B004D4Y20I EBOK

by Taylor, Lulu

  ‘Of course not, you did absolutely the right thing. How long was my husband trying to break in?’

  ‘Not too long. But the children were very agitated. Imo was crying and Edward was dead white.’ Robina looked at her lap for a moment then glanced up. ‘I hope this isn’t going to happen again. I’ll have to reconsider my position if it does. I didn’t feel right at all about Mr Pearson acting like that.’

  ‘It won’t happen again,’ Tara said strongly. ‘I promise you that. Thank you, Robina. You did the right thing today. Please do go and take the rest of the evening easy.’

  She went downstairs, full of apprehension. Their marriage had always been one in which Gerald was the leader, the mentor. She followed and learned from him. He had encouraged her in her career and told her she could do anything she wanted. The approval he’d given her had been what she’d always craved, and it helped her to blossom. She went ahead and had children earlier than she had planned because Gerald was so much older than she was and she knew he didn’t want to wait. The house they’d bought had been the one he’d chosen and it was decorated to his taste. And then, it had all started to go wrong. His need for control had focused in on the minute aspects of their existence and every facet of his family’s behaviour was dictated by him. Then he had begun to crave those beatings, to find pleasure in punishing her. It made her skin crawl to remember it. No – Gerald had changed in almost every way. It was virtually impossible to reconcile her husband of today with the smiling, generous, encouraging man she’d fallen in love with.

  What could have triggered this outburst? she wondered. It had to be his business. Perhaps he’d been thwarted once again in his efforts to break into the British media. It was hard to get established in such a small world, it was always going to be a struggle. Was that enough to tip him over the edge like this?

  At the study door, she stopped and listened. There was no sound from within. She opened the door and couldn’t prevent herself from gasping at the sight inside. The room was torn to pieces, just as Robina had said. The antique books had been pulled off their shelves and were lying in crumpled, battered heaps on the floor. The model yachts were smashed and torn, their miniature riggings hopelessly tangled. Trophies had been swept to the floor along with the contents of the desk and tables. For a normal person, this would be a devastating mess. For Gerald, with his mania for order and tidiness, it was the equivalent of sitting in hell.

  But there he was, hunched in his armchair, surrounded by the debris, calmly watching the news on the plasma screen, the sound turned down almost to mute as usual.

  ‘Oh, hello darling,’ he said in a normal voice but without turning to look at her. ‘Welcome home.’

  ‘Gerald – what’s happened?’ she whispered.

  ‘I’m just watching the television. I want to see if I’m on it.’

  ‘On it? Why would you be on it?’ She stepped forward into the mess, picking her way through the things on the floor. ‘What’s happened?’ She sat down in the chair opposite him. He continued to stare at the screen in front of him. She realised how unwell he looked. His skin was pasty and grey, his eyes bloodshot. His lips were dry and his hands were trembling. He seemed so much older, washed out, and very tired. Is this my husband? she wondered. Gerald had always been so colourful, so much larger than life. He looked half his old self now. When did this happen? Did I let it happen?

  ‘Something rather bad has occurred,’ Gerald said calmly. ‘This afternoon I wanted to run away. I wanted to take the children and go as far away as I could. But I can’t get away, I know that. They’ll get me eventually.’

  ‘Who? Who will get you?’

  He looked impatient and tsked. ‘They will, of course.’

  Oh God, he’s gone insane. Who does he mean by “they”? ‘Are “they” people, Gerald? Or something else?’

  He shot her a look and almost laughed. ‘You think I’m mad, don’t you? I wish I were, darling, I wish I were. It might be a defence – “not of sound mind”. We’ll have to see.’

  ‘Defence?’

  ‘Yes. I’m afraid so. I’ve got myself into a spot of bother. When I say “They are coming” I mean the authorities. Our dear boys in blue. The police.’

  Fear rushed through her, turning her hands numb and freezing her all over. ‘The police? But why?’

