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‘You’re barring me from chambers,’ he accused. ‘You can’t do that.’
‘No. No … of course not,’ Harold agreed hurriedly, ‘no such thing … no such thing at all. Fact is, old chap, that all of us need to take a decent break from time to time, and young Maddy would probably appreciate the chance to see a bit more of you….’
Max looked coldly at him. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him that he didn’t give a damn about what Maddy would appreciate, but he managed to restrain himself.
Robert Burton had certainly managed to put the wind up Harold, he acknowledged bitterly. Pompous old bastard, who was he to tell Max what he could and couldn’t do. Take some extended leave … They couldn’t make him, of course, no, no way could they do that, but they could make life pretty unpleasant for him if he refused, Max admitted angrily. If they chose to do so, they could adopt tactics that ultimately could force him out of chambers, and once that became public knowledge, his chances of continuing to receive not just the fat briefs he had grown accustomed to getting, but also the status and accolades that went hand in hand with being a member of such a prestigious set of chambers, would diminish abruptly. There was no way, after the work he had put in, the sacrifices he had made to get where he was, that Max was ever going to allow himself to be downgraded or side-tracked to somewhere second rate.
As he listened to Harold’s pompous meanderings, he told himself fiercely that when the day came when he took over as head of chambers, he would make everyone involved in this pay for what they were doing to him, especially that creep Jeremy Standish, the clerk-cum-office manager, whom Max knew perfectly well neither liked nor approved of him.
‘So you can see, I’m sure, what I mean—’ Harold was continuing to waffle uncomfortably ‘—and like I said, Maddy, I am sure, will …’
Max had had enough, and giving an impatient shrug, he stood up.
‘A month …’ Max began, but Harold, suddenly becoming courageous and mindful of his fellow members’ urgings and the responsibility he owed them, insisted firmly, ‘Two months, Max. That will give plenty of time for any potential unpleasantness to die down….’
Two months … Max gave him a hard stare, tempted to argue but sharply aware of how it would make him look if he lost.
God, but Justine had truly mucked this up, he fumed half an hour later back in his own small office. And if he had her here right now … he’d … Two months … Just what the hell was he going to do?
As he stared angrily out of his office window, there was a brief rap on the door and Jeremy Standish walked in.
‘Maddy was on the phone while you were with Harold,’ he told Max. ‘She asked me to remind you that it’s Leo’s nativity play tomorrow afternoon and that your grandfather will be going….’
As Jeremy saw the murderous expression darkening Max’s eyes he couldn’t resist adding, mock innocently, ‘I’m sure Maddy will be delighted when she knows that you’re going to have a couple of months off. You must miss her and the children so much with them living in the country and you living in town….’
Leo’s flaming nativity play, that was all he needed, but of course, if he didn’t go, his grandfather was bound to start asking awkward questions. Max still hadn’t repaid the loan he had cadged off him when he and Maddy had got married—and, in fact, he had no intention of repaying it. Max had witnessed his grandfather’s growing involvement with his own son and already sensed that if he wasn’t careful, Leo might begin to usurp his own so-far-unchallenged position as his grandfather’s favourite, and there was no way Max was going to allow that to happen. He was already beginning to think it had been a mistake to allow Maddy to have so much contact with his grandfather and thus easy access to his ear. Not that he had any fear that his grandfather would pay any attention to anything she might choose to say. His grandfather despised women and was an old-fashioned chauvinist.
Two flaming months and not even the chance of a fortnight or so in Aspen now to alleviate it. And of course, he would have to tell Maddy, whether he wanted to or not. The last thing he wanted was for her to ring the chambers and find out that he wasn’t there—and why. And, in fact, he would have to warn her not to say anything to her parents, either. With any luck he could keep the whole thing pretty quiet. As his brain began to swing into action, Max started to make plans.
Perhaps it might be as well to remind Harold that any hint of his enforced ‘holiday’ getting out would reflect just as dangerously on the reputation of the rest of the partners as it would on him. Max might be under no illusion that Robert Burton’s real intention in putting pressure on Harold was to humiliate him, but it would do no harm to overlook that and to point out that on the surface at least, he totally believed that Harold was acting simply out of concern for the chambers as a whole, and since he had no option but to accept the situation, what he needed to do now was to make everyone else believe that taking such a period of leave was his own choice. Perhaps he could even earn a few ‘brownie’ points with his grandfather and Maddy’s family by making out that it was his wife and children that had motivated him, and living in Haslewich at his grandfather’s expense would certainly save him money. And of course, he still had women friends in Chester with whom he could alleviate his undoubted boredom.
By the time he had cleared his desk, Max had almost managed to persuade himself that two months’ leave was exactly what he wanted … almost …
‘The bed’s quite definitely William and Mary, and when I told him what it was really worth …’ Guy Cooke broke off from his description of the furniture he had been asked to value to look keenly at his ex-business partner and to ask gently, ‘Jenny, what is it, what’s wrong? You haven’t heard a word of what I’ve just said.’
