As the Crow Flies (73 page)

“I’m
only glad it was you who has brought us this unhappy news,” said Becky, turning
back to the solicitor. “You’ve always been so considerate when it comes to our
affairs.”

“Thank
you, Lady Trumper, but I fear I have yet more unpalatable news to impart.”

Becky
gripped Charlie’s hand.

“I
have to report that on this occasion Mrs. Trentham has not satisfied herself
with one blow at a time.”

“What
else can she do to us?” asked Charlie.

“It
seems that she is now willing to part with her land in Chelsea Terrace.”

“I
don’t believe it,” said Becky.

“I
do,” said Charlie. “But at what price?”

“That
is indeed the problem,” said Mr. Baverstock, who bent down to remove another
file from his old leather bag.

Charlie
and Becky exchanged a quick glance.

“Mrs.
Trentham will offer you the freehold on her site in Chelsea Terrace in exchange
for ten percent of Trumper’s shares” he paused “and a place on the board for
her son Nigel.”

“Never,”
said Charlie flatly.

“If
you should reject her offer,” the solicitor continued, “she intends to sell the
property on the open market and accept the highest bidder whoever that might
be.”

“So
be it’s” said Charlie. “We would undoubtedly end up buying the land ourselves.”

“At
a far higher price than the value of ten percent of our shares, I suspect,”
said Becky.

“That’s
a price worth paying after what she’s put us through.”

“Mrs.
Trentham has also requested,” continued Mr. Baverstock, “that her offer should
be presented to the board in detail at your next meeting and then voted only...”

“But
she doesn’t have the authority to make such a demand,” said Charlie.

“If
you do not comply with this request,” said Mr. Baverstock, “it is her intention
to circulate all the shareholders with the offer and then call an extraordinary
general meeting at which she will personally present her case and brim the
issue to a vote.”

“Can
she do that?” For the first time Charlie sounded worried.

“From
everything I know about that lady, I suspect she wouldn’t have thrown down such
a gauntlet before taking legal advice.”

“It’s
almost as if she can always anticipate our next move,” said Becky with feeling.

Charlie’s
voice revealed the same anxiety. “She wouldn’t need to bother about our next
move if her son was on the board. He could just report back to her direct after
every meeting.”

“So
what it comes to is that we may well have to give in to her demands,” said
Becky.

“I
agree with your judgment, Lady Trumper,” said Mr. Baverstock. “However, I felt
it was only proper that I should give you as much notice as possible of Mrs.
Trentham’s demands as it will be my painful duly to acquaint the board with the
details when we next meet.”

There
was only one “apology for absence” when the board met the following Tuesday.
Simon Matthews had to be in Geneva to conduct a rare gems sale and Charlie had
assured him that his presence would not be vital. Once Mr. Baverstock had
finished explaining the consequences of Mrs. Trentham’s offer to the board,
everyone around the table wanted to speak at once.

When
Charlie had restored some semblance of order, he said, “I must make my position
clear from the outset. I am one hundred percent against this offer. I don’t
trust the lady in question and never have. What’s more, I believe that in the
long term her only purpose is to harm the company.”

“But,
surely, Mr. Chairman,” said Paul Merrick, “if she is considering selling her
land in Chelsea Terrace to the highest bidder, she could always use the cash
from that sale to purchase another ten percent of the company’s shares at any
time that suited her. So what real choice are we left with?”

“Not
having to live with her son,” said Charlie. “Don’t forget, part of this package
means offering him a place on the board.”

“But
if he were in possession of ten percent of the company,” said Paul Merrick, “and
perhaps an even higher stake for all we know, it would be nothing less than our
duly to accept him as a director.”

“Not
necessarily,” said Charlie. “Especially if we believed his sole reason for
joining the board was eventually to take over the company. The last thing we
need is a hostile director.”

“The
last thing we need is to pay more than is necessary for a hole in the ground.”

For
a moment no one spoke while the rest of the board considered these contrary
statements.

“Let’s
assume for one moment,” said Tim Newman, “the consequences of not accepting
Mrs. Trentham’s terms but instead bidding for the empty plot ourselves on the
open market. That mightn’t prove to be the cheapest route, Sir Charles, because
I can assure you that Sears, Boots, the House of Fraser and the John Lewis
Partnership to name but four would derive considerable pleasure from-opening a
new store right in the middle of Trumper’s.”

“Rejecting
her offer may therefore turn out to be even more expensive in the long run,
whatever your personal views are of the lady, Mr. Chairman,” said Merrick “In
any case, I have another piece of information that the board may feel is
relevant to this discussion.”

“What’s
that?” asked Charlie, warily.

“My
fellow directors may be interested to know,” began Merrick rather pompously, “that
Nigel Trentham has just been made redundant by Kitcat and Aitken, which is
simply a euphemism for being sacked. It seems he’s not proved up to the task in
these leaner times. So I can’t imagine his presence around this table is likely
to provide us with a great deal of anxiety now or at any time in the future.”

“But
he could still keep his mother briefed on every move we make,” said Charlie.

“Perhaps
she needs to know how well the knickers are selling on the seventh floor?”
suggested Merrick. “Not to mention the trouble we had with that burst water
main in the gents’ lavatory last month. No, Chairman, it would be foolish, even
irresponsible, not to accept such an offer.”

“As
a matter of interest, Mr. Chairman, what would you do with the extra space,
should Trumper’s suddenly get hold of Mrs. Trentham’s land?” asked Daphne,
throwing everyone off balance for a moment.

