Barbara Taylor Bradford – The Complete Ravenscar Trilogy: The Ravenscar Dynasty, Heirs of Ravenscar, Being Elizabeth (страница 45)

‘And that we will certainly be doing in the not-too-distant future!’ Neville Watkins announced self-confidently from the doorway, and came striding into the library accompanied by Alfredo Oliveri and Amos Finnister.

Once he had greeted Ned affectionately, he introduced the other two men to his brother John.

Although Neville and Johnny bore a marked family resemblance, they were quite different. Neville, the eldest, was always elegance personified, dressed in the best. Johnny was not at all flamboyant in his choice of attire, and he dressed rather simply in good clothes that were understated.

Johnny was as good looking as all of the Watkins’ clan, and like his older brother he bore a strong resemblance to his Aunt Cecily Watkins Deravenel.

As for his character, he was hardworking and disciplined but not quite the slave to business that his brother was. He very frequently teased Neville, told him he lived out of a suitcase as he travelled the length and breadth of England.

Johnny liked the quiet country life, was something of a homebody, unlike Neville and Ned, who thrived amidst luxury, glamour and splendour, and loved the gilded life of society.

Neville indicated the men should sit down near the fireplace. ‘Even though it’s the beginning of April, it’s still rather cold,’ he pointed out, and seated himself near the hearth.

A moment later Will Hasling came striding into the library, greeting everyone in his usual breezy and cheerful manner, and then he hurried over to Johnny; they shook hands. They were old friends, good friends, and trusted each other implicitly.

Neville said, ‘Oliveri has a few things to tell us, so I suggest he speaks first.’

Alfredo nodded, and sitting slightly forward in the chair, he said, ‘The first thing I want to report is the general attitude at Deravenels after Mr Edward was so brutally attacked two weeks ago. I noticed the tense atmosphere myself, but most of my information came from Robert Aspen and Christopher Green. They are on our side. Anyway, they told me, separately, by the way, that John Summers was really furious, that he hauled his ex-ecutives over the coals regarding the attack on Mr Edward, and demanded to know who was responsible.’

‘I’ll wager they all denied having anything to do with it,’ Ned exclaimed, glancing across at Neville.

Alfredo nodded vehemently. ‘Naturally they did. And then James Cliff did something quite treacherous. He said, rather pointedly, that Jack Beaufield ought to know who was behind it since he was “sequestered” with Margot Grant quite a lot these days.’

‘Really,’ Neville remarked, then laughed at the thought of this. ‘Well, we sort of knew that already, didn’t we, Finnister?’

The private investigator smiled but remained silent.

‘Jack Beaufield admitted that he was friendly with her,’ Alfredo explained, ‘but insisted he had refused to help her do harm to Ned. He suggested she hire thugs to do her dirty work.’

‘It’s more than likely she did,’ Amos now interjected, ‘but we’ll never be able to prove it.’

‘John Summers has cooled on Margot Grant, angrily turned away from his Queen Bee, but not for long. Christopher Green says they are once more in cahoots, and just as friendly as ever, whilst Jack Beaufield has been relegated to a back bench.’ Alfredo sat back, his eyes on Neville.

‘None of this is really surprising,’ Neville began and then stopped abruptly, considered things for a moment. ‘However, come to think of it, it’s not such a bad idea, having them all at each other’s throats.’

‘They won’t be for long,’ Ned interrupted. ‘They are all smitten by that woman, solidly behind her.’

Alfredo said, ‘I would like to speak to you all about Aubrey Masters now. Apart from the fact that he’s been acting somewhat strangely, he’s apparently got it in for me. I hear he is trying to have me thrown out of the company. And out of the country. He’s blackening my name, I’m afraid, and I don’t like the look of things.’

‘He must be stopped. Immediately,’ Neville said in a cold, hard voice, staring at Amos. ‘He should be induced to retire.’

‘He has become a bit of a…nuisance,’ Amos murmured, struggling to find the right word to describe Aubrey Masters. He looked as if he was about to say something else, but he stopped himself.

‘Who will rid me of this turbulent priest,’ Will said, a quirky smile playing around his mouth.