‘Oh, Guy, I’m sorry,’ Jenny apologized immediately, giving him a small smile. ‘There’s nothing really wrong, it’s just …’
‘Jenny, I know when you’re happy—and when you’re not,’ Guy reminded her dryly.
Jenny shook her head and admitted, ‘It’s Jack, our nephew. His school report this time is, well, not very good at all, and the headmaster has asked to see Jon about him.’
‘What’s the problem, do you know?’ Guy asked her sympathetically.
‘Well, we’re not sure, but we think it could possibly be because of David. You know that Jack and Joss bunked off school to go and look for Jack’s father….’
‘Mmm … Chrissie mentioned it,’ Guy acknowledged, referring to his wife, who was in a rather roundabout way, a member of the Crighton family.
‘Both Jon and I have talked to Jack, and so has Olivia, but he seems to have this bee in his bonnet at the moment about David,’ Jenny told him. ‘It’s perfectly natural that he should, of course; after all, unlike Olivia, he was still really very much a child when David disappeared and he couldn’t totally take in the situation. But what’s more worrying is that Louise seems to think that Jack is actually blaming himself in some way for David’s disappearance.’
‘Blaming himself …’ Guy gave her a sharp look. ‘Why on earth should he do that?’
Jenny shook her head. ‘I don’t know. We’ve both tried to talk to him about it, but he’s at that age …’ She gave a small sigh. ‘We’ve all always been so close, and we thought he was happy living with us, but now we’re both beginning to question whether or not we did the right thing and whether he might ultimately have been happier going to Brighton with Tania.’
‘I shouldn’t have any concerns about that,’ Guy interrupted her firmly. ‘I certainly know who I’d prefer.’
Jenny gave him a wan smile. ‘Tania is his mother,’ she reminded him. ‘Even if Olivia says that in her opinion Jack has been far better off with us.’
‘Olivia should know, she is Jack’s sister.’
‘Yes, I know, and we’ve been through the whole history of David’s disappearance with Jack and explained to him about the … the problems that had arisen here with the business.’
‘It can’t have been easy for you,’ Guy commented. ‘I can still remember just what you and Jon went through at the time.’
‘It was a shock, especially for Jon when he found out that his twin had been defrauding one of their clients. I know it’s a dreadful thing to say, but if that client hadn’t died when she did and Ruth hadn’t been able to refund the money David had “borrowed” from her estate, I don’t know what would have happened.
‘Olivia, Jon and I have explained to Jack just what the situation was. While, legally, his father is free to return to this country if he should want to do so, there could be no question of him ever being able to practise in the business.
‘I know it’s an issue that we would have had to deal with at one stage, but I just wish that it hadn’t manifested itself right now when Jack is working towards his A levels.’
‘Mmm … I know that Joss is planning on going up to Oxford, but what is Jack hoping to do?’
‘We had talked and thought he wanted to follow Jon into the practice. There’s a very close bond between them, but just recently … I know all teenagers go through a turbulent period, but it seems lately that Jack really resents us both, but particularly Jon. His behaviour is hurting Jon, although he never says anything.’
‘Mmm … I expect he’s concerned that he might be rearing a second Max, although …’ He stopped when he saw Jenny’s expression and asked, ‘Is that what Jon thinks, Jen?’
‘Not exactly, but he has said recently that he wonders if he’s adequate father material. He blames himself for the fact that Max is as he is. He always has done, and I feel the same way—that we both failed him. We can’t help wondering if there was something we could have done, something we neglected to do, some sign we missed or some …’ She paused and shook her head. ‘Jack is nowhere near being like Max, of course, but Jon is beginning to feel that somehow or other he must have failed him—Jack’s become so abstracted, so withdrawn just recently, and of course you always worry that … about …’
‘Drugs,’ Guy supplied shrewdly for her.
‘Well, one reads such things,’ Jenny admitted, ‘and although we’re only a relatively quiet small country town, we’re not that far from Manchester or …’
‘I know what you’re saying,’ Guy agreed. Then he added quietly, ‘I could put a few feelers out for you if you want me to….’
Guy’s family, the Cookes, were involved in every aspect of Haslewich life, including some which were not strictly ethical or honourable.
There was a local story that the Cookes had once included in their number a member of the Gipsy band that had travelled through the area, and it was from this alliance that the family had inherited their strikingly dark tangled curls and good looks.
Jenny hesitated. The headmaster had recently alerted all the parents at the boys’ school to the fact that drugs were being sold outside the school gates, despite the police’s attempts to put a stop to it. She had no reason to suspect that either Joss or Jack were taking them, and she was pretty sure that Jack’s recent change in behaviour and attitude was because of his confused emotions about his father.
‘I wouldn’t want Jack to think that we didn’t trust him,’ she told Guy slowly. ‘Jon’s worried that Jack might feel that, as our nephew, he comes second place to Joss, which isn’t the case at all. We love them both very dearly, although of course in different ways, and because Jon was himself always aware that in his father’s eyes he could never compare to David, Jon is determined that Jack won’t suffer in the way that he did.’
‘It’s a very difficult situation,’ Guy acknowledged.
