‘For Christ’s sake!’ he said, too loudly.
She looked around the crowded corridor, embarrassed. ‘What’s the matter with you!’
Pike clamped his mouth together, against another outburst. ‘I want to see you,’ he said. ‘That’s what’s the matter.’
‘Tonight,’ she promised. ‘Sometime tonight.’
Pike expected to find the rest of the delegation in his father’s office suite but when he entered the man was alone. He was standing rigidly in front of his desk and Pike knew he was still angry.
‘How the hell did we miss those loans?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Pike tightly. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Made me look a goddamned idiot.’
Me too, thought Pike. He said, ‘I think the British might have purposely withheld from disclosing their own.’
His father looked intently at him. ‘Why should they want to do a thing like that?’
‘It made them look the definitive analysts.’
The IMF director nodded agreement. He said, ‘Bell’s using the conference like some election platform. And he’s arguing the sort of fiscal restriction that I used to advocate, until a few months ago! Would you believe that!’
‘It’s not an election audience that will do him much good,’ said Pike.
‘Can you think of anything else we might be surprised with?’
‘No,’ said Pike, after some thought.
‘I’ll concede the short-term bunching this afternoon,’ said the older man. ‘I don’t want that coming out like another discovery.’
‘You were right,’ said Pike, attempting encouragement. ‘There was very much a defeatist attitude in there.’
‘I need something positive,’ said the man, driving his first into the palm of his other hand. ‘I don’t like being on the defensive.’
For all of them it had become a personal thing, thought Pike. ‘Maybe something will emerge this afternoon,’ he said.
It didn’t.
Pike’s father announced the short-term commitment immediately after the resumption and Wilder at once insisted on a country-by-country review of the strain likely to be felt if the apparent Eastern bloc difficulty increased because of it. For the United States – less committed than any other country – Volger indicated they could withstand the pressure. Tanaka declared that Japan could, too. Which left over-exposed the rest of the Far East, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia and four Latin American countries unrepresented but with known lending debts of their own.
‘Confirmation of the stupidity of what’s been allowed to happen,’ said Bell, determined upon the last word.
He didn’t quite get it.
Wilder was on the point of adjourning until the following day when an aide came into the room and handed him a message. The British chancellor read the brief news agency slip and then looked slowly around the room before speaking. ‘A statement has been issued in Warsaw,’ he said. ‘Hungary are seeking a deferment from France, Germany and England on loan repayments of $750,000,000.’
Chapter 27
The closing revelation sent every delegation into separate committee gatherings, with the exception of the Interim Committee itself, which observed the formal adjournment until the following day to allow the subsidiary discussions. There was another peremptory summons to the managing director’s suite and Pike was at once aware of his father’s changed attitude. At lunchtime it had been anger: now it was concern.
‘It’s serious,’ said the older man. ‘Really serious.’
‘There seems to be a chain reaction developing,’ he agreed.
‘France can’t withstand it; it’s said as much, without the need for any more talk.’
‘One and a half billion isn’t a large sum,’ said Pike. ‘The Bank for International Settlements has more than adequate reserves to cover that.’
‘It’s a snowball, growing bigger as it rolls down the hill,’ said the IMF director. ‘First Argentina, then Poland, then Romania and now Hungary.’ He stared across his massive inlaid desk. ‘We’ve got to anticipate an approach from the Soviets: what’s the full extent of their short-term bunching?’
Pike considered his files, determined against any further mistakes. ‘Interest in the region of $800,000,000: capital repayments of $2,000,000,000.’ He closed the file. ‘Those are the figures if everyone has been honest,’ he said. ‘If anything at all emerges from this it’s surely the need for some accurate centralized method of gauging world-wide loan spreading.’
‘I hoped we had something like it,’ said his father.
‘This conference has proven we haven’t,’ said Pike. ‘It’s a gap that’s got to be closed.’ Like a stable door after a horse has bolted, he thought.
‘This could ruin everything, you know: ruin everything…. Just when it was all sewn up, forGod’ssake! Ambersom out of the running and Bell shown as scared as chicken shit.’
‘He’s not acting chicken shit at the moment.’
‘Son of a bitch!’ said the other man. ‘I wanted it: I wanted it and I actually had it!’ He stretched out, palm upwards. ‘Here, in my hand!’
‘You haven’t lost it, not yet.’
‘It’ll need something pretty dramatic,’ said the IMF director. ‘I’m trailing badly. I need the corridor gossip, Tom. I don’t want to be caught out any more.’
Neither do I, thought Pike. ‘I’ll try,’ he promised.
As one of the named countries in the Hungarian announcement, the meeting of the British delegation was among the longest and it was after nine when Jane telephoned him. Pike was sure he kept the anxiety from his voice.
‘Sorry I’m late.’
‘I waited last time,’ he reminded her.
She seemed not to remember. ‘Are we still meeting?’
‘Of course.’
She was already in the foyer of the Jefferson when he arrived. Pike saw she hadn’t changed.
‘Hello stranger,’ he said.
‘Hello.’
