The Ka of Gifford Hillary (36 page)

Anyhow it seemed that Mr. Tibitts had been right about Egyptian families wasting their substance by filling the tombs of their relatives with food and clothes. I had so far felt no suggestion of hunger or thirst, and I continued to be insensible to changes of temperature. That argued that he had also been right in his contention that Kas had no separate
immortality and ceased to exist when life left the body.

I could only pray that it was so. The undiminished vitality of my Ka could be explained by the fact that a body properly prepared for burial takes a long time to decompose, and mine could hardly have started to do so yet. This theory anyhow offered the comfort of believing that a limit was set to my ordeal. Waiting for my body to rot threatened to prove extremely wearisome, but at least I might hope …

In mid thought I checked myself. As long as there was life in my body it would not start to decompose; and Tibitts had definitely laid it down that to exist at all a Ka must be linked to a body with life in it.

Hopelessly confused, weary and depressed, I gave up and, shortly afterwards, drifted into merciful unconsciousness; coming to again only at the sound of Johnny running his bath.

Soon after seven we were on the way to Southampton. At The Bear in Esher he pulled up for breakfast; then we drove on through the slightly misty morning, arriving at the Hillary-Compton offices almost exactly at half-past nine.

In the board-room the other directors had already assembled, with the one exception of Bill, and were standing about making desultory conversation. Having greeted them Johnny joined James at the long window overlooking our yards and Southampton Water. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed, and still no Bill. Little Toiller then came over to James and proposed that they should start without His Lordship.

‘Not much point in that,’ James replied. ‘The Wing Commander and I are expecting a report from Lord Wiltshire; and we are not disposed to discuss the matter of the E-boats further until we’ve had it.’

‘I took the opportunity to put one or two routine things on the agenda; so we might get on with those,’ Toiller suggested.

‘Oh well, in that case …’ James walked towards the table and, leaving the Chair vacant, took his usual place on the right of it.

When the others were seated, Toiller gave a gentle cough and, as Secretary, opened the proceedings. In a slightly husky voice he spoke of my death, and on his motion they all stood
up to render the usual homage of one minute’s silence to my memory. As they sat down, he said:

‘And now, gentlemen, our next business is to elect a new Chairman.’

James was the obvious choice, and the Admiral was much too honest to allow their difference of opinion over the E-boats to deflect him from doing the proper thing as the next senior director. He at once proposed James, Johnny seconded the motion and on a unanimous show of hands James was elected. He said a few words of thanks then moved round to take the chair at the head of the table.

Before he could sit down there came a knock at the door. It was half opened and his secretary put her head round its edge. ‘Mr. Compton,’ she said, ‘I know you don’t like to be disturbed while you’re at a board meeting, but Lord Wiltshire is on the ‘phone from Longshot, and he says it’s urgent.’

‘Put him through,’ James told her and walked over to the side table on which stood the telephone extension.

Picking up the receiver he said: ‘Hello!’ then his jaw dropped slightly. After a moment he added: ‘I’m sorry … terribly sorry. No, of course I understand about your not coming over. Yes, I’ll tell the others. If there is any way in which I can help you have only to let me know.’

As he hung up, he turned towards his co-directors and said dully: ‘It seems as if a curse has suddenly descended on Longshot. When Lady Ankaret’s maid took her breakfast tray up about an hour ago she found her in a coma. All efforts to rouse her have failed. The doctor has just declared her to be dead.’

His news was greeted with exclamations of surprise and distress. For a moment I felt stunned by it, but only for a moment. A series of vivid pictures flashed through my mind and I had little doubt that they explained this new tragedy.

I saw Ankaret in the hall at Longshot, as I had last seen her. Silvers had just announced the saving of Johnny’s suitcase by Belton. She had jumped to the conclusion that it was the one that held those damning trial forgeries of hers. Poor sweet, in her secret agitation she must have forgotten that he had two cases and that it might be the other. Or perhaps she had never realised that instead of his usual one suit-case he
had, on this occasion, brought down two. In any case, she could never have later secured full particulars from Silvers, as I had expected she would; otherwise she would have known that she still had nothing to fear. She had simply accepted it as a certainty that within another twenty-four hours she would be called on to answer questions to which even her quick and subtle mind could provide no satisfactory answers; and that she must then pay the penalty for her own carelessness in not having destroyed those few sheets of paper while she had the chance.

