?’

‘Yes it is,’ she replied.

‘Thank God I caught you. Betty has decided she doesn’t want to run after all. She feels the campaign would be too great a strain on her. Can you come back before this place is torn apart?’

‘What for?’ asked Florentyna, her mind in a whirl.

‘Can’t you hear what’s going on here?’ said Rodgers. Florentyna listened to cries of ‘Kane, Kane, Kane,’ as clear as Rodgers’s own voice.

‘They want to endorse you as the official candidate and no one is going to leave until you return.’

Florentyna’s fingers clenched into a fist. ‘I am not interested, David.’

‘But Florentyna, I thought—’

‘Not unless I have the backing of the committee and you personally propose my name in nomination.’

‘Florentyna, anything you say. Betty always thought you were the right person for the job. It was just that Ralph Brooks pushed her into it.’

‘Ralph Brooks?’

‘Yes, but Betty now realizes that was nothing more than a self-serving exercise. So for God’s sake come back.’

‘I’m on my way.’ Florentyna ran down the corridor to the taxi stand. A cab shot up to her side.

‘Where to this time, Mrs. Kane?’

She smiled. ‘Back to where we started.’

‘I suppose you know where you’re going, but I can’t understand how an ordinary guy like me is meant to put any faith in politicians. I just don’t know.’

Florentyna prayed that the driver would be silent on his return journey so that she could compose her thoughts, but this time he treated her to a diatribe: on his wife, whom he ought to leave; his mother-in-law, who wouldn’t leave him; his son, who was on drugs and didn’t work, and his daughter, who was living in a California commune run by a religious cult. ‘What a frigging country — beg your pardon, Mrs. Kane,’ he said as they drew up beside the hall. God, how she had wanted to tell him to shut up. She paid him for the second time that evening.