She seemed apprehensive: the foyer was crowded with people and Pike wondered if it was because of them or him. He couldn’t see Burnham anywhere.
‘Do I get a kiss?’
‘Later,’ she said.
The people in the foyer, decided Pike. She seemed to hesitate responding to his embrace in the car and then to realize it, kissing him back belatedly.
‘You all right?’ he said.
‘Tired,’ she replied. ‘I’m fed up with conferences and with talking.’
‘That’s what you wanted last time,’ he said. He wouldn’t rush it: he didn’t want to increase the apparent distance between them.
‘Last time was different,’ she said. Somethings weren’t: she’d been nervous about a relationship then. And destroyed it. She wished she weren’t so tired. She didn’t want to destroy this one, uncertain though she was about it.
Pike turned immediately on to M Street, reaching out for her hand. There was the momentary reluctance there had been about the kiss.
‘I’ve missed you,’ he said.
She hoped it was true. ‘Me too,’ she said.
‘Thought we’d go out to my father’s house at the weekend.’
‘That would be nice.’
‘Not a problem?’
He was aware of her looking sharply at him. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not a problem.’
‘Burnham caught me out today,’ he said.
‘About five minutes,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘Five minutes before we managed to get around to Paul Burnham.’
‘Just a remark,’ he said. Careful, he thought.
In a flat, resigned voice she said, ‘The British returns only came in the day before we left London to come here. We learned of Brazil through affiliate checking; Lloyds are part of the consortium. Japan seemed available to everyone: I don’t know how you missed it.’
Neither do I, thought Pike. He said, ‘I didn’t ask for an explanation.’
‘There
it is, whether you wanted it or not!’
The arrival at the restaurant interrupted any further conversation. Pike had considered taking her to Georgetown, to remind her of the first time, but decided instead upon somewhere quieter, so he chose Dominiques. They were late for their reservation, so they had to wait in the small side bar. He had missed her, Pike decided. Despite the obvious weariness, she was very beautiful: impulsively he leaned forward, kissing her lightly on the cheek and for the first time since they met she smiled and appeared to relax.
‘Why did we start to fight?’ he said.
‘I don’t know.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘Neither do I.’
‘Then let’s don’t.’
She smiled again. ‘All right.’
‘Should be a rough day tomorrow,’ he said, wanting to guide the conversation.
‘It’s been a rough one today,’ she said. ‘The talk goes round and round in circles, like a jammed record.’
‘That’s how it’s been with us,’ said Pike honestly. ‘The problem is what it’s always been, insufficient information.’ As he spoke the idea settled in the back of his mind, not yet properly formed.
‘I don’t like what we’re getting now,’ she said.
They were called to their table. Pike carried the unfinished drinks and when he sat down said, ‘My father’s not so sure now about Armageddon.’ It was an exaggeration but he wanted to test her reaction. Instead of replying she began studying the flamboyant menu. Impatiently Pike ordered steak for them both.
‘Is Hungary going to be a problem?’ he pressed.
‘It’s been difficult at such short notice obtaining our precise commitment from London,’ said the woman. ‘The time change is the wrong way round. It seems in the region of $45,000,000. So yes, it’s a problem. But one which we could probably accommodate, separately. But it’s not separate. Everything is intermeshed, our banks in arrangements with banks of Germany and France. And it doesn’t stop there: it spreads to other affiliates in Europe, too.’
So his father had been right, Pike realized; it was serious. ‘And we know about France,’ he said.
Jane nodded. ‘Larousse and Sir Herbert had a meeting tonight; Paris would need massive support. And quickly. Larousse isn’t sure they’d get it in the short time they’d need. Neither’s Sir Herbert.’
Pike shook his head against her doubt. ‘They’d get it,’ he said. ‘Everyone’s together, in one room: IMF, World Bank, International Settlements. Knowing the difficulty, the cover could be extended quickly enough.’
‘And last for how long?’ she demanded, qualifying his confidence.
The idea was becoming clearer to Pike now: it had drawbacks but the advantage was the positiveness. That’s what his father had wanted. And what his father wanted, he wanted. Pike recognized that he was bound more tightly to the older man than he had ever been. Maybe the IMF hadn’t given him opportunity he had anticipated.
‘That’s what we’ve got to find out,’ said Pike. Not we, he thought; that’s what I’ve got to find out. He saw it as the way to recover and the excitement warmed through him.
‘Paul’s been assigned to it,’ she said.
‘Assigned to what?’
‘Sir Herbert agreed the need for a full assessment, going as far ahead as a year if possible. Capital repayments, interest spreads, everything. He sees the major outcome of this conference being an anticipation of any future crisis, so they can be contained before they arise.’
Pike’s excitement turned to anger at the thought of his proposal being diminished by the British move. ‘Whose idea?’ he said.
She hesitated at the tone of his voice. ‘Paul’s,’ she said quietly.
‘Emerging as the star, isn’t he?’
Jane looked sadly across the table at the American. ‘He’s very able,’ she said. Was there jealousy for what had once existed between her and Paul? Or for Paul’s performance at the conference?
‘Are you coming back with me?’ he said.