I saw her again seated at her dressing-table with the phial of veronal tablets in her hand. Again I heard her say ‘I’ll be damned if I do’ as she threw it back into the open drawer. But that had been before the fire; before she had had her show-down with Johnny; before he had accused her of starting it. That had been her last card. Not only had it, as she thought, failed her; but Johnny had told her bluntly that he knew of her immoralities, believed that by her indulgence in them she had condemned me to a life of mental torture, and that if he could get at the truth he would have no mercy on her.

Who could blame her if, after that, she had decided to make a painless end of herself?

I was conscious of a great sadness. She had been the love of my life and I of hers. For those who love profoundly sex is only a minor element in the human relationship; so Johnny’s belief that it had meant so much to either of us was wrong. From each of her infidelities she had returned to me and made herself more adorable, and had I while still living been robbed of her I should have been utterly inconsolable. Even now, disembodied as I was, I became a prey to the most poignant grief at the thought that never again would I behold her radiant beauty or hear her laughter.

For a few moments there was a shocked silence. It was the Admiral who broke it by saying: ‘What an awful thing. Who would have thought a week ago that both Gifford and his wife would be gone from us. Still, there it is. No good carrying on now. We must once more postpone our discussion; and I suppose Monday is about the earliest day that it would be practical to call another meeting.’

‘It was you, Sir.’ remarked Johnny quietly, ‘who pressed
for a quick decision. Your view was that we ought not to hold up our reply to the Ministry of Supply for much longer, and I take it you still feel the same about that?’

‘I do,’ the Admiral nodded. ‘But I don’t see now how we can go ahead much before Monday.’

‘Oh we can, and personally I should prefer to get things settled this morning. You see,’ Johnny proceeded to explain, ‘while I am in my present post there is no difficulty about me performing my proper functions as a director and coming down here for monthly meetings—or an occasional special one. But I can’t keep on just taking time off, and during the past six days I’ve put in only a few hours at my office. Partly on account of Lady Ankaret’s death and partly for reasons of my own, I intend to ask for a further forty-eight hours; so I can’t possibly take another day off till the end of next week. Were it any other matter I would be content to leave it to the board to settle without me; but this is an exception.’

‘I appreciate your difficulty; but we met this morning expecting that Wiltshire would be able to give you and Compton Lady Ankaret’s view on how the voting power of her shares should be utilised. Now that is out of the question, how can you proceed without it?’

‘Her death has deprived her of any say in the matter.’

‘I am perfectly aware of that. Gifford’s shares now pass to his boy Harold; but as he is a minor the position of Compton and yourself, as Trustees, remains unaltered. He is quite old enough to understand how the decision of the board is likely to affect his interests; but, unlike Ankaret, he will have no previous knowledge of the subject. In consequence, when you have explained the whole thing to him, it would hardly be fair to give him less than two or three days to think it over.’

Johnny looked across at James. ‘I don’t know how you feel, but we are under no legal obligation to consult Harold; and the moment I heard of Lady Ankaret’s death I decided, for reasons that you will no doubt guess, that we should be wrong to do so.’

James nodded slowly. ‘Yes. I see what you are driving at, and I am inclined to agree. I think we must take the responsibility of deciding for him.’

‘Why?’ barked the Admiral. ‘Now that he has stepped into Ankaret’s shoes there is no difference in their cases.’

‘Oh yes there is,’ Johnny disagreed. ‘She was a woman of the world and competent to appreciate the far-reaching effects which might result from her decision; but one can’t say the same for this youngster. What is more Giff loved her and respected her judgment; so I feel sure he would have wished us to consult her. But unfortunately he felt very differently about his son. The boy was a great disappointment to him. He told me himself that he never meant to take him into the business; so I am certain that he would have been most averse to our allowing him to have a possible decisive say in a matter of this kind.’

