Next of Kin (60 page)

The front door was open and there were a few people drinking wine and chatting loudly to each other in the hallway when he arrived. He stepped inside and looked around for someone he recognized but the hosts were lost within their phalanx of friends. Before setting forth into the mass of party guests he turned to his left and ascended the stairs in search of a bathroom. Emerging a few minutes later he caught sight of Gareth Bentley through a half-open door, walking around his room slowly before stopping and sitting on the bed. He watched for a few moments before crossing the corridor and tapping gently on the door. It opened a little more as he did so, revealing a young man of exhausted and desolate appearance.

‘Owen,' said Gareth, looking up in surprise.

‘Hello, Gareth. How are you?'

He shrugged and stood up, stepping over to close the door behind him to stop anyone else coming in. ‘I didn't know you'd be here,' he said.

‘Your mother invited me. I was a little surprised myself, to be honest, but I thought I'd drop in and say hello. Relieved it's all over?'

Gareth stared at him and Montignac was sure that he could see the beginnings of tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply but then simply shook his head and sat down on the edge of the bed instead; Montignac pulled over a chair and sat opposite him.

‘The whole thing,' began Gareth, ‘has been a nightmare from start to finish. I still can't believe it's all over.'

‘Well it is,' said Montignac. ‘You don't have to worry any more. You can put it behind you.'

‘I don't know that I can,' he replied. ‘You have no idea what it was like in there. And every night, thinking about what might happen to me—'

‘There's nothing to be gained by that. Just get on with your life, that's all.'

He nodded but seemed unconvinced. ‘I feel I owe you an enormous apology, Owen,' he said in a quiet voice after a few moments. Montignac raised an eyebrow in surprise.

‘An apology? For what?'

‘Well for dragging you into this business. If I hadn't got so drunk that night—'

‘Then it might have been me fighting for my life in court. And I mightn't have been so lucky. Let's just say all's well that ends well.'

Gareth shook his head, wanting to say more. His hands were trembling slightly and Montignac could see how much weight he had lost over the previous couple of months. His hair had flecks of grey in it too; his entire youthful carefree appearance had been sapped by his experience.

‘You've been a very good friend to me, Owen,' said Gareth. ‘Standing up there and admitting all about your debts. It must have been humiliating.'

‘It wasn't the proudest moment of my life,' he admitted.

‘And you did that for me. I can't tell you how much it means to me.'

‘Then don't. I think it's best we both move on from this, don't you?'

‘I wondered about my job,' said Gareth in a nervous voice, looking up at Montignac hopefully.

‘What, you mean at the gallery?'

‘Yes.'

‘To be honest, Gareth, I'm thinking about getting out of the gallery business. I've been there too long as it is. I'm a young man still, I feel there might be other ways to make a living. More profitable ways.'

‘Oh,' said Gareth, a little downcast. ‘Mother says I have to settle down. I'm not to go into the law, Father's turned against that for some reason. But apparently they've talked to Jasper Conway's father and I'm to take a position at the bank.'

‘Sounds very sensible,' said Montignac cheerfully.

‘You don't think … well, whatever it is you decide to do next, that is … you don't think I could perhaps—'

The door opened suddenly and they both looked up to see Jane Bentley standing there; she froze, her face a mixture of astonishment and unhappiness at seeing them together.

‘Mr Montignac,' she said. ‘You made it then.'

‘Yes,' he said, standing up and shaking her hand. ‘I thought I'd call in to see how Gareth was getting along.'

Her jaw seemed to go rigid slightly as she glared at him and then turned to look at her son. ‘He's doing fine,' she said. ‘And he will get better in time just as soon as we can all put this wretched business behind us.'

Montignac nodded; there was an uncomfortable atmosphere in the air. Gareth was barely able to look up from his position on the bed.

‘I wonder if I might have a word with you, Mr Montignac,' said Jane. ‘In private? Downstairs in the study?'

‘Of course,' said Montignac.

They stared at each other for another few moments. ‘You'll follow me down then?' said Jane.

