House of Cards (27 page)

‘I
do
understand,
Dr
Christian,
and
you
have
your priorities
absolutely
right.'

‘H
e
heard
of
the
allegations
about
you
and
himself
for the
very
first
time,
and
how
they
had
helped
bring
about your
resignation.
He
is
deeply
upset
and
disturbed,
Mr Collingridge;
it's
come
as
a
great
shock.
He
believes
he
is
to blame
for
all
that's
happened,
and
I'm
afraid
is
talking about
doing
harm
to
himself.
I
thought
we
were
just
on
the verge
of
making
real
progress
in
his
case,
and
now
I
fear
this will
not
only
set
him
right
back
but
in
his
present
delicate emotional
state
could
bring
about
a
real
crisis
for
him.
I don't
wish
to
alarm
you
unduly,
but
he
needs
your
help. Very
badly.'

Sarah
saw
the
look
of
anguish
on
her
husband's
face,
and came
over
to
sit
beside
him
and
hold
his
hand.
It
was trembling.

'Doctor,
what
can
I
do?
I
’
ll
do
anything,
anything
you want.'

'We
need
to
find
some
way
of
reassuring
him.
He's desperately
confused.'

There
was
a
pause
as
Collingridge
bit
deep
into
his
li
p, hoping
it
would
distract
from
the
pain
burning
inside.

'May
I
talk
to
him,
doctor?'

There
was
a
wait
of
several
minutes
as
Charles
was brought
to
the
telephone.

'Charlie,
how
are
you
old
boy?'
he
said
softly.

Henry,
what
have
I
done
to
you?
I've
ruined
you,
destroyed
you!'
The
voice
sounded
old,
touched
by
hysteria.

'Charlie,
Charlie.
You've
done
nothing.
It's
not
you
who has
hurt
me,
you
have
nothing
to
feel
guilty
about
’

'But
I've
seen
it
on
the
television.
You
going
off
to
the Queen
to
resign.
They
said
it
was
because
of
me
and
some shares.
I
don't
understand
it,
Henry,
I've
screwed
it
all
up. Not
only
my
life,
but
you
and
Sarah
too.
I
don't
deserve
to be
your
brother.
There's
no
point
in
anything
any
more
’
There
was
a
huge,
gulping
sob
on
the
end
of
the
phone.

'Charlie,
I
want
you
to
listen
to
me
very
carefully.
Are you
listening?
It's
not
you
who
should
be
asking
for
pardon, but
me
who
should
be
down
on
my
knees
begging
for forgiveness
from
you
’

He
cut
through
the
protest
beginning
to
emerge
from
his brother.

'No,
listen,
Charlie!
We've
always
got
through
our
problems
together,
as
family.
Remember
when
I
was
running the
business
-
the
year
we
nearly
went
bust?
We
were
going down,
Charlie,
and
it
was
my
fault.
And
who
brought
in that
new
client,
that
order
which
saved
us?
I
know
it
wasn't the
biggest
order
the
company
ever
had,
but
it
couldn't have
come
at
a
more
vital
time.
You
saved
the
company, Charlie,
and
you
saved
me.
Just
like
you
did
when
I
was
a bloody
fool
and
got
caught
driving
over
the
limit
that Christmas.
The
local
police
sergeant
was
a
rugger
playing friend
of
yours,
not
mine,
and
it
was
you
who
somehow managed
to
persuade
him
to
fix-
the
breath
test
at
the station.
If
I
had
lost
my
licence
then,
I
would
never
have been
selected
by
the
constituency
for
the
seat.
Don't
you see,
Charlie,
far
from
ruining
it
for
me,
you
made
it
all possible.
We've
always
faced
things
together,
and
that's just
how
it's
going
to
stay.' 'But
now
I've
ruined
everything
for
you,
Henry
..
‘
'No,
it's
me
that's
ruined
things.
I
got
too
high
and bloody
mighty,
and
forgot
that
the
only
thing
that
matters in
the
end
is
those
you
love.
You
were
always
around
when I
needed
help,
all
the
time.
But
I
got
too
busy.
When
Mary left,
I
knew
how
much
you
were
hurting.
I
should
have been
there.
You
needed
me,
but
there
always
seemed
other things
to
do.
I
was
always
going
to
come
and
see
you tomorrow,
or
the
next
day.
'Always
tomorrow,
Charlie, always
tomorrow.'

The
emotion
was
cracking
Collingridge's
voice.

I've
had
my
moment
of
glory,
I've
been
selfish,
I've
done the
things
that
I
wanted
to
do.
While
I
watched
you
become an
alcoholic
and
practically
kill
yourself
’

It
was
the
first
time
that
either
of
them
had
spoken
that truth.
Charles
had
always
been
under
the
weather,
or overtired,
or
suffering
from
nerves
-
never
uncontrollably, alcoholically
drunk.
They
both
knew
there
were
no
secrets now,
no
going
back.