‘I can substantiate that,’ James added. ‘Poor Giff and young Harold never saw eye to eye about anything.’

The Admiral’s face had gone a shade redder, and he snapped at Johnny: ‘I see now what’s behind all this. You were ready enough to consult Ankaret, because you banked on sentiment’s influencing her to back you in pushing through your plot. But now it is a question of the boy, you fear that his dislike of his father will cause him to side against you.’

‘Put it that way if you like.’ Johnny spoke coldly. ‘Although that is not altogether fair. You are right in thinking that out of spite Harold is likely to go against any project favoured by his father. But there is more to it than that. I know from Giff that Harold has Communist leanings. That being so, in the interests of security it would be very wrong for us to discuss this matter with him.’

‘Gifford’s boy a Communist!’ flared the Admiral. ‘What rot! I don’t believe it! And for you, young man, to talk about security after letting out God knows what to both Gifford and Ankaret! But you need say no more. It is plain to me that having first persuaded Gifford to aid you in your nefarious scheme, you have now wheedled Compton round into helping you put it over.’

Johnny had gone quite white. Clenching his fists, he cried: ‘I have told you time and again, Sir, that there is not a shadow of foundation for such imputations. I resent them intensely. Either you will withdraw them or I’ll sue you for slander.’

‘Sue and be damned,’ roared the Admiral, jumping to his feet. ‘I’ve got a cannon worth ten of that. Do what you like. You and Compton control the votes to force this thing
through, so go to it. But you’ll put me down as dissenting. And I’ll call an Extraordinary General Meeting so that the shareholders can be informed how you have prejudiced the interests of the Company. As for bringing a case against me, you haven’t a hope. No, not even if such matters were permitted to be discussed in open court. Gifford and Ankaret are both dead, so can no longer be persuaded by you to perjure themselves and deny that you disclosed Official Secrets to them. But I can have a case brought against you. This afternoon I’ll go to London. I’ll see the Security people and disclose the whole of this scandalous affair to them. Before you are a week older you shall face a Court Martial.’

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When the Admiral, a short compact furious figure, had swept from the room, like the vortex of a cyclone, there was a long embarrassed silence. McFarlane, the Scots chief engineer, was by nature a taciturn man. He had hardly uttered a word since they had sat down to the table, and he continued to stare with expressionless face at the clean sheet of blotting-paper before him. Charles Toiller had been making frantic doodles on his; but he stopped, threw down his pencil, and said with a reproving shake of the head:

‘That was very unpleasant; very unpleasant—I must say. To see two of our directors quarrel like that—most upsetting.’

‘Wing Commander Norton acted under great provocation,’ James said, coming to Johnny’s defence. ‘All the same it was bad policy to threaten the Admiral. He’s the last man to take that sort of thing lying down.’

‘You are right about that, Sir.’ Old Toiller continued to shake his head. ‘But Sir Tuke’s bark has always been worse than his bite. I’ve known him since he was a young lieutenant, and there’s not an ounce of malice in him. He’ll soon calm down; and I don’t think for a moment that he will do as he said.’

‘I hope to God you’re right,’ Johnny muttered. ‘It could do his beloved Navy no good, and it would be bound to do me a lot of harm. There are plenty of people who are always ready to bring out the old tag “There is no smoke without fire”.’

‘Well,’ James coughed awkwardly, ‘I’m sure the board has complete confidence in your integrity.’ He looked at the others and added: ‘Isn’t that so, gentlemen?’

They both nodded, and McFarlane said: ‘This is no affair of mine; but if the Wing Commander was not in earnest about bringing an action, he’d do no harm to his own prospects by making Sir Tuke aware of that.’

Johnny thanked the Scot for his sound advice, and added:

‘If only my Uncle Gifford was still alive he could force the old boy to eat his words about me; but as he isn’t it would simply be my word against Sir Tuke’s. As he could not prove his accusations I’d probably get a verdict, but at what a price! At best I’d be exonerated only on a sort of non-proven basis, and the case would create such a stink that it would ruin my Service career. No; I’ve no intention of bringing one, but I can hardly run after him to tell him so.’