Oriental Hotel (4 page)

‘Katy!' she said. ‘ What a lovely surprise!'

‘Is it? I telephoned the office and Penny said you had been trying to get Daddy or Uncle Alex. I thought maybe it was important.'

‘It's probably not important at all. Just me worrying. And it's your doing, Katy.'

‘Mine? How come?'

‘I just saw your photograph in the morning paper, with a German gentleman. And the suggestion was that you are seeing him because the business is in difficulty. There's no truth in that, is there?'

‘Oh, Granny …'

There was no mistaking the distress in Katy's voice and the chill crept through Elise's bones once again, making her shiver. There
was
something. The others had kept it from her but Katy – transparent, honest, open Katy – could not.

‘I'd like the truth, Katy,' she said sternly.

‘Oh, Granny, you know me – I don't really know the first thing about the business,' Katy stalled.

‘At this precise moment, I think you know far more than I do,' Elise said grimly. ‘I don't like being kept in the dark, Katy.'

‘It's not like that. Granny. They just don't want to worry you …'

‘I worry most when I'm wondering what it is I should be worried about.' She glanced at her watch. ‘Where are you at the moment, Katy?'

‘I'm still at the gallery; it's only half-past-four. Why?'

‘Because I'm coming up to London,' Elise said. ‘Telephone the office for me, will you, and leave a message for your father and Uncle Alex that I'm on my way. If I don't get delayed I should be there in a little over two hours.' She hesitated, then continued in a gentler tone, ‘And if you've nothing else on, Katy, I should really like to see you too …'

‘Of course, Granny, I'd love to see you. Gunther's picking me up at six, but we've nothing special planned …'

The breath caught in Elise's throat. ‘Does he have to be there?' she asked, hating herself.

Katy laughed, the low, magical sound which was music to her ears.

‘I can get rid of him, don't worry! We'll have supper, Granny, just you and me. At my place. And I can tell you all my news …'

Elise smiled. ‘All right. I'll see you later then. And don't forget …'

‘To ring Daddy. No, I won't. Bye for now!'

Elise replaced the receiver and stared at it thoughtfully for a moment. Then, with a small sigh, she reached for the house intercom, punching out the number of the garage and adjoining flat. She was answered immediately; unless it was unavoidable, staff never kept Mrs Sanderson waiting.

‘Oh, Evans, would you get the car ready, please,' she said, all trace of personal feelings hidden beneath her cool manner. ‘I want to go to London and I would like to leave as soon as possible.'

The London offices of Sanderson International occupied two floors of a new tower block overlooking the Thames. They were light, bright and for the most part open-plan – and Elise hated them. All the chrome executive toys and luxuriant pot plants in the world could not give them the atmosphere which the old offices – dusty and inconvenient – had possessed. But Alex and David were pleased with them and these days what Alex and David said usually carried the day.

Elise stepped out of the lift into deep, dove-grey carpet, her feet making no sound. But the doorman still on duty in the ground floor foyer must have telephoned through the news of her approach. As the lift doors closed soundlessly behind her, an opaque glass door opposite opened and a young woman in shirt and pleated skirt appeared.

‘Mrs Sanderson, won't you come this way …'

Elise smiled, concealing the stiffness she felt.

‘Thank you. I suppose it's thanks' to me that you are working late this evening?'

‘No …' The girl seemed nonplussed, unsure just how much to say and what to leave unsaid. ‘ That is, Mr Sanderson and Mr Fletcher have only just finished their meeting and there will be urgent notes to type up.'

‘Yes, of course. We're very lucky to have such loyal staff,' Elise said. Although she only smiled in reply, the girl's expression clearly indicated that she considered herself the lucky one to be working for a firm such as Sandersons.

Through the outer office she led Elise, then tapped lightly on the door leading to the inner sanctum.

‘Come!' The voice was deep and slightly intimidating, thought Elise – if it was possible to be intimidated by one's own son.

‘Alex,' she said.

‘Mother!'

