Leon Uris (24 page)

God had tested him to his absolute limit with Upton. All of the years of toil, all of the planning and scheming and blocking and manipulating Horace had done at Dutchman’s Hook were going to be for naught. It would all be a Pyrrhic victory without a Kerr name to carry forward.

The sad part of it was that Upton showed clever skills in banking and negotiations, but he lacked the inner steel required to make powerful decisions or run a yard of hulking gorillas.

Whom could he speak to about Upton? No minister or bishop of his church, for certain. No physician would see Upton as other than an abomination.

Horace was determined to make an honorable compact. He took Upton on a hunting trip to a lodge the Kerrs kept in the western part of the state. Father and son, straight on. He told Upton he’d realized the boy’s behavior was deviant early on and prayed he’d outgrow it. A trick of God. However, all families had secrets and God alone knew how many secret queers had gained fame throughout history. Great men kept great secrets. Now was Upton’s chance.

Horace felt that he had come to a decision of Solomon-like wisdom. He learned that fairies were quite capable of fathering children. That was science. If Upton wed a brood mare of Horace’s choosing, they could produce the sons to preserve the Kerr name and establish continuity.

Horace would stay closely involved in Dutchman’s Hook until his demise. Upton would be kept as a “behind-the-scenes absentee landlord.” In case Horace went physically or mentally defunct, there would be a strong set of advisers to hold things together until a grandson took over. This was a scheme that had worked well during slavery times.

God willing, Horace would find a man of Matthew Fancy’s caliber to “advise” Upton. Now, if that wasn’t an honorable solution, there was no honorable solution!

In return, Upton would be allowed to set up his own pansy gar
den somewhere out of sight where he could satisfy his abnormal desires.

What the hell else was Horace to do? He’d gone the extra mile. He had flirted with the devil to turn a blind eye to Upton’s behavior. How had Upton Kerr repaid his father’s incredible understanding?

Without so much as a farewell, Upton moved to London before his twenty-first birthday and ceased all contact with his father. Largely financed by Daisy, Upton carved himself a very successful career and apparently led an unspectacular social life.

Horace plunged to the depths of sorrow. That was when God illuminated Amanda. She was God’s gift to compensate for the failure of his other children.

Horace pulled out a stack of Willard Hotel stationery and peered at the mantel warily. The raven was gone!

It was Horace Kerr and God now like never before. Horace’s small, neat handwriting indicated that he was focused, concentrating.

THE CONSTABLE MERGER: Fast inside track, most direct solution. From moment Glen was invited to escort Amanda, father Hugh tipped off eagerness to consolidate. His option on the Southern Basin was Constable’s ace card, but so long as he could not develop it, it became a case of raw nerves. Cold cash and balance sheets would gain a 75-25 control. AMANDA WOULD ALWAYS CONTROL A MINIMUM OF 60 percent.

HOW WILL THIS MARRIAGE ARRANGEMENT WORK? Arm in arm they reek of power. The Constitution attendees were mesmerized by Amanda. The way she floated from table to table welcoming those other floppy girls into what quickly had become her court . . .

GLEN CONSTABLE, OVER LONG RUN? That dog won’t hunt no more. He’ll be quite content to lie at her feet before the fire. GC is slovenly smitten. Amanda holds the cards and is too bright and selfish to shoot herself in the foot. It will be a comfortable long-run arrangement, like myself and Daisy.

BESIDES, Glen is going to make a fine executive, properly guided.

BESIDES, Amanda’s restlessness is not unlike my own. She has already displayed that she considers a union with GC almost a deal. And,
if anyone strays, it will be Amanda and she’d never do it in such a way as to create a scandal.

ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA.

THAT FUCKING MARINE: Newport swarms with social maggots. Many families, overly burdened with females, could go for the O’Hara bait. Aside from his father’s fame, O’Hara is a clever boy and could fit into some family’s scheme.

O’HARA DOES have gold bars on his epaulets now, which give him open access to top-tier “royalty.” I’ve seen many ambitious young lads stake out and impregnate such daughters with marriage as their mutual goal.

GNAWING POSSIBILITY: I’d have to give even money that Amanda and O’Hara engage in a summer romance. Frankly, I admire O’Hara’s sense of honor. HOWEVER, Amanda will get her way on that one.

