Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

‘Magna cum laude and president of the college council,’ said Robert. ‘We sure are,’ he added as he held out his empty glass to a passing waiter.

‘You’re drunk,’ said Ruth, trying not to smile.

‘You’re right as always, my darling, but that won’t stop me being inordinately proud of my only son.’

‘But he would never have become president without Jimmy’s contribution,’ said Ruth firmly.

‘It’s very kind of you to say so, Mrs Davenport, but don’t forget, Fletcher won by a landslide.’

‘But only after you had convinced Tom... whatever his name was, that he should stand down and back Fletcher.’

‘It may have helped, but it was Fletcher who instigated the changes that will affect a generation of Yalies,’ said Jimmy as Annie came over to join them. ‘Hi, kid sister.’

‘When I’m chairman of General Motors, will you still address me in that tiresome manner?’

‘Sure will,’ said Jimmy, ‘and what’s more, I’ll stop driving Caddies.’

Annie was just about to hit him, when the maitre d’ suggested that the time had come to cut the cake.

Ruth put an arm around her daughter-in-law. ‘Take no notice of your brother,’ she said, ‘because once you’ve graduated, he’ll have been put firmly in his place.’

‘It’s not my brother I need to prove anything to,’ said Annie. ‘It’s always been your son who sets the pace.’

‘Then you’ll just have to beat him as well,’ said Ruth.

‘I’m not sure I want to,’ said Annie. ‘You know he’s talking about going into politics once he’s obtained his law degree.’

‘That shouldn’t stop you having your own career.’

‘It won’t, but I’m not too proud to make sacrifices if it will help him to achieve his ambitions.’

‘But you’ve the right to a career of your own,’ said Ruth.

‘Why?’ said Annie. ‘Because it’s suddenly become fashionable? Perhaps I’m not like Joanna,’ she said glancing across at her sister-in-law. ‘I know what I want, Ruth, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to achieve it.’

‘And what’s that?’ asked Ruth quietly.

‘Support the man I love for the rest of my life, bring up his children, delight in his success, and with all the pressures of the seventies, that may prove a lot harder than gaining a magna cum laude from Vassar,’ said Annie as she picked up the silver knife with an ivory handle. ‘You know, I suspect there are going to be far fewer golden wedding anniversaries in the twenty-first century than there have been in the twentieth.’

‘You’re a lucky man, Fletcher,’ said his mother as Annie placed the knife on the bottom layer of the cake.

‘I knew that even before the braces had been removed from her teeth,’ said Fletcher.

Annie passed the knife across to Joanna. ‘Make a wish,’ whispered Jimmy.

‘I already have, freshman,’ she replied, ‘and what’s more, it’s been granted.’

‘Ah, you mean the privilege of being married to me?’

‘Good heavens no, it’s far more significant than that.’

‘What could possibly be more significant than that?’

‘The fact that we’re going to have a baby.’

Jimmy threw his arms around his wife. ‘When did that happen?’

‘I don’t know the exact moment, but I stopped taking the pill once I was convinced you’d graduate.’

‘That’s wonderful. Come on, let’s share the news with our guests.’

‘You say a word, and I’ll plant this knife in you instead of the cake. Mind you, I always knew it was a mistake to marry a freshman with red hair.’

‘I bet the baby has red hair.’

‘Don’t be too sure, freshman, because if you mention it to anyone, I’ll tell them I’m not certain who the father is.’

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said Jimmy, as his wife raised the knife, ‘I have an announcement to make.’ The room fell silent. ‘Joanna and I are going to have a baby.’ The silence continued for a moment, before the five hundred guests broke into spontaneous applause.

‘You’re dead, freshman,’ said Joanna, as she plunged the knife into the cake.

‘I knew that the moment I met you, Mrs Gates, but I think we should have at least three children before you finally kill me.’

‘Well, senator, you’re about to become a grandfather,’ said Ruth. ‘My congratulations. I can’t wait to be a grandmother, although I suspect it will be some time before Annie has her first child.’

‘She won’t even consider it until she’s graduated, would be my bet,’ said Harry Gates, ‘especially when they find out what I have planned for Fletcher.’

‘Is it possible that Fletcher might not fall in with your plans?’ suggested Ruth.

‘Not as long as Jimmy and I continue to make him feel that it was always his idea in the first place.’

‘Don’t you think by now he might just have worked out what you’re up to?’

‘He’s been able to do that since the day I met him at the Hotchkiss versus Taft game nearly a decade ago. I knew then he was capable of raising the bar far higher than I ever could.’

The senator placed an arm around Ruth. ‘However, there’s one problem I may need your help with.’

‘And what’s that?’ asked Ruth.

‘I don’t think Fletcher has made up his mind yet if he’s a Republican or a Democrat, and I know how strongly your husband...’

‘Isn’t it wonderful news about Joanna?’ said Fletcher to his mother-in-law.

‘Sure is,’ said Martha, ‘Harry’s already counting the extra votes he’ll pick up once he becomes a grandfather.’

‘What makes him so confident of that?’ asked Fletcher.

‘Senior citizens are the fastest growing section of the electorate, so it must be worth at least a percentage point for the voters to see Harry wheeling a stroller everywhere.’

‘And if Annie and I have a child, will that be worth another percentage point?’

‘No, no,’ said Martha, ‘it’s all in the timing. Just try to remember that Harry will be up for re-election again in two years’ time.’

‘Do you think we should plan the birth of our first child simply to coincide with the date of Harry’s next election?’

‘You’d be surprised how many politicians do,’ replied Martha.

‘Congratulations, Joanna,’ said the senator, giving his daughter-in-law a hug.

‘Will your son ever be able to keep a secret?’ Joanna hissed as she extracted the knife from the cake.

‘No, not if it will make his friends happy,’ admitted the senator, ‘but if he thought it would harm someone he loved, he would carry the secret to his grave.’

Professor Karl Abrahams entered the lecture theatre as the clock struck nine. The professor gave eight lectures a term, and it was rumoured that he had never missed one in thirty-seven years. Many of the other rumours about Karl Abrahams could not be substantiated, and so he would have dismissed them as hearsay and therefore inadmissible.

However, such rumours persisted, and thus became part of folklore. There was no doubting his sardonic wit should any student be foolish enough to take him on; that could be testified to on a weekly basis. Whether it was the case that three presidents had invited him to join the Supreme Court, only the three presidents knew. However it was recorded that, when questioned about this, Abrahams said he felt the best service he could give the nation was to instruct the next generation of lawyers and create as many decent, honest counsellors as possible, rather than clear up the mess made by so many bad ones.

The Washington Post, in an unauthorized profile, observed that Abrahams had taught two members of the present Supreme Court, twenty-two federal judges and several of the deans of leading law schools.