Роберт Фиш - Rough Diamond

There had been changes in Cape Town, undoubtedly, but far from as many changes as there had been in himself, he knew. He tried to picture himself as he had been twenty-five years before, a callow boy of eighteen, dragging his two heavy cardboard suitcases from that doss house down by the docks to the Parade and then to Riebeeck Square, his clothes an outrage, his speech a disaster, his knowledge of anything the little he had picked up in his short years, the street wisdom of survival, and little else. He had been most fortunate in having run into Andries Pirow in Riebeeck Square, and fortunate that Andries not only had been going to Kimberley but had taken him along. And taught him so much. At least Barney had the satisfaction of knowing he had at least partially repaid that debt, for Andries was now a successful and respected member of the Volksraad, held a seat on kruger’s cabinet, and was a successful rancher. But he had been more than fortunate in having met and eventually married Fay. He tried to imagine what life might have been without her, but found it completely impossible.

He stared up at Table Mountain, there as always, and he suddenly knew that regardless of how landscapes changed, or cities changed, or people changed, a part of them remained the same from the beginning, never changing, and these were the things that counted. There must have been something within him, something inherited from his parents as they had inherited it from their parents, that he carried and which he had passed on to Leah Primrose as he would to the future Jason or Michelle; his small contribution to the endless flow of life that was as vital to the formation of a person as the genes that colored one’s eyes or determined the shape of one’s nose, as important to that person as the beating of his heart or the flow of blood along his arteries.

He felt a hand about his waist and turned his head to face Fay. There must have been an introspective look on his face, for Fay frowned slightly, and said, “What are you thinking?”

He smiled. “How lucky I’ve been all my life.”

“We’ve both been lucky.”

“But I’ve been luckier. I’ve got you, and all you have is me.” He squirmed as she dug her fingers into his ribs, laughing. “All right, we’ve both been lucky. We have Leah Primrose and we’ll soon have Jason or Michelle.”

“Or both at the same time,” she added, smiling.

“Or both at the same time,” Barney agreed cheerfully. “We have money, we have our health. That’s luck.” He pointed out across the water of the bay, toward the land. “We have Table Mountain, we have Cape Town, we have Kimberley, we have Johannesburg. We have friends. That’s luck.” We also have enemies, he thought bitterly, considering Solly Loeb in his cabin below, and then forced the disagreeable thought away. Time enough for that unpleasantness when they reached London. The trip was to enjoy.

Fay removed her hand from his waist and leaned on the railing, looking at the tiny white buildings that edged the city, considering them pensively. “It’s a pity we can’t have all those things forever.”

Barney shrugged. “Forever is only so long as you have something. Forever is simply all the time there is, if it’s a day or a thousand years. If a man dies at — say — forty-two, he’s lived forever; the same as if he died at ninety-nine. Or if he died at ten.”

Fay looked at him and smiled, but it was a doubtful smile. “My husband the philosopher.”

“Your husband the luckiest man alive, just because he is your husband,” Barney said, and reached for her hand, squeezing it.

The first glass of whiskey had eased some of the tension from Solly Loeb; the second had furthered that relaxation. He well knew that Barney Barnato could be vindictive; look what Barney had done to J. R. Robinson’s Central Mine properties in Kimberley when his cousin Jack Joel had had to leave town to avoid prosecution as an illegal diamond dealer. Others might doubt that Barney had a hand in that explosion at the Big Hole, and Barney might deny it even within the family until he was blue in the face, but Solly was sure. No, Barney Barnato could be very vindictive when he wanted to be, there was no doubt of that.

But on the other hand, look what else Barney had done in that very same instance: he had smuggled Jack out of the country, not only at the cost of the considerable bail he had deposited with the court, but undoubtedly also at a considerable loss of influence in the community, because the stigma of illicit diamond dealing still stuck faintly, even after all these years. So there was no doubt that Barney Barnato had a very soft spot in his heart where family was concerned; it had been demonstrated a hundred times. No; before the journey to England was over, Solly was sure that Barney would have changed his mind about dragging Solly’s name in the dirt. Solly’s mother was, after all, the eldest of the Isaacs children, while Barney was the youngest, and Barney had always shown that Solly’s mother was his favorite of them all. Would Barney hurt his sister by harming her only child, the apple of her eye? It was difficult to imagine. No; all of Solly’s previous worries were needless. His uncle was simply trying to give him a skrik , a fright, to teach him a lesson. Once this was all over, Barney would probably suggest a combine, an amalgamation between Barnato Investment and Reef…

Of course. Of course! That was what Barney had been after all along! How foolish of Solly not to have seen it before! Barney wasn’t interested in punishing him; his prime reason for all this foolishness wasn’t even to give him a fright. It was to get control of Reef Investment as easily and as cheaply as possible! Foxy old Barney Barnato! Well, old foxy would find it wasn’t all that easy, wresting control of his company from him; he hadn’t exactly been born yesterday. They would dicker, of course; it was the East End Jew in Barney that made dickering a vital part of any negotiation, Solly thought with an inner sneer, whether the dickering was essential to the outcome or not. Well, when the dickering was over, old Foxy Barnato would have discovered he had met not only his equal but his superior where dickering was concerned. Properly handled, he, Solly, could even end up ahead, possibly not only in control of Reef, but of Barnato Investment, as well. Oh, there would have to be concessions made, that was obvious, and possibly even a major concession for him having been smart enough to milk Barnato Investment while establishing Reef Investment. But really, the stockholders ought to give him a medal for that, rather than condemning him. Maybe, when the full story came out, and the profits from the combine were made public in the form of dividends, they would at that. He smiled at the thought.

Should he go to Barney’s cabin at once, invite him up to the saloon bar for a drink, and put the entire matter to the other man? Bring it out in the open? There was no sense in spending the entire voyage under the strain of pretending that Barney was serious in his threat to expose Solly, to ruin him, to make him pay back huge sums of money. They might as well discuss it early on, make their deal consolidating the two companies, and then both of them would be able to relax and enjoy the voyage. He could picture the embarrassed smile on Barney’s face when he learned that his ploy had been properly analyzed and interpreted; it might teach him a bit more respect for his nephew and his ability in matters relating to business.

But it might be better to wait awhile. Solly recognized that he had had a few drinks, and that his thinking, while still excellent — as witness his analysis of Barney’s motives — might not be as clear as it ought to be for serious bargaining. I’ll hit him up in a week or so, Solly thought, once I get my sea legs. I’ll go to him after lunch one day; Barney is always more mellow with a good meal under his belt. I’ll take him into the bar, sit him down in a corner where we can talk privately, get him a proper brandy, tell him I know exactly what he’s thinking as far as Reef Investment is concerned — leading up to the subject carefully, of course, which should prove to him I’m no child in these matters — and see what he says. There’s very little he can say if he wants Reef as badly as I’m sure he does. And after that, it’ll be my terms or there won’t be any deal. I’ll admit he had me frightened there for a few days, but only for a few days, until I had the time to think it over. Now that I think about it, it should have been obvious from the start what his purpose was. No; Barney Barnato seldom met his match, but on the other hand he seldom had an opponent as intelligent as Solly Loeb. And to think the foxy old bastard really had me wondering there for a bit! I won’t say worrying, because I wasn’t really worried at all; but it’s only fair to admit I did wonder…