This Was a Man
Page 39
“Once the war was over and Harry had fully recovered, he and Emma were married and moved into the house next door, although I confess a few acres still divided us. Back in the real world, I wanted to be a politician, while Harry had plans to be a writer, so once again we set out on our separate paths.
“When I became a Member of Parliament, I felt that at last we were equals, until I discovered that more people were reading Harry’s books than were voting for me. My only consolation was that Harry’s fictional hero, William Warwick, the son of an earl, good-looking, highly intelligent, and a heroic figure, was obviously based on me.”
More laughter followed, as Giles turned to his next page.
“But it got worse. With every new book Harry wrote, more and more readers joined his legion of fans, while every time I stood for election, I got fewer and fewer votes.
“He only in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.”
“And then, without warning, as is fate’s capricious way, Harry’s life took another turn, when he was invited to be the president of English PEN, a role in which he was to display skills that would be the envy of many who consider themselves to be statesmen.
“PEN assured him that it was an honorary position and shouldn’t be too demanding. They clearly had no idea who they were dealing with. At the first meeting Harry attended as president, he learned about the fate of a man few of us had ever heard of at the time, who was languishing in a Siberian gulag. Thanks to Harry’s sense of justice, Anatoly Babakov became a household name, and part of our daily lives.”
This time the cheering inside and outside the cathedral went on and on, as people took out their pens and held them high in the air.
“Thanks to Harry’s relentless determination, the free world took up the great Russian writer’s cause, forcing that despotic regime to give in and finally release him.”
Giles paused and looked down at the packed congregation, before he added, “And today, Anatoly Babakov’s wife, Yelena, has flown from Moscow to be with us, and to honor the man who had the courage to challenge the Russians in their own back yard, making it possible for her husband to be released, win the Nobel Prize, and join those giants of literature who live on long after we have been forgotten.”
This time it was over a minute before the applause died down. Giles waited until there was total silence before he continued.
“How many of you present here today are aware that Harry turned down a knighthood because he refused to be so honored while Anatoly Babakov was still languishing in prison. It was his wife Emma who, several years later, when the palace wrote a second time, convinced him he should accept, not in recognition of his work as a writer, but as a human rights campaigner.
“I once asked this modest, gentle man what he considered to be his greatest achievement: topping the best-seller lists around the world, becoming a knight of the realm, or making the world aware of the genius and courage of his fellow author, Anatoly Babakov? ‘Marrying your sister,’ was his immediate reply, ‘because she never stopped raising the bar, which pushed me to greater and greater heights.’ If Harry was ever boastful, it was only in the pride he took in Emma’s achievements. Envy never entered his thoughts. He only delighted in other people’s success.
“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up”
“In our family, we have a tradition that every New Year’s Eve we each reveal our resolution for the coming twelve months. Some years ago, Harry admitted somewhat diffidently that he was going to try and write a novel that would have been admired by his mother, who was his most exacting critic. ‘And you, Giles,’ he asked, ‘what’s your New Year’s resolution?’ ‘I’m going to lose a stone,’ I told him.”
Giles waited for the laughter to die down, as he placed one hand on his stomach, while holding up a copy of Heads You Win in the other for all to see.
“I put on another five pounds, while Harry’s book sold a million copies in the first week after publication. But he would still have considered it more important that his sister-in-law Grace, a former professor of English at Cambridge, hailed it as a masterpiece of storytelling.”
Giles paused for a moment, as if reflecting, before he continued. “They tell me Harry Clifton is dead. I suggest that whoever dares to repeat that slander should look at the best-seller lists around the world, which prove he’s still very much alive. And just as he was about to receive the accolades and garlands that would acknowledge his life’s achievements, the gods decided to step in and remind us that he was human, by striking down the person he most loved.
“When Harry first learned of Emma’s tragic illness and had to face the fact that she only had a year to live, like every other obstacle that life had placed in his path he faced it head-on, even though he accepted that this was a battle that could yield no victory.
“He immediately dropped everything, even his pen, in order to devote himself to Emma, and do everything in his power to lessen her pain. But none of us who lived with them through those final days fully realized the toll and strain that pain was inflicting on him. Within a few days of Emma’s death, in an ending worthy of one of his novels, he was to die himself.