Paul was involved in that question, too, Jane realized. ‘Yes,’ she said. She looked down at the clothes she had been wearing all day. ‘But not to stay: I didn’t bring anything.’
Was that why she hadn’t bothered to change, to give herself an excuse? he wondered.
Their lovemaking was bad, both nervously stiff and trying too hard, each feigning the enjoyment and each knowing it about the other. As soon as he pretended to finish she said, ‘I must be going now.’
‘I’ll run you back.’
‘I’ll take a cab.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
At the Jefferson she leaned across the car, kissing him on the cheek before he turned the ignition off. ‘It’s been a lovely evening,’ she lied. ‘I enjoyed it.’
‘What about tomorrow?’ he said.
She hesitated, halfway out of the vehicle. ‘We’ll see,’ she said.
Pike drove tight-faced back to the Mayflower, hands gripping the wheel. That bastard Burnham was taking everything away from him, he thought; everything. But the man hadn’t succeeded yet: and neither would he.
The bar of the Jefferson is very small, with a view of the elevators. Jane heard her name called as she pushed the summons button and turned to see Burnham at the entrance.
‘It’s late,’ he said.
‘But you’re still up.’ She felt embarrassed. She hoped she’d dressed properly in Tom’s suite.
‘I waited to make sure you’re OK.’
‘What on earth for?’ The feeling now was annoyance at being spied upon: of course she’d dressed properly.
‘Just to make sure you’re OK,’ he repeated. ‘Would you like a drink?’
‘For God’s sake, Paul, I’m old enough to go out by myself!’ she said, ignoring the invitation.
‘Were you by yourself?’
She opened her mouth to reply, then stopped. ‘Is there anything you want to talk to me about concerning the conference?’ she asked formally.
‘No,’ he said.
‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ she said, glad the lift arrived to make the exit possible. It had been a bloody awful evening: absolutely bloody awful.
Chapter 28
Pike learned enough from Jane to be able to brief his father fully in advance of the day’s conference, and when he finished detailing the French and British contact he put forward the idea that had occurred to him, intent upon the older man’s response. The IMF managing director sat alertly behind his desk, moving his head in slow, nodding gestures. When he said it might work they talked it through, anticipating the objections, so by the time they entered the packed chamber they were fully prepared. Wilder remained chairman, of course, which meant the British delegation had the procedural advantage of being able to speak first, but they were unaware of the IMF preparations, clearly intending a general discussion for the re-examination of the difficulties already exposed.
Pike’s father pressed for attention as soon as the British chancellor suggested open debate upon the latest request. There was no purpose in a fuller debate, the IMF director declared at once: they already knew of the French difficulty and of the strains that would be imposed upon Britain and Germany by the Hungarian move. And there was nothing further that could objectively be discussed about Argentina, Poland and Romania. The IMF and the World Bank had dampened the problems that might have already arisen and although it would have to be agreed by the Interim Committee sitting in proper session, as managing director of the IMF he felt that as members of the Fund, Britain, France and Germany could call upon their justifiable access to Special Drawing Rights and the General Agreement to Borrow to cushion themselves against any stress from the Warsaw application.
Sitting directly behind his father, Pike stared around the chamber, gauging the reaction from the delegation. At the announcement of IMF help the relief was obvious from the French and the Germans. There seemed uncertainty from the British, the group behind Wilder hunched together in wh
ispered conversation. As he looked, Jane looked back. Her face was tight and quite expressionless.
The current difficulties were serious but not intolerable, his father continued. They needed to take concerted, positive action to prevent recurring crises which had threatened their financial structure in the past and would threaten it again. In his opening remarks the chairman had talked of the need for monetary stability and the IMF had prepared a proposal with that end in view. In the long term he intended to establish a global monitoring system to extend beyond the normal supervisory arrangements of central banks: member countries of the Fund would be required to submit details of their borrowings and their loans, and from these it would be possible to anticipate any over-extension on a monthly or even a weekly basis. A warning could be issued and corrective measures introduced.
Pike could see that Jane was no longer expressionless. The whispering had intensified all around her, with Burnham in the centre, but she was staring across the room at him, her face blazing with anger.
‘Which leaves the uncertainty of the short term,’ his father went on. ‘It is logical to infer that the events which have brought us here in conference have their source in some difficulty within the Soviet Union of which none of us have sufficient information. Until we have that fuller information no proper forecast can be made nor provisions taken against it dribbling on, in a series of confidence-sapping applications and requests. I therefore propose on behalf of the world banking system assembled here today that the IMF make a direct approach to the Soviet Union: their indebtedness makes them as dependent upon us as we are upon them. The invitation would be for them to discuss their problems with us so that a mutually advantageous resolve can be made.’
Pike sat down and for several moments there was complete silence in the room. In just one hour, thought Pike, the IMF – which meant his father – had emerged the positive-thinking, practical organization that was once again going to pull everyone assembled in the room back from some disaster. His father’s political ambitions couldn’t be harmed now by any gossip that the Treasury Secretary tried to leak. The reverse, in fact: it would be difficult for Bell to oppose any of the suggestions without damaging his already shaky position.
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