‘Yes,' he replied. ‘Let me just say goodbye to your son.'

She seemed unwilling to make a scene so nodded and turned to Gareth. ‘You need to go downstairs and mingle with people, Gareth,' she said. ‘They're all here to wish you well.'

‘
I
didn't invite them,' he said petulantly.

‘No, but I did. So please go and say hello to them.' She turned and made her way through the door. ‘Mr Montignac,' she added before walking away. ‘I'll see you in a few moments.'

When she was gone, Gareth looked up and narrowed his eyes. The tears were definitely there now, Montignac could see the glazed expression and how hard the boy was trying to hold them back.

‘I didn't want a party,' he muttered. ‘I can't believe she invited all these people. I didn't want anyone around me.'

‘I better go downstairs,' said Montignac, anxious to be gone now. ‘I'm glad to see you're well anyway, Gareth. I hope things work out for you.'

‘So that's a no then?' he blurted out quickly, before he could stop himself.

‘I'm sorry?'

‘I said, it's a no? You won't … take me with you. To whatever you do next.'

Montignac stared at him and allowed himself a small smile. ‘I'm sorry, Gareth,' he said. ‘I think it's best we part company here, don't you?' He hesitated and looked around to make sure that no one else was listening. ‘You might think I'm something special, you know,' he said quietly, feeling a little sad even as he uttered the words. ‘But I'm not really. I'm nothing really, Gareth. You're probably ten times the man that I am.'

Gareth stared at him. ‘A few months ago I was talking to Alexander Keys,' he said. ‘Just before I came to ask you for a job. And I told him that the thing I most dreaded in the world, the thing that kept me awake at night, was the idea that five years from now I'd be doing something I didn't want to do, be with someone I didn't want to be with, just because I was too frightened to actually be the man that I really am. I told him that if that happened, well then I'd rather be dead.'

Montignac looked at him and for a moment an image of his cousin, Andrew, came into his head on the morning that he was killed. He shook it away and turned around, walking back out on to the landing.

‘Take care, Gareth,' he said, walking away without looking back.

*   *   *

‘MR MONTIGNAC,' SAID JANE
as he entered the study. ‘Finally.'

‘Yes,' said Montignac. ‘Thank you for inviting me by the way.'

She shrugged her shoulders and turned to the other man in the room. ‘You know Sir Quentin Lawrence, don't you?' she asked.

‘Of course,' said Montignac, surprised and unsettled to see him there, but shaking his hand nonetheless. ‘How are you?'

‘Very well,' said Sir Quentin. ‘We won and that's what counts.'

‘You must be very relieved,' said Montignac, accepting the glass of wine that Jane offered him. ‘But I can't stay very long, I'm afraid. I thought I'd just put in an appearance and then leave.'

‘Of course,' said Jane. ‘But before you go, I wanted to thank you.'

‘There's really no need.'

‘Oh I think there is. Don't you, Sir Quentin?'

‘If you hadn't said what you said on the stand it would have been more difficult, certainly,' he replied.

Montignac nodded. For two people who were apparently showing their appreciation, there was a distinctly chilly atmosphere in the room. Jane, particularly, was looking at him with contempt.

‘I'm just happy to have been of help,' replied Montignac with a polite nod of his head.

‘But there's just one other thing I need you to do for me,' she said. ‘If we haven't asked too much already. It's about Gareth. Has he spoken to you about coming back to work?'

‘I've told him it's a nonstarter.'

‘Good. Because I couldn't allow that.'

Montignac opened his mouth in surprise, not sure he wanted to be insulted by a woman who had made it clear she would sell herself to him for the cost of a perjury. ‘Really,' he said. ‘And might I ask why not?'

‘I don't think you really need to, do you?'

‘What Lady Bentley is saying,' said Sir Quentin, stepping in now, ‘is that we would prefer it if you stayed as far away from Gareth as possible from now on. Do you know how many years I've been a barrister, Mr Montignac?'

‘Quite a few, I would imagine.'

‘Quite a few, indeed,' he said, with a slight laugh. ‘That's one way of putting it. But do you know what the most important thing I've learned over that time is?'