He came towards her, a compactly-built man in his middle forties whose light, sandy-coloured hair had already begun to recede from a smooth, good-looking face. He was very like his father, Elise thought – exactly as Gordon had been when she had first met him – except that she felt uncomfortably certain that Alex drank more than was good, for him. It was apparent in the slight puffiness around his eyes and the heightened colour in his cheeks, and she was reminded of it once again as he said, ‘Will you have a drink, Mother?'

‘No, thank you, Alex, it's a little early for me.'

‘Oh, do have something, for goodness sake! I'm going to have another.' He took an empty tumbler to the open cabinet behind the desk, selecting a bottle of malt whisky and pouring a generous measure. ‘You must be parched after that drive.'

Elise put down her bag on the corner of the large, leather-topped desk.

‘All right. I'll have a Perrier water if you have it.'

‘Let me put something stronger in it, Mother,' he urged.

Her lips twisted into a wry smile. ‘ You think I need a strong drink, do you, Alex?' she asked mischievously.

‘No … I …' Not only his cheeks but the whole of the lower part of his face had become suffused with dark colour, and she found herself remembering with dismay that he had always flushed when faced with an unpleasant task. Even as a child, she had invariably known when he had a confession to make by the colour of his face.

‘Something's very wrong, isn't it?' she said steadily.

‘I wouldn't put it quite like that, Mother …'

‘Then how would you put it?'

He gulped from his glass and she noticed how tightly his fingers gripped it. ‘ There's a slight cash-flow problem. David will be able to explain …'

‘Where is David?' she asked.

‘Do I hear my name?' As if on cue, a tall grey-haired man appeared in the doorway. David Fletcher was two years older than Alex, but somehow managed to appear younger. He drank less and worried less, Elise thought.

‘Yes, David. I was just telling Mother you would be able to explain the situation better than I can. I was saying that there is a slight cash-flow problem …'

‘You mean the firm is going bankrupt!' Elise said baldly.

Both men stared at her, shocked.

‘Not at all …' Alex began, but David raised an admonitory hand. ‘Look, Alex, your mother has to know some time. When it comes to the board …'

‘For heaven's sake, old man …'

‘
What
do I have to know?' Elise asked.

David indicated one of the deep armchairs set in a corner of the office.

‘Sit down, Mother. We can't have this sort of conversation standing up.'

‘Let me top up your glass,' Alex interrupted, but Elise waved him to silence.

‘Come on, David. What is it I have to know?'

‘All right.' David sat forward in the chair facing hers. ‘Things haven't been running too smoothly just recently. We've lost several large orders and there has been an industrial dispute at the Seven Trees factory, amongst other things.'

‘Yes, I knew about the dispute,' Elise said. ‘But what other things ate you talking about, David?'

‘Financial problems. I don't need to go into them now – Adam Keith can let you have a copy of all the accounts before the board meeting. But the truth is that if we are to survive we need an injection of cash – and fast! A German firm, in the same line as ourselves, is willing to make us a loan. That's really all there is to it, but we do need to keep it as quiet as possible.'

‘Which is why I had to read about it in the gutter press, I suppose,' Elise said bitingly. ‘I was at your father's side for almost forty years and he never kept anything from me. Industrial problems, proposed mergers, good times and bad, he discussed them all … However delicate the situation, I do think you could have trusted me to be discreet. Which is more than can be said of someone, judging by the leak.'

‘I don't know where they got their information from,' Alex blustered. ‘ It certainly wasn't from us.'

Elise ignored him, keeping her searching gaze on David's face.

‘How much money is involved?' she asked.

‘Mother!' Alex was redder than ever, disliking the way she was talking directly to David, yet not wanting to face her with the truth either.

‘How much?' she repeated.

David's eyes narrowed slightly. There was a hint of Katy's directness in them – the only thing she had inherited from her father, thought Elise.

‘Three-quarters of a million.'

‘Pounds?' The calmness of her voice belied the icy tumult within her.

‘Yes.'

‘I see. And this German firm is prepared to come to your rescue?'