  ‘A matter of a little loan, my dear, that was not strictly above board.’ He sighed heavily. ‘To be quite frank, I’ve used some money that didn’t actually belong to me in order to further my business interests here. Of course, I intended to repay it but before I’ve been able to do that, the board in South Africa has been advised that there is a deficit of some one hundred million dollars in the pension fund. And they’ve got very shirty about it indeed. It’s all very unreasonable of them.’

  Tara gasped. ‘Oh, no, Gerald, you haven’t!’

  He looked cross. ‘I’m not going to be nagged and scolded by you. Understand? This has nothing to do with you. It’s my problem and I’ll sort it out.’

  ‘What are you talking about? How can it be your problem? What about our house, our family, everything we own?’ She felt dizziness whirl round her head. The implications of what he was saying were so enormous, she could barely take them in.

  His eyes flashed suddenly and he roared, ‘If you hadn’t been so goddamned stupid and given up your job, it might have been all right! There would have been other money, access to more funds. But now …’ He was deflated again, like a balloon shrinking slowly downwards. ‘Who knows what will happen now. A court case. My assets frozen. I don’t know.’

  ‘Where has the money gone, Gerald?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘I needed it for investment,’ he said irritably. ‘I need cash to be a serious player in the media business, to buy my way in. And I’ve got to look the part, I have to have the toys, or they won’t accept me.’

  ‘You mean, the Scottish estate … did you pay for it with the money you … borrowed?’

  ‘Yes, yes. But that was nothing, just a drop in the ocean.’ His offhand tone only fuelled her fury. She felt sick with shock. She had always known that Gerald was ruthless and believed himself above the rules made for everyone else, for the little people. But she had never dreamed he could be so stupid and selfish – not to mention immoral – as to stoop to theft. She saw in a flash how he would have persuaded himself that it was perfectly all right and convinced himself that it really was a loan he intended to repay and not a terrible breach of trust.

  ‘Do you know what a pension fund is, Gerald?’ she asked quietly, white anger building in her.

  ‘Of course –’

  ‘No, do you really know its true worth? It’s hours, days, months, years of hard toil by people who never get near a fraction of the sums you play around with every day. We’re talking about honest people who’ve worried all their lives about how to pay their mortgage and their bills and put food on the table. These are ordinary people who worked in your companies, making you richer, doing the right thing by saving for their old age. Every penny, every dollar, belonged to someone else, someone who has no other way to buy food, heat or light, who is trusting that at the end of their lives, the money they’ve salted away so carefully will be there. And you …’ Tara’s voice started to rise ‘… you’ve stolen it! Worse than that, you’ve squandered it away. You’ve taken their food and drink and security and you’ve spent it on a fucking Scottish house you don’t even need! You stupid bastard! What were you thinking?’

  ‘It was Daniel who advised me to do it!’ Gerald said, looking almost frightened of her for the first time in his life. ‘And Terence! If anyone should be blamed, it should be them. They were the ones who came up with the idea.’

  She looked away from him, hating his cowardice. Couldn’t he take responsibility for this, at least? ‘But how did you get your hands on it? I’m just amazed this was allowed to happen. What about the board? The reports to the regulators? The auditors?’

  ‘It was fairly complica
ted,’ conceded Gerald, with a touch of his old pomposity as though he was rather proud of his achievement. ‘A complex structure of companies and trusts was needed to release the money.’

  ‘And you were going to sneak it back the same way, were you?’

  ‘Yes. We thought it out very carefully. It was Terence’s masterstroke, really. No one would lose out. Everyone would get their money back.’

  ‘Once you’d got yourself a big, lucrative piece of the media pie and had started to make some money.’

  Gerald nodded. ‘That was the plan.’

  Tara shook her head. ‘And now it’s in smithereens.’ She couldn’t believe how foolish Gerald had been, how selfish. ‘How did it come to light?’

  ‘That is something I intend to find out.’ Gerald crumpled again, looking scared and defeated. He put his head in his hands. ‘Oh Christ, Tara. I can’t believe it’s come to this.’

