Dangerous Inheritance
Page 21
‘Oh yes, there is a way. The Duke raised a tired smile. ‘All I promised him was that I would not contest the contract on the grounds that I had been forced to sign it. But I can, and mean to, on another count. I wrote my name on the contract but it was not my usual signature. Without having to disclose any part of what has happened tonight, I have only to declare the document to be a forgery. And as he had had it witnessed in advance by two of his stooges who have never even seen me, he won’t have a leg to stand on.’
‘Well, I’ll be damned!’ exclaimed Simon. ‘And there was I offering good money in the hope of getting you out of your muddle.’
Rex’s big mouth spread in a grin almost from ear to ear. ‘I’ll say the old fox has lost none of his cunning. What a laugh on that horrid little man in the natty uniform.’
‘Grâce de Dieu,’ shrugged the Duke. ‘Having been born with a few wits it would be flying in the face of those who create one not to use them against one’s enemies.’
But Douglas frowned and said, ‘This is all very well. But unless you allow Lalita to ratify the contract you will have no title to the jewels.’
‘That is true,’ de Richleau replied calmly. ‘But unless Lalita is prepared to go to the police and invite a full inquiry into tonight’s events he cannot produce Mirabelle as evidence that I walked off with them. As they are morally mine by right I should feel fully justified in declaring that they had never been handed over. However, in his position, he could fake up some excuse, such as that Simon and I are evading the currency regulations by buying rupees on the black market, and have our quarters here searched in the hope of recovering them. It is that I wish to guard against, and the sooner the better.’
The leather case was lying on a chair beside him. Picking it up, he handed it to Rex and added, ‘I’m sure you will not mind taking charge of this for me.’
‘I must warn you,’ Douglas said quickly, ‘that if you are thinking of asking Mr. Van Ryn to fly them out for you in his private aircraft he will be taking a considerable risk. The export of jewels from Ceylon without a permit is illegal.’
Rex had pulled back the zip and was admiring the dazzling contents of the case. ‘Holy smoke!’ he exclaimed. ‘The very cutest of babies would be nice to Daddy if they found this lot in their Christmas stocking.’ Then, taking in Douglas’s warning, he replied to it with a smile. ‘Don’t worry about that. If one owns an aircraft there are plenty of places in her where a little clutch of stones like this could be secreted and the Customs boys wouldn’t locate them in a month of Sundays.’
‘About that we’ll see,’ replied the Duke. ‘For the moment all I want is that you should deposit them in the safe at the American Embassy.’ Drawing his signet ring from his little finger he went on, ‘Do them up in a parcel and make five seals on it with this, then leave instructions that the parcel is to be handed over only to a person who produces a piece of paper with five of the same seals on it. You can let me have my ring back tomorrow.’
‘I’ll do that,’ Rex said, and Simon nodded vigorously. ‘Good idea to cache them right away. Those stones are going to be red-hot as soon as Lalita learns that he’s not going to get Olenevka.’
‘How right you are,’ Douglas agreed gloomily. ‘And I don’t like any of this at all. Naturally it goes against the grain to see a crook get away with an estate worth fifteen thousand pounds. But I’d rather that he did than see us put ourselves on the wrong side of the law with such a slippery customer.’
‘I view the matter differently.’ The Duke’s voice held a trace of asperity. ‘It is against my principles to let a rogue get away with anything. We secured the jewels tonight, and on account of that we have nothing to fear as long as they remain in the safe at the American Embassy. But I wish also to ensure that, however many false witnesses Lalita may bring, he will never succeed in establishing a legal claim to Olenevka. To that end, Douglas, I wish you to draw up a deed by which I make over the estate to Fleur as a free gift. You will pre-date it as though it were signed by me last week. If I had signed such a document then it would make nonsense of any other concerning the estate signed later; and would double-back my contention that my name on Lalita’s contract is a forgery. Please bring me a Deed of Gift to sign tomorrow afternoon.’
Simon would have much preferred to let sleeping dogs lie, and for Lalita to have Olenevka, but with de Richleau in that mood he knew that there was no more to be said; so, among a chorus of ‘good nights’, he helped his old friend off to bed.