OPTION: Press Glen Constable’s case and push for an early merger. Amanda would see right through that. What little gift could I give Amanda to help sway her? Let’s look at this further.

BRILLIANT IDEA! Set up O’Hara with a magnificent doxie, a high-class member of the sisterhood. Import her from Boston or wherever, put her in a glowing apartment. The only problem with this is that I’ve never known a mistress who didn’t end up having a big mouth. But put this on hold as well.

ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA.

OPTION: Flat-out lay the law down to Amanda. Chances are I’ll have to sooner or later. Let us not use this card until we absolutely have to.

LET US LAY THIS ALL OUT ON THE DESK AND SEE IF WE CAN CONNECT SOME DOTS.

OPTION: If it appears Amanda and O’Hara are heading for a roll in the hay, then arrange a discreet accident for him. Now, we have to tread slowly, Horace my friend. It seems that every time an elimination has been called for at Dutchman’s Hook, it is never carried off without someone bumbling. If we go this route, a foolproof plan must be made.

IF, GOD FORBID: Amanda becomes pregnant via O’Hara, I do not wish to go through the same experience I had with Emily.

We still have the weapon of statutory rape and the privilege of a closed court. O’Hara would face twenty-five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He must be made aware of these consequences.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Once their engines get running at full
steam, it might be impossible to stop them. Face what you know, Horace. There is no real protection from a grown man in heat.

ALL TOLD: The abortion option is dicey. I must contrive another scheme. Say that Amanda becomes pregnant. With the threat of prison over him, O’Hara would agree to an “elopement” marriage and then get it annulled. In such case, the baby would be legitimate and certainly awarded by the court to Amanda with total restrictions against O’Hara seeing the child.

STICKY WICKET: How do we keep Glen Constable in the game? Even if marriage/annulment/child happens, I say the odds are still in our favor of capturing GC. The point is, we have to keep GC in any picture if we are to obtain the Constable South Basin.

ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA.

NOW THEN: The cream is rising to the top. It is basic, when we get to the bottom line, that Amanda burns ambitiously for everything Dutchman’s Hook will bring her. In addition, Amanda wants to achieve something of high moral purpose.

IF I can link Dutchman’s Hook with high moral purpose, it would be irresistible to Amanda.

THERE REMAINS: A simple, direct, bloodless way. The secretary of the navy owes me a few. He can arrange for O’Hara NOT TO COME TO NEWPORT but be shipped to . . . Nepal . . .

THANK YOU, GOD: Every man finds himself faced with dilemmas. YOU have shown me that it takes a great man to use evil devices in order to defeat a greater evil. Otherwise, greater evil would always triumph.

“Excuse me, Mr. Kerr,” Allsop, his secretary, said, tiptoeing into the room. “Secretary Culpeper’s assistant telephoned and asked if Secretary Culpeper could drop by and see you at half two.”

“I’ll be damned,” Horace said under his breath. His own thought waves seemed to have been transmitted to another person of similar concerns. By God, that’s more than a coincidence. It was celestial!

“Of course, delighted,” Horace answered. “Is a butler at his station?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Kendall’s on duty.”

“You have him order me up a little breakfast. Steak and eggs, home fries, and a rasher of bacon. And Mr. Allsop, gather up these notes and burn them in the fireplace.”

The Kerrs’ butler greeted Nathaniel Culpeper and took his top hat and cane. The secretary of the navy wove his way in, spotted the deepest and softest armchair, and flopped into it.

“Tea and pastries?” Kerr asked.

Culpeper scrunched up his face.

“How about a nip of the hair that killed the dog, Nathaniel?”

“No, thank you, Horace. I’ve an epic case of tummy wobbles. I ran into a table of high-capacity drinkers from Colorado.”

“Colorado? Do we have a navy base in Colorado?” Then Kerr turned his attention to the butler. “Kendall, fix Secretary Culpeper a brandy and bitters. The same for myself, only leave out the bitters and make the brandy a double.”

They clinked glasses.

“May the sides of our ships be as strong as your stomach, Horace . . . Awful stuff, this.” He winced. “Well now, Mr. Kerr, may I bask in your glory?”

Horace smiled and nipped from his cognac snifter.