‘Gunther Dietrich has made us an offer, yes.'

‘And what does he want in return for his three-quarters of a million pounds?' Elise asked.

Alex sipped his malt whisky. Ice clinked in the glass.

‘A seat on the board to secure the loan, of course,' David said.

‘Naturally. And what else?'

‘We haven't finalised all the details yet. Mother, we would have put you in the picture as soon as we were certain how things stood …'

She nodded, and for a moment the sadness showed in her clear amber eyes.

‘I accept that, but I still don't like it.'

‘Mother!' David sat forward. He knew she was hurt and he was sorry. ‘We really thought it was for the best.'

She nodded, her fingers tugging gently at the gold chain around her neck.

‘I suppose you think I'm just an interfering old woman.'

‘Rubbish!'

‘Never!' Alex and David spoke in concert.

Her lips twisted slightly. ‘You will, before I've finished.'

They looked at one another, puzzled.

‘Where does Katy come into all this?' she asked.

‘Katy?' David feigned surprise but she could see he was uncomfortable now. ‘She has nothing whatever to do with it.'

‘Are you sure that's the truth?' Elise pressed him. ‘The newspaper clearly intimated that there was something between her and this Gunther Dietrich.'

‘Mother, you should know better than to believe what you read in the papers …' Alex began, then broke off, realising the irony of his words. ‘Look, Mother, she's been seen with him. That's all!'

‘According to the quoted comment of the man, that is
not
all.'

‘Exaggeration! And in any case …'

‘Mother, Katy is nineteen years old,' David said gently. ‘We cannot keep her a little girl for ever, no matter how much we would like to do so.'

‘I know that,' Elise said. ‘And nobody will be happier than I to see her with the right man. But that's not what is worrying me. I want your assurance, David, that Katy is not part of the deal.'

The two men looked thunderstruck, but for the moment neither answered. Then Alex laughed softly.

‘Well, well, Mother, I might have known! The hasty trip to London, then bearding us in our office – none of it is because of the company, is it? It's all because of Katy!'

She heard the underlying bitterness and was impatient with it. Alex recognised the bond between her and Katy and was jealous of it on behalf of his own children. She loved his three boys, of course. She had never differentiated materially in any way, and her will provided for her estate to be divided equally between all her grandchildren. But could she help it if Katy occupied a special place in her heart? Should she be made to feel ashamed of the closeness between them?

She set down her glass. It was still half full of Perrier water, but she could feel her hand beginning to shake again and she had no intention of letting them see. On the two-hour drive she had had plenty of time for thinking – for evaluating the brief news item she had read and placing her own interpretation on it.

Certainly she had been shocked to learn that Sandersons could be in trouble without her knowledge, but her feeling of outrage had been for Katy. If it was true that this German tycoon was ‘mixing business with pleasure' as he had put it, then she wanted to be sure the pleasure was Katy's, too. One thing she would not do was stand by and see her grand-daughter used as collateral for Sandersons. Katy was too precious for that – her happiness too important.

‘I won't stand by and see Katy used,' she said quietly.

It was David's turn to look angry now. ‘And you think
I
would?'

Elise met his gaze squarely, ‘I don't know, David; I hope not. But I know how much the success of his business can mean to a man.'

‘More than his daughter's happiness?' David asked coldly.

‘Sometimes. And sometimes, if you want a thing sufficiently badly, you see only what you wish to see.' Elise sat forward in her chair, desperately anxious to make him as aware as she was of the danger. ‘Katy adores you, David,' she said. ‘ She always has; she would do anything in the world to please you. You know that as well as I do. Please be very sure you don't take advantage of it.'

For a moment David sat awkwardly beneath her penetrating gaze, then he rose abruptly and crossed to the drinks cabinet.

‘I think I could use a shot of something after all,' he said with mock cheerfulness. ‘Another, Alex?'

‘Yes please.' Alex pushed his tumbler across the table and turned to Elise. ‘You're being ridiculous, Mother, don't you realise that?'