Neville glanced at him then said softly, ‘I knew we would hear that before long.’ Turning to Amos, Neville added, ‘Perhaps we can find a way to persuade Aubrey Masters to cease. He must be made to understand he can’t speak ill of people and most especially Oliveri here.’

‘I will certainly try, sir.’ Amos looked doubtful as he said this.

‘To my last and perhaps most important discovery,’ Alfredo announced, looking from Neville to Ned, and began in a low, confiding voice, ‘I think I’ve found out what’s wrong with the mines…what your father discovered, too, Mr Edward.’

The room went quiet. No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone was waiting for Alfredo’s words.

‘Somebody is stealing the product from the mines, skimming diamonds, emeralds and gold. Or money off the top.’

‘But who?’ Ned asked, incredulity echoing in his voice.

‘In my opinion it could be the local managers,’ Alfredo answered him.

‘They wouldn’t dare!’ Neville exclaimed. ‘Or would they?’ His eyes narrowed slightly, and he threw Alfredo a pointed look. ‘Unless they had approval from the head office…located on the Strand. A partner in Deravenels?’

‘That was my guess.’ Alfredo nodded. ‘And Rob Aspen agrees with me. I’d been working late last week, and so had he; that was when he actually drew my attention to discrepancies he was finding. I knew at once what this meant. I gathered he did, too, had had the same idea. Anyway, I asked him not to reveal this to Masters, or to anyone else. At least for the moment.’

‘Why?’ Ned asked, and then swiftly added, ‘I understand, don’t bother to answer my stupid question. If the other side finds out we know about the discrepancies, they’ll try to cover them up. Somebody in London is running this scheme.’

‘Precisely.’ Alfredo gave Ned a knowing smile.

‘So we’re not going to deal with it until we’re running Deravenels ourselves, later in the summer,’ Neville announced. ‘Let’s leave this matter in abeyance for the moment. And move on. Finnister informed me several days ago that he now has in his hands all of the records from the insane asylums, where Henry Grant was sequestered a number of times. Let’s hear about it, Finnister.’

‘Mr Watkins told you the most important part of my story,’ Amos began. ‘We are indeed in possession of the records. They are very detailed and extremely useful. I have hired a well-known doctor to look at these records, study them, and give a written report on what they mean. In other words, how will Henry Grant behave over the next few years? Is he on the brink of going totally mad? Is he already suffering from dementia? What are his chances of survival? And finally, is he capable of running a company such as Deravenels?’

‘I think the doctor will have no problem giving you the best written opinion there is, and no doubt it will be the kind of opinion which will serve us best.’ Neville threw Amos a questioning look.

‘You are right, sir. The doctor I engaged, Mr Rupert Haversley-Long, is a specialist, a psychiatrist who has been a colleague of the famous Dr Sigmund Freud.’

‘I have no fears he will do the job perfectly,’ Neville murmured. Rising, Neville continued, ‘Let us all go into the dining room. We will be able to discuss everything further over an apéritif before we partake of lunch.’

The others rose and followed Neville out of the library.

Ned said to Alfredo, ‘Don’t worry, old chap, we’ll neutralize Aubrey Masters in some way or other. We can’t lose you, we especially need you here in London these days. Permanently.’

‘I agree. When are you returning to the office?’

‘On Monday morning. The hospital gave me several examinations this past week, and everything is apparently quite normal. In my opinion, they’ve been overly cautious, but my mother insisted on these extra tests and I don’t think even Dr Robertson had the nerve to contradict Cecily Deravenel.’

Alfredo smiled. ‘I know what you mean. There’s no one quite like your formidable mother. Anyway, she was right. Head wounds can be dicey, very dicey indeed.’

TWENTY-FOUR

Lily stood in the centre of the drawing room in Vicky Forth’s Kensington house, turning her head, taking everything in, a delighted smile on her face. ‘It’s absolutely beautiful, Vicky,’ she said at last. ‘But then you’ve always been so clever in the way you decorate your homes.’

Vicky’s eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, ‘Oh, I’m so glad you like it. To tell you the truth I’ve been a little bit worried, wondering if it was all too—pale.’

Walking over to Vicky, who was still standing in the doorway, Lily said emphatically, ‘Not too pale at all…the room is perfect, in fact I love the way you have mixed all of these different creams and whites together, and the touches of green and lilac are charming.’