  ‘Nor can I,’ Tara said soberly. She stared at her hands clasped in her lap. She no longer recognised the man sitting opposite her. She couldn’t even bear to look at him. He was a violent, unpredictable man, who’d wrecked havoc on her life, on the lives of her children and on the lives of those employees whose pensions he’d stolen. All this time, as her love for him had faltered and died, she had wondered how she was going to escape him and whether she could bring herself to leave him and break up their family. But in the end, he had finished it for her, by indulging his own arrogance and greed. She was filled with a strange calm. ‘The house is in both our names, isn’t it? The children and I can stay here for a while, I expect, depending on what happens.’ She stood up and took a deep breath. ‘But I don’t want you here any longer.’

  ‘What?’ Gerald lifted his head and stared at her, incredulous.

  ‘You heard. You’d better leave.’

  ‘I can’t believe my ears! So much for the fucking supportive wife!’ he shouted. ‘I’m in trouble and you don’t want to know. After everything I’ve done for you! I’ve made you, I’ve fucking created you, you thankless bitch.’

  ‘I didn’t want it to end this way any more than you did. But you must have known we couldn’t go on much longer. Not after the way you’ve been behaving. The other night was appalling. I don’t know if you even fully realise what you’ve done.’ She stared at him and he had the grace to drop his gaze.

  In his madness, he had taken the belt in his hands and begun to lash out at her, not caring if he flicked her in the face, or caught her across the arm. Her protests had just spurred him on, and he’d growled a curious, throaty growl that made her skin go cold. When she’d turned and run, he’d chased her down the hall until she’d locked herself in the guest bedroom, refusing to open it despite his roars of anger outside in the corridor.

  She knew then that their marriage was over. This just confirmed it. It opened the door to freedom, at last.

  ‘It’s one thing to attack me. But when you frighten and threaten our children, when you tell me you want to run away with them … I can’t ignore that. I can’t tolerate this any more. The children and I can’t live in fear of you for the rest of our lives. I want you to leave immediately.’

  ‘You’re nothing without me,’ he snarled.

  ‘We’ll see. You can go to my City flat and stay there. I’ll call John now while you’re packing. If the police come, I’ll tell them that’s where you are.’

  ‘I can’t believe it.’ He looked amazed. ‘You’re serious. You’re really throwing me out in my hour of need.’

  ‘You brought this upon yourself. It’s not safe for us to be around you. I’m sorry, Gerald. I know you need help and I’ll try to make sure you get it. But the children come first. Now, I’m going upstairs to start collecting your things.’ She moved calmly and confidently across the room, hoping he couldn’t see how frightened she was inside. He was a stranger to her now. A man who would pound at the nursery door, terrifying the children inside. A man who would steal the retirement fund of his employees and spend it on a house he didn’t need. A man without self-control and with no understanding of the effects of his actions.

  It’s over, she thought, as she walked out of the room. I don’t love him any more. He’s never coming back here.

  The thought filled her with relief.

  30

  ‘I’VE GATHERED YOU all here this morning because I’ve got some things to tell you,’ Tara announced. The entire company was gathered in the boardroom, looking apprehensive. Rumour had been sweeping the building since the day before when various directors had been called in only to exit the building hastily not long afterwards. No doubt there were exaggerated stories doing the rounds. Tara needed to nip all that in the bud. She was wearing a bright colour in a strong fabric to accentuate her positivity and upbeat attitude: a bold magenta pink Dior wool suit edged in pink leather, the skirt split at the side to the thigh, and black stilettos. Her dark hair was loose and flowing, her face perfectly made up. She looked every inch the confident, beautiful businesswoman.

  ‘Before we start on what’s happening here at Trevellyan, I want to let you know something you’re all going to find out in the next few days anyway. My husband, Gerald Pearson, has had a warrant for his arrest issued by the South African authorities concerning serious financial misconduct in relation to his business interests abroad. No doubt it will be all over the newspapers, cases like this often are. I want you to know that I have absolutely no knowledge of my husband’s companies, and no dealings with them. My husband and I have separated and nothing in his case will have any effect on Trevellyan whatsoever, so please, don’t be alarmed by it.’ She smiled at the assembled crowd.