“Expand,”
said Charlie. “We’re already bulging at the seams. That piece of land would
mean at least fifty thousand square feet. If I could only get my hands on it it
would be possible for me to open another twenty departments.”

“And
what would such a building program cost?” Daphne continued.

“A
lot of money,” Paul Merrick interjected, “which we may not have at our disposal
if we are made to pay well over the odds for that vacant site in the first
place.”

“May
I remind you that we’re having an exceptionally good year,” said Charlie,
banging the table.

“Agreed,
Mr. Chairman. But may I also remind you, that when you last made a similar
statement, within five years you were facing bankruptcy.”

“But
that was caused by an unexpected war,” insisted Charlie.

“And
this isn’t,” said Merrick. The two men stared at each other, unable to disguise
their mutual loathing. “Our first duty must always be to the shareholders,”
continued Merrick, as he looked around the boardroom table. “If they were to
find out that we had paid an excessive amount for that piece of land simply
because of and I put this as delicately as I can a personal vendetta between
the principals, we could be heavily censured at the next AGM and you, Mr.
Chairman, might even be called on to resign.”

“I’m
willing to take that risk,” said Charlie, by now almost shouting.

“Well,
I’m not,” said Merrick calmly. “What’s more, if we don’t accept her offer we
already know that Mrs. Trentham will call an extraordinary general meeting in
order to put her case to the shareholders, and I’ve little doubt where their
interests will lie. I consider the time has come to take a vote on this matter,
rather than carry on with any further pointless discussion.”

“But
wait a moment “ Charlie began.

“No.
I will not wait, Mr. Chairman, and I propose that we accept Mrs. Trentham’s
generous offer of releasing her land in exchange for ten percent of the company’s
shares.”

“And
what do you propose we do about her son?” asked Charlie.

“He
should be invited to join the board without delay,” replied Merrick.

“But...
“ began Charlie.

“No
buts, thank you, Mr. Chairman,” said Merrick. “The time has come to vote.
Personal prejudices shouldn’t be allowed to cloud our better judgment. “

There
was a moment’s silence before Arthur Selwyn said, “As a formal proposal has
been made will you be kind enough to record the votes, Miss Allen?” Jessica
nodded and glanced round at the nine members of the board.

“Mr.
Merrick?”

“For.”

“Mr.
Newman?”

“For.”

“Mr.
Denning?”

“Against.”

“Mr.
Makins?”

“Against.”

“Mr.
Baverstock?”

The
lawyer placed the palms of his hands on the table and seemed to hesitate, as if
in some considerable dilemma over the decision.

“For,”
he said finally.

“Lady
Trumper?”

“Against,”
Becky said without hesitation.

“Lady
Wiltshire?”

“For,”
said Daphne quietly.

“Why?”
said Becky unable to believe her response.

Daphne
turned to face her old friend. “Because I’d rather have the enemy inside the
boardroom causing trouble, than outside in the corridor causing even more.”

Becky
couldn’t believe her ears.

“I
assume you’re against, Sir Charles?”

Charlie
nodded vigorously.

Mr.
Selwyn raised his eyes.

“Does
that mean it’s four votes each?” he inquired of Jessica.

“Yes,
that’s correct, Mr. Selwyn,” said Jessica after she had run her thumb down the
list of names a second time.

Everyone
stared across at the managing director. He placed the pen he had been writing
with on the blotting pad in front of him. “Then I can only do what I consider
to be in the best long-term interests of the company. I cast my vote in favor
of accepting Mrs. Trentham’s offer.”

Everyone
round the table except Charlie started to talk Mr. Selwyn waited for some time
before adding “The motion has been carried, Mr. Chairman, by five votes to
four. I will therefore instruct our merchant bankers and solicitors to carry
out the necessary financial and legal arrangements to ensure that this
transaction takes place smoothly and in accordance with company regulations.”

Charlie
made no comment, just continued to stare in front of him.

“And
if there is no other business, Chairman, perhaps you should declare the meeting
closed.”

Charlie
nodded but didn’t move when the other directors rose to leave the boardroom.
Only Becky remained in her place, halfway down the long table. Within moments
they were alone.

“I
should have got my hands on those flats thirty years ago, you know.”

Becky
made no comment.

“And
we should never have gone public while that bloody woman was still alive.”

Charlie
rose and walked slowly over to the window, but his wife still didn’t offer an
opinion as he stared down at the empty bench on the far side of the road.

“And
to think I told Simon that his presence wouldn’t be vital.”

Still
Becky said nothing.

“Well,
at least I now know what the bloody woman has in mind for her precious Nigel.”

Becky
raised an eyebrow as Charlie turned to face her.

“She
plans that he will succeed me as the next chairman of Trumper’s.”

T
he one
question I was never able to answer as a child was, “When did you last see your
father?”

Unlike
the young cavalier, I simply didn’t know the answer. In fact I had no idea who
my father was, or my mother for that matter. Most people don’t realize how many
times a day, a month, a year one is asked such a question. And if your reply is
always, Hi simply don’t know, because they both died before I can remember,”
you are greeted with looks of either surprise or suspicion or, worse still,
disbelief. In the end you learn how to throw up a smokescreen or simply avoid
the issue by changing the subject. There is no variation on the question of
parentage for which I haven’t developed an escape route.

The
only vague memory I have of my parents is of a man who shouted a lot of the
time and of a woman who was so timid she rarely spoke. I also have a feeling
she was called Anna. Other than that, both of them remain a blur.