Rex and Douglas went downstairs to their respective cars. The big American was one of those happy-natured people who never waste their time speculating about possible future troubles; so he had already brushed Lalita from his mind. Instead, having never previously met Douglas, he said how pleased he was to do so after hearing such a lot about him as Fleur’s husband. He then enquired after Fleur, whom he had known from her childhood, and said how much he was looking forward to seeing her again.
Douglas replied with his usual politeness and they arranged that Rex should come to lunch to see Fleur’s home on the coming Tuesday. But Douglas’s mind was by no means fully occupied by these social exchanges. The greater part of it was visualising the rage and malice with which Lalita would be seized when he learned that he was to be done out of Olenevka.
On Fleur’s behalf, Douglas had naturally expressed his gratitude at the Duke’s decision to make the property over to her. But as his wife was to enjoy it instead of Lalita it followed that he would be credited with having inspired the gift. Lalita had already declared his open enmity and, while Douglas would not ordinarily have feared him, he could not help being apprehensive of the powers he wielded as one of the blue-eyed boys of the Bandaranaike Government. And now that he had lost the jewels and Fleur was to be made the means of depriving him of what he no doubt looked on as the other part of his rightful inheritance, it seemed likely that he would stick at nothing to avenge himself on those who had benefited by his discomfiture.
In consequence, as Douglas Rajapakse drove himself home he was considerably perturbed by this prospect of future trouble. But, had he only known, trouble from the malice of Lalita d’Azavedo was not the only kind that was boiling up for him.
15
The Unexpected
Truss Van Ryn had arrived at the Rajapakse home about half an hour after midnight. On learning that the Duke was believed to be in trouble, Truss had wanted to accompany his father but Rex had said:
‘I don’t want you mixed up in this. Maybe I’ll have to use a gun and get pulled in for that. If so, you’ll then be more use to me outside, calling on our friends at home to pull every wire in Washington in support of our Ambassador here to wave the big stick. And young Fleur sounded near frantic with worry; so you go and administer the smelling salts to her.’
As Truss and Fleur had made it up before he left Corfu they had since exchanged Christmas cards and very occasional letters. On both sides the letters had been comparatively brief, as they led such different lives and had few mutual acquaintances to write about. Judged by a disinterested reader the letters from both would have been regarded as cordial, but there was no suggestion in them of past intimacy or anything to imply that their writers had ever been closer than, possibly, cousins.
Therefore, on this night near the end of October, when Truss was driven in one of the American Embassy cars to Fleur’s home, he had no idea at all of how she felt about him; although, with the prospect of spending a week or more in Ceylon, he had recently thought about her a good deal.
He had expected that their meeting would take place at a large luncheon party where they would by an exchange of platitudes easily break the ice of renewing their friendship. Now, contrary to anything he could possibly have foreseen, he had been pitchforked into going to see her in the middle of the night during an emergency that had made her semi-hysterical. That seemed an odd twist of fate but one that, if he handled the situation rightly might, he felt, turn out for him extremely well.
‘How nice to see you, Truss. It was good of you to come. I’m worried stiff about what may have happened to Greyeyes. Being left here alone was terrible. But now you’re with me I’ll be able to bear the suspense better till we hear if Douglas and Simon have found him. Come in, and I’ll get you a drink.’
She led him into the lofty sitting room, mixed him a whisky and soda and brought it over. He noted that she already had one and, from its colour, judged it to be pretty strong. Sitting at the two ends of a sofa they looked at one another.
She registered the fact that two and a half years had altered him considerably. He had always been tall but he had filled out and now, at twenty-four, was almost as powerful-looking a man as his father. His hair was no longer crew-cut, but of a respectable length and neatly parted. He was wearing light tropical clothes but his jacket and trousers had the unmistakable cut of a good English tailor.