‘No.'

‘How to spot a guilty man. That's what. I had no hesitation defending Gareth Bentley, Mr Montignac. It was clear to me that he had made many mistakes but that he hadn't killed anyone. When I put him on the stand, I could tell he wasn't a murderer. Not that I could say that about everyone I put on the stand. Not in this case,' he added.

Montignac breathed heavily through his nose and placed his glass down on the desk. ‘I think I better be going,' he said.

‘I'll find a way to prove it,' said Jane, stepping close to him. ‘Do you understand me? If I ever hear that you've even so much as glanced in my son's direction again, I'll find a way to prove it. If you're seen walking down the same street as him, I'll find a way to prove it. You stay away from him from now on, you understand me? You have nothing more to do with him.'

‘That was always my intention anyway,' said Montignac.

‘Then this is the last time we'll meet,' she said. ‘You leave us alone and we'll leave you alone.'

Montignac considered challenging her—it wasn't often that someone faced up to him like this—but the sensible thing to do was to nod his head graciously and turn around and leave, closing the door quietly behind him.

*   *   *

JANE LEFT THE STUDY
herself a few minutes later and was surprised to see the figure of her husband, standing alone in the kitchen. She sighed, wishing her entire family could just gather in one place, where the guests could see them. They had done nothing wrong, she insisted to herself, nothing at all. It was time for life to get back to normal, as if none of this had ever happened. Why did they all have to behave like the villains of the piece?

‘Roderick,' she said, stepping inside. ‘Why aren't you at the party?'

‘I don't feel particularly festive,' he said.

‘You should. People will start to wonder.' She came towards him and took his hand. ‘He's safe, Roderick. That's all that matters, isn't it?'

‘I've sentenced three young men to death during my time on the bench, Jane,' he said quietly. ‘Three sons of mothers and fathers like you and me. And I never thought twice about it. Even when pressure was put on me to commute it I stood my ground and protected my integrity. And look how easily it was for sale.'

‘Easily? Your son might have been killed!'

‘I should tell you that I've resigned as a judge.'

Jane's eyes opened wide. ‘Resigned?' she asked. ‘But why?'

‘You think I could continue to serve now?'

‘Well of course! Why not?'

Roderick smiled sadly and shook his head. ‘I've always had a particular image of myself,' he said. ‘As an honest man. A true man. But look what I've done. A couple of days ago I found myself running into Keaton's office begging for my proxy vote back, trying to buy back my pride, but it was already gone. Even if he'd let me, it wouldn't have mattered. We both would have known what my price was.'

‘But this is ridiculous, Roderick. You're throwing your career away for nothing.'

He stood up and looked out the window. ‘I think we should get away,' he said. ‘Move away from London altogether. Sell up and go somewhere more peaceful. What do you think?'

‘But the garden parties,' she said, protesting. ‘And they say the coronation will go ahead as planned next summer.'

‘That life is over now,' he explained to her. ‘It doesn't matter that he got off in the end. He did nothing wrong, but I did. And so that life is over. You need to realize that.'

Jane stood in the centre of the room, looking from left to right. To one side she could hear the sounds of her friends all drinking and laughing in the next rooms, the celebrations for the return of their son. To the other, there was Roderick, telling her that it was all pointless, that they could celebrate all they wanted but the life they had known was just a distant memory now.

She looked in both directions and, for the life of her, didn't know in which direction to walk.

9

THE HOUSE SEEMED UTTERLY
deserted. Compared to the Christmases of his childhood there was something unforgiving about Leyville now. Montignac's aunt, Ann, had always made the house seem incredibly festive, with an enormous Christmas tree in the downstairs hallway that stretched halfway up the house, past the staircase, in the direction of the first-floor bedrooms. The mantelpieces were always covered with holly and cards; stockings were pinned by the fireplace. Wrapping paper and presents were to be found in every nook and cranny. There was nothing like that now, just the stark emptiness of the rest of the year and the echoing silence of generations that had passed through the house and died.