  ‘That’s that out of the way. All very dull gossip. Now for the exciting stuff. What we’ve got planned for Trevellyan. First, the factory is stopping production of Trevellyan’s Tea Rose. The other scents will be manufactured but there will be changes coming up. I’ll tell you more about those in due course. Second, the shop below us is closing.’

  There was a gentle groan from her audience. They had been expecting something seismic and here it was. Tara held up her hand.

  ‘But not for ever. It is closing for a refit. The designs will be available for you to see very soon.’ Once we’ve decided what they’ll be, she added mentally. This all sounded a lot more organised than it was in reality. ‘I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that we’re making some big and necessary changes. Some of you have already met Donna Asuquo –’ she gestured towards Donna, who nodded her acknowledgement – ‘she’s come in to help us relaunch our business. It’s an exciting time. We’ll be creating a whole new look for Trevellyan and recreating our most famous scent for the contemporary woman. We’re going to be a boutique perfumer with global appeal. We’ll be re-establishing ourselves to sit alongside the very best and most glamorous of the perfume names. We’ll be expanding our market share wherever possible, particularly in the Asian markets. Alongside this global appeal, we’ll also offer an intensely personal service. Here, at our shop, there will be the opportunity for customers to design their own fragrances, to enjoy treatments based on our products, to buy gifts and treats for themselves. We’ll also have a strong web presence – an Internet gift-ordering service, special pages devoted to our scents with downloads, a free sampling service, gift offers, loyalty inducements and much more. Our key notes will be quality and luxury. Trevellyan has lost its way in the last few years. The people who helped that happen have gone now and in their place we have some new faces. Claudine Deroulier is our expert nose, working for us on a freelance basis. Donna has joined us from the phenomenally successful Erin de Cristo and is running our brand relaunch. Jemima will be heading up our publicity and marketing campaigns. Poppy is focusing on design and packaging. And I’m managing the business aspect and the overall operation, so if you have any questions, it’s me you should come to, OK?

  ‘All your jobs are safe at the moment, and I intend to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. The girls who work in the shop will move upstairs
while the refit’s taking place. No one is about to be turfed out. The worst of it is over and from here on we’re back on the up. It’ll be hard work, but we’ve got a fantastic team and I know we’re going to enjoy this journey to success together. To toast our new beginning, we’ve got some champagne on the table over there, along with coffee and orange juice for those who think it’s a bit early to indulge. The patisserie have sent in some delicious croissants and pastries, so please help yourselves and we’ll all be circulating among you to answer any queries you have. Thank you for listening.’ Tara paused, then remembered something she intended to add. ‘Oh, yes, I almost forgot. From today, I’ll be known as Tara Trevellyan. Thanks.’

  There was a scatter of clapping that built up into full-scale applause. Someone cheered. Jemima and Poppy smiled at her encouragingly.

  She had won them over. They were all on side.

  ‘My God, Tara, you were brilliant!’ Jemima rushed to her sister and hugged her. Once they’d talked to everyone who wanted to chat and the last croissant had been polished off, they’d left the boardroom for Tara’s office. ‘And so brave. It’s terrible news about Gerald, terrible.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Tara returned the hug. ‘It’s a shame that it all had to happen at once like this but, to be honest, we couldn’t go on. It had become too horrible. Once I realised that he was capable of breaking a trust like the one he has, I knew I could never trust or respect him again.’

  Poppy came up to add her hug. ‘I’m so sorry. How are the children?’

  ‘They don’t know much about it at the moment. For them, life is going on much as usual. I don’t think they really mind much that Daddy’s gone away for a while. He gave them an awful fright yesterday.’ Tara looked miserable for a moment. ‘It’s certainly not what I hoped for them. Divorce. A father in court for grand theft, potentially facing a prison sentence.’