He realised that he was not seeing her to the best advantage. Her fine eyes were slightly swollen from crying and her hair was rumpled from lying down. He noted, too, that although she was wearing evening clothes her whole turn-out appeared very provincial compared with those of the girls who made up his own set at home. But in all essentials she was the same: the rich full mouth that could give such luscious kisses, the sylph-like figure, now even improved by a slightly larger bust, and the long slender legs. She had, too, acquired a tan that made more vivid than ever the colour of her expressive eyes.
For a few minutes they exchanged hurried sentences of concern for de Richleau, who was regarded by both as a grandfather of whom they were extremely fond; but their speculations about what could have become of him were soon exhausted, so they fell almost silent until Fleur said:
‘Now tell me about yourself. I was glad to have your letters, but they didn’t really say very much, and two and a half years is an awful long time.’
Truss gave his ready laugh. ‘It certainly is, and during that time I’ve done plenty. Far more than I would have if I hadn’t staged my rebellion. But I wrote you about that.’
‘Yes; when you got back from your trip round Europe you refused to go to Law school. That must have needed some guts, and I take my hat off to you.’
‘Thanks. Anyway, it was the best thing I ever did. Every little hick from Hickville wants to get into Law school these days and all the cleverest make the grade. I’ve no grouse about my mental abilities. They’re good enough to cope with most problems that come up in a business man’s life from day to day. But they’re nothing special and I knew they wouldn’t get me a high place in competition with those hand-picked clever-Dicks. So I said to my old man, “Look here.”’
Truss broke off to light a cigarette. ‘I said, “What’s the point of my sweating my guts out with law books when the Corporation can hire as many guys as it wants who’d be better at the job than I would? They’ve got to be, poor sods, because it’s their only chance to pull down a five-figure income. But you’re no lawyer and neither was Grandad Channock; yet there’s no sounder name in banking than Van Ryn. So why the urge to make me waste my time? Instead of paying out dollars to no good purpose, let me start right away to earn some. I’ll empty the wastepaper baskets, or do any durn’ thing you want; only put me into one of the branches of the bank so I can start to learn what makes it tick.”’
‘Good for you, Truss. And you got your way.’
‘Surely. The old man put me through the mill, of course. He wouldn’t give me a job in our own organisation. Said it would upset the staff and lead to favouritism. But he fixed one for me with a subsidiary of the Chase Manhattan, and arranged for them to change my job time to time so I’d get maximum experience. The whole of the first year I spent in small towns out in the back of beyond. That was pretty dreary; but later I was posted to cities and given work that was worth while. Six months ago my old man pulled me out and I was put through a grilling all afternoon by four of our top executives. Seems I made the grade. In fact I know I did. I wouldn’t be here else.’
‘Well done, my dear. But what has being here to do with it?’
‘Making this trip with my old man is part of the pay-off. He was so pleased at the way things have turned out that he aims to give me a responsible job in our Far Eastern department; and giving me the chance to meet our principal contacts here, in Singapore, Hong Kong and other places is the sort of break fellers don’t normally get till they’re a good bit older. He says that if I don’t go off the rails he’ll have me made a Vice-President time I’m thirty.’
‘Truss, that’s marvellous. But how about the rails? Do you feel an inclination to go off them now and then? Or are you still sticking to the straight and narrow, like you were when we met in Corfu?’
‘It depends what you mean by “rails”,’ Truss smiled. ‘In my old man’s sense it’s playing the market with money you haven’t got, taking to drink or dope, or getting hitched up to some little gold-digger who’s right outside the social orbit. I don’t think there’s much likelihood of my doing any of those things; though better fellers than me have come a cropper before now through meeting the wrong kind of dame. I got myself in bad that way during the first year I was on my own, and it took the lawyers to get me out of it.’
Fleur’s face showed her concern. ‘You … you don’t mean that some bitch trapped you into marrying her?’
‘No, it didn’t come to that. This was during my second assignment. I’d been sent to a bank in a god-forsaken dorp in the corn belt. While at college I’d had my buddies, the winter sports and all that. In the vacations there were always lots of jolly people, fishing, riding and other things to do. But at Drover’s Springs there was nothing. The folks were kind enough but they just didn’t talk my language. Most of them thought their little town the tops, had never been anywhere and didn’t want to go. After a fortnight I was near blowing my top with boredom.’