“I have survived two Constitution Balls with my three daughters,” Culpeper went on, “all beautiful women, but combined, they could not match Miss Amanda Kerr.”

“Will that be all, sir?” Kendall asked.

“Do this again,” Horace said, pointing to his glass. “In fact, open the French stuff and do not disturb us for anyone.”

“Unless it’s the president,” Culpeper corrected.

“Our daughters do give us ultimate joy. Sometimes”—he inched into the meat of the subject—“the female lineage can create a nightmare in matters of family continuity.”

“Indeed,” Horace opined.

“That was a brilliant move you made last night. No one at the Mansion House could have predicted Amanda and Glen Constable. And no one failed to get your meaning.”

Horace did not want to give Amanda credit at this point.

“Too bad you couldn’t have hung on to the moment longer,” the secretary went on. “I was hoping you would not get wind of O’Hara being posted in Newport until I told you of it, but bad news travels fast.”

“Yes, it came in on the wings of a raven.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Nothing,” Horace said.

“Horace, you belong to the most vocal group wanting to stand down the Marine Corps. You and Commodore Chester Harkleroad were leading the charge not to design space for Marines on the Vermont class.”

“Chrissake, I was only following the party line. It’s been GOP policy for over a decade. Right now I wish there was enough room on the Vermont to hold the entire Marine Corps and whip them down to Antarctica and put them on an iceberg.”

“They’d probably make paddles out of their rifles and seal fins and row the iceberg right back up to Hampton Roads.”

Out came Horace’s exclamatory finger. “Harkleroad smelled this. He knew that fucking Major Boone might try some three-card monte in shifting personnel around. Nathaniel, how long have you known about this dastardly plot?”

“A week. The paperwork was all tidied up in advance. Senator Davenport will push the O’Hara commission through unopposed, by voice vote.”

“You should have told me right off.”

“I wanted you to enjoy the Constitution affair.”

“Oh, I enjoyed it, all right. I was about to have the biggest orgasm of my life when I got kicked in the balls with the news.”

The brandy and bitters had gone to work, helping Culpeper’s stomach find its sea legs. The secretary dropped his eyebrows in that stern manner to make Horace brace himself.

“The navy has been in a state of nirvana. Congress has appropriated almost everything we’ve asked for. By the time my tenure
in office is over, before the twentieth century, America will have a fleet second only to Great Britain.”

Culpeper held up his hand to stop Horace’s response.

“No one stands to benefit more than yourself,” the secretary added. “That is an incredible monopoly you’ve created. You nailed the Chesapeake.”

“What happened last night at the Mansion House was merely to stake our claim and keep any ambitious greedheads out of my territory. An actual Kerr and Constable merger will take some time. Everything depends on how soon Amanda makes a decision about Glen Constable. After that, there is always agony in working out the details. Amanda is involved in a petty schoolgirl romance with this O’Hara person. I was counting the minutes until his ship sailed. O’Hara in Newport with Amanda could be dangerous.”

Kendall was buzzed for refills from the Scotch bottle. Culpeper opined that the addition of ice to a drink was a civilized advancement. Otherwise, they were quiet for some time, but Horace was relaying that “we’ve been together for a long time, Nathaniel” and “we both owe each other a few.”

“I have a simple favor. I do not want that Marine in Newport.”

“The Battle of Trafalgar was less complicated,” Culpeper retorted.

“That one-armed yeggman, Major Ben Boone, is behind this.”

“Here’s how I see things. The Marine Corps is attempting to make the case for their continuation. Ben Boone is an important player. That’s why we keep him out of cabinet meetings, whenever possible. I had a quick and extremely reliable portrait of this O’Hara person drawn up. He’s the real thing, an extremely fine prospect. He has in brains what his father had in guts.”

“God Almighty, the next thing we’ll have is an Irish president,” Horace growled.

“There is this mystique about the Corps,” Nathaniel went on. “They aren’t going to phase out quietly. In the past month, Richard X. Maple has joined them and he waves a big stick at the Academy.
Senator Davenport is now in their camp. You know what he means when it comes to military appropriations. I just received word that an army brigadier of note intends to testify next week that it is not, repeat not, the army’s job to sail the high seas and take on penny-and-nickel expeditions.”