“I was at his bedside when he died, and had rather hoped that this man of letters might deliver one final, memorable line. He didn’t let me down. ‘Giles,’ he said, clutching me by the hand, ‘I’ve just come up with an idea for a new novel.’ ‘Tell me more,’ I said. ‘It’s about a boy born in the back streets of Bristol, the son of a docker, who falls in love with the daughter of the man who owns the docks.’ ‘And what happens next,’ I asked. ‘I’ve no idea,’ he said, ‘but I’ll have the first chapter ready by the time I pick up my pen tomorrow morning.’”
Giles looked up toward the heavens and said, “I can’t wait to read it.” Trying desperately to hold himself in check, the words no longer flowing, he turned to the last page of his eulogy, determined not to let his friend down. Ignoring the text, he said quietly, “It is true that Harry requested a quiet exit from life’s stage, and I ignored his wishes. I am no Mark Antony,” said Giles, looking down at the congregation, “but I believe the Bard’s words apply every bit as much to Harry as they did to the noble Brutus.”
Giles paused for a moment, before he leant forward and said, almost in a whisper,
“His life was gentle, and the elements
so mixed in him that nature might stand up
and say to all the world, This was a man!”
THE END
For further details visit
JeffreyArcherBooks.com
ALSO BY JEFFREY ARCHER
THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES
Only Time Will Tell
The Sins of the Father
Best Kept Secret
Be Careful What You Wish For
Mightier Than the Sword
Cometh the Hour
NOVELS
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
Shall We Tell the President?
Kane & Abel
The Prodigal Daughter
First Among Equals
A Matter of Honor
As the Crow Flies
Honor Among Thieves
The Fourth Estate
The Eleventh Commandment
Sons of Fortune
False Impression
The Gospel According to Judas
(with the assistance of Professor Francis J. Moloney)
A Prisoner of Birth
Paths of Glory
SHORT STORIES
A Quiver Full of Arrows
A Twist in the Tale
Twelve Red Herrings
The Collected Short Stories
To Cut a Long Story Short
Cat O’ Nine Tails
And Thereby Hangs a Tale
PLAYS
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Exclusive
The Accused
PRISON DIA
RIES
Volume One—Belmarsh: Hell
Volume Two—Wayland: Purgatory
Volume Three—North Sea Camp: Heaven
SCREENPLAYS
Mallory: Walking Off the Map
False Impression
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JEFFREY ARCHER was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain’s House of Commons and twenty-four years in the House of Lords. All of his novels and short story collections—including Cometh the Hour, Mightier Than the Sword, Be Careful What You Wish For, Best Kept Secret, Sins of the Father, and Only Time Will Tell—have been international bestselling books. Archer is married with two sons and lives in London and Cambridge.
Visit him at wwwJeffreyArcher.com or sign up for email updates here.
Facebook.com/JeffreyArcherAuthor
@Jeffrey_Archer
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Family Trees
Prologue
Harry and Emma Clifton
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Giles Barrington
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Sebastian Clifton
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Lady Virginia Fenwick
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Jessica Clifton
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Lady Virginia Fenwick
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Sebastian Clifton
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Harry and Emma Clifton
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Emma Clifton
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Harry Arthur Clifton
Chapter 52
Also by Jeffrey Archer
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THIS WAS A MAN. Copyright © 2016 by Jeffrey Archer. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs: house © Glenn Beanland / Getty Images; clouds © Angel Gallego / EyeEm / Getty Images; grass © naturemania / Shutterstock; man © Johnér Images - Nilsson, Huett, Ulf / Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Archer, Jeffrey, 1940– author.
Title: This was a man: the final volume of the Clifton Chronicles / Jeffrey Archer.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016036799 | ISBN 9781250061638 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250131799 (signed edition) | ISBN 9781466867512 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Families—England—History—20th century—Fiction. | Social classes—England—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Sagas. | FICTION / Suspense. | GSAFD: Historical fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6051.R285 T48 2016 | DDC 823/.914—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016036799
e-ISBN 9781466867512
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Originally published in Great Britain by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
First U.S. Edition: November 2016