‘So you began to take an interest in the local blonde?’
‘That’s it. She worked in the drug-store on the corner. Her name was Esmée and she was as near a cretin as makes no matter; but she had chocolate-box colouring and the right sort of curves.’
‘Poor Truss. I thought you were frightfully choosey, and would never have fallen for that sort of thing.’
‘Ah!’ Truss held up a finger. ‘Time was when I wouldn’t have. And I’d have been too scared of her trying to inveigle me into marrying her to have gone further than a necking party. But the previous year I’d been on a trip to Europe, and there I’d met a girl. Maybe you’ve forgotten what you once said to me about a tiger who’s tasted blood?’
Fleur stared at him aghast. ‘Oh, Truss! Please don’t tell me that it was because I … because of what happened in Corfu that you got into this trouble.’
‘Good Lord, no!’ he laughed. ‘If it hadn’t been you it would have been someone else, and it was quite time I grew up. The fact that it was you was the sort of break that very few fellers are fortunate enough to get. I’ve often thought of that week and what heaven it was; but, pretty naturally, after the tiger had once tasted blood he wanted to see it on the menu pretty frequently.’
She frowned. ‘So at least I’m answerable for your becoming an habitual lecher.’
‘I’m not. And even if I were it wouldn’t be your fault. As a healthy man I wouldn’t have stayed a virgin all my life. But after I left Corfu I didn’t turn up my nose quite so much at the prettiest dance hostesses in the night spots. Of course, I found them disappointing after you, but going back to their apartments with them filled my need for the moment; and I was always hoping that I’d find something better. When I got back home I had plenty of nice girls to choose
from, and I’d gotten over my belief that the one idea in all their pretty heads was to nail me for a husband. With a few I had to be a bit wary, but most of them didn’t have to go after money and were just out for a good time. Well, by then I’d about gotten over you, and I was feeling on top of the world; so for a few months I gave it them, and plenty.’
‘That sounds like the period I put in at that awful place in the Cromwell Road,’ Fleur commented, ‘when the girls I was living with talked of practically nothing else and none of us could have enough of it.’
Truss nodded. ‘I remember your telling me, and that after a while you quit. Me too. It’s a sort of fever that’s got to be worked out of the blood, and it ended with me when I was sent off to my first assignment in a little backwoods town. For quite a time I was really thankful that I didn’t have a date to sleep with anybody.’
‘But that didn’t last?’ Fleur smiled.
‘No. Time I got to Drover’s Springs I was thinking girls again. And I don’t mind admitting you figured pretty large in the programme. By then I’d had fun with plenty others but you had the whole works. With you I was happy; real happy until that——’ Truss broke off and gave a rueful grin. ‘I’m afraid I was going to say that so-and-so Douglas came along—forgetting that he is your husband. I suppose, too, he wouldn’t much like us to be exchanging this sort of confidence?’
Fleur shrugged. ‘There’s no need for him to know. And, after all, why shouldn’t we? We’ve been friends from childhood. Go on. You had just paid me a very charming compliment.’
‘What, that I’ve always thought of you as the tops in bed—and out of it, for that matter? But we were talking of Drover’s Springs and Esmée. It wouldn’t be fair to say she really made a play for me. She hadn’t the wit. But she did know that I was a Van Ryn and her ma and pa knew it too. On that account, no doubt, no objection was made to my taking treble time to transport her home after the Saturday-night local hops. Time came, of course, when I persuaded her to let me have her. God help me, it couldn’t have been more disappointing; her body all tensed up, no warmth, no response. Then tears and lamentations. But I’d done it, and pretty soon the bill came in. She had told her ma, and her pa sent for me. Drover’s Springs had grown out of shot-gun marriages; but only just. Esmée’s pa wanted an assurance that having ruined his daughter I meant to do the right thing by her. I stalled, of course—said I’d have to communicate with my folks. And I did. I wrote off post-haste to my old man; gave him a full account of the whole miserable business.’