House of Cards (49 page)

'So
you
think
Landless
may
be
at
the
bottom
of
it
all?'

It's
possible.
He
certainly
welcomed
the
leadership
contest,
but
then
so
did
many
others.
Urquhart
told
me
the weekend
after
the
election
of
all
the
internal
rivalry
and bitterness
inside
the
Government.
Whoever
is
stirring
it behind
the
scenes,
we
have
the
entire
Cabinet
to
choose from,
as
well
as
Landless.
And
I
am
going
to
find
out
who.'

‘
But
how,
without
a
newspaper?'

'Preston
has
been
stupid
enough
to
insist
that
I
shall remain
employed
by
the
Telegraph
for
another
three months.
OK.
They
may
not
print
it,
but
I'm
still
a
journalist
and
I
can
still
ask
questions.
If
the
truth
is
half
as devious
as
I
suspect
it
is,
the
story
will
still
he
worth printing
in
three
months'
or
even
three
years'
time.
They can't
lock
up
the
truth
for
ever.
I
may
have
lost
my
job, Johnnie,
but
I
haven't
lost
my
curiosity.'

And
what
about
your
commitment?
he
asked
silently.

'And
will
you
be
my
spy
on
the
inside,
keeping
an
eye
on what
that
bastard
Landless
is
up
to?'

He
nodded,
wondering
just
how
much
she
was
using him.

Thanks,
Johnnie,'
she
whispered.
She
squeezed
his hand,
and
disappeared
into
the
night.

TUESDAY 16
th
NOVEMBER

The
following
day's
news
was
still
being
dominated
by intense
speculation
as
to
whether
Urquhart
would
run.
It was
clear
that
the
media
had
excited
itself
to
the
point where
they
would
feel
badly
let
down
if
he
didn't,
yet
at 3
p.m.
he
was
still
keeping
his
own
counsel.
By
this
time, Mattie
was
feeling
irked,
not
by
Urquhart
but
by
O'Neill. She
had
been
waiting
in
his
office
with
growing
impatience for
a
full
half
hour.

When
she
had
telephoned
party
headquarters
the
previous
day
wanting
to
get
an
official
view
about
computers, literature
sales,
accounting
procedures,
Charles
Collingridge
and
all
the
other
things
which
were
bothering
her,
she discovered
that
Spence
had
been
absolutely
right
about
the ban
on
staff
contact
with
the
media
for
the
duration
of
the campaign.
She
could
only
deal
with
the
press
office,
and
no press
officer
seemed
capable
or
willing
to
talk
to
her
about computers
or
accounts.

'Sounds
as
if
you
are
investigating
our
expenses,'
a
voice only
half-jokingly
had
said
down
the
telephone.

So
she
had
asked
for
the
Director
of
Publicity's
office, and
had
been
put
through
to
Penny
Guy.
Mattie
asked
to come
and
talk
the
following
morning
with
O'Neill,
whom she
had
met
a
couple
of
times
at
receptions.

'I'm
sorry,
Miss
Storin,
but
Mr
O'Neill
likes
to
keep
his mornings
free
to
clear
his
paper
work
and
for
internal meetings.'
It
was
a
lie,
and
one
she
was
increasingly
forced to
use
as
O'Neill's
time
keeping
had
become
spectacularly erratic.
He
rarely
came
into
the
office
before
‘I
p.m.
nowadays.
'How
about
2.30
in
the
afternoon?'
she
had suggested,
playing
safe.

She
did
not
comprehend
the
mind-pulverising
effects
of cocaine,
which
kept
O'Neill
hyperactive
and
awake
well into
the
small
hours,
unable
to
sleep
until
a
cascade
of depressant
drugs
had
gradually
overwhelmed
the
cocaine and
forced
him
into
an
oblivion
from
which
he
did
not return
before
midday
or
later.
She
did
not
comprehend
this, but
she
suffered
deeply
from
it
nonetheless.

Now
she
was
getting
increasingly
embarrassed
as
Mattie sat
waiting
for
O'Neill.
He
had
promised
his
secretary faithfully
he
would
be
on
time,
but
as
the
wall
clock
ticked remorselessly
on,
her
ability
to
invent
new
excuses disappeared
completely.
Her
faith
in
O'Neill,
with
his public
bravado
and
his
private
remorse,
his
inexplicable behaviour
and
his
irrational
outbursts,
was
slowly
and painfully
fading.

She
brought
Mattie
yet
another
cup
of
coffee.

‘
let
me
give
him
a
call
at
home.
Perhaps
he's
had
to go
back
there.
Something
he
forgot,
or
not
feeling
too well
...'

She
sat
on
the
corner
of
his
desk,
picked
up
the
direct
line and
punched
the
numbers.
With
some
embarrassment
she greeted
Roger
on
the
phone,
explaining
that
Mattie
had been
waiting
for
more
than
half
an
hour
and
...
Her
face became
gradually
more
concerned,
then
anguished
and finally
horrified
before
she
dropped
the
phone
and
fled
from the
office
as
if
pursued
by
demons.