‘Jon hates having to take anyone to task,’ Jenny told him ruefully, ‘but it is so important that Jack works hard and gets good grades when he sits his A’s.’
‘I saw Max driving into town earlier,’ Guy told her.
Jenny forced a small smile.
‘Oh, did you? Good. Maddy will be pleased. She was afraid that he might miss Leo’s first performance in the play school Christmas play,’ she told him with a smile.
She wasn’t smiling ten minutes later, however, as she hurried back to her car, pitting her body against the cold of the sharp east wind. Maddy had confided in her only a few days ago that she was concerned about Leo’s growing antagonism towards his father.
‘Gramps thinks I’m overcoddling Leo, but I’ve tried to explain to him that it’s because he doesn’t see very much of Max and Max isn’t … Max doesn’t …’
Maddy’s voice had trailed off, but she hadn’t needed to explain. Jenny knew exactly what her eldest son was and what he wasn’t. Joss spent more time with, and was far closer, to his small nephew than his father, and Jon, too, made sure that he gave his small grandson as much attention as he could.
Maddy wasn’t there when Max arrived at Queensmead. She had gone out to do some shopping, taking both children with her. The rich scent of the greenery and fruit she had used to make the Christmas garlands that decorated the hallway and stairs, as well as the warmth of their seasonal colours against the mellow patina of the panelling, might have caused another man to stop and savour not just the seasonal spirit they evoked but also the quiet skill of the woman who had made them, but Max gave his wife’s handiwork no more than a brief, cursory frown as he headed for the stairs. Before he could climb them, his grandfather’s study door opened and the older man limped painfully into the hallway, his austere expression giving way to a warm smile as he saw his favourite grandchild.
‘Max,’ he exclaimed eagerly. ‘You’re back. Come and have a drink with me.’
Max watched the way his grandfather’s hand trembled as he poured them both a Scotch. He was aging rapidly, his once-tall, ramrod-straight frame now spare and bent, his walk betraying the wariness of someone who had lost the security of being able to depend on his own physical strength.
‘Maddy’s gone out—shopping,’ he told Max. ‘Why on earth do women need to make such a fuss about Christmas? You’d think Maddy was going to be feeding an army from the way she’s been carrying on. She hasn’t even had time to change my library books for me this week,’ he added with the petulant selfishness of the elderly. ‘And she forgot to make my nightcap last night.
‘Come over here,’ he instructed Max abruptly. ‘There’s something I want to show you.’
Frowning, Max followed him, watching as he struggled with the lock on the drawer of his desk before removing a card, which he thrust in front of Max.
‘It’s from David,’ he told Max tersely. ‘It came yesterday. It’s post-marked Jamaica …’
‘Jamaica …’ Max’s frown deepened. The last they had heard of David was that he was somewhere in Spain, but that had been more than a year ago, and despite all his own father’s attempts to do so, he had not been able to trace the whereabouts of his twin brother.
‘I knew he wasn’t in Spain, told Jon so, too, but he wouldn’t listen,’ he could hear his grandfather complaining.
‘It’s time he came home, Max. I want him home. This is where his place is. This is where he would be if that damned woman hadn’t driven him away.’
It was no secret to Max that his grandfather blamed Tania, nicknamed Tiggy, David’s estranged wife, for his son’s disappearance, claiming to anyone who would listen that it had been Tania’s unstable temperament and the eating disorder she suffered from, along with her dangerous mood swings and her extravagant life-style, that had prompted David’s near fatal heart attack and then caused him to disappear.
Max frowned as he studied the postcard his grandfather had handed him, not really paying much attention to what the older man was saying. After all, he had heard it all before, and if it had not been second nature to him to keep on his grandfather’s good side, he would have lost no time in cynically pointing out that there were far easier ways of removing an unwanted wife from one’s life than to flee the country.
Even so, he couldn’t resist saying jibingly, ‘Well, Uncle David has nothing to fear from Tiggy now that she’s got a new man in her life.’
‘Exactly,’ his grandfather pounced. ‘I want David found, Max. I want him found and I want him to come home before …’ He stopped, wincing as he started to massage his aching hip.
‘Dad’s already made several attempts to trace him,’ Max pointed out uninterestedly, ‘and …’
‘Using detective agencies. Pah … useless … Jon should fly out to Jamaica himself, and if he had any real brotherly love for David … But then, of course, he’s always been jealous of David and I …
‘I’d go myself if it wasn’t for this damned hip,’ he told Max angrily. ‘Damned if I wouldn’t. I know David … he’s my son … my flesh … my blood ….’
Listening to him, Max forbore to point out that so was his own father, but then Ben most certainly did not know Jon, and what he knew of David was only what he had allowed himself to know … what he wanted to believe David to be rather than what he actually was.
Jamaica … Max dropped the card onto the table, where it lay face up, white sands gleaming under an impossibly blue sky and an even bluer sea … Jamaica …
His body suddenly stiffened.
‘If you really want someone to go and look for Uncle David, I suppose I could fly out there and do a bit of checking up, look around …’ he began, pseudo-hesitantly.
‘You!’
The delight in the old man’s voice might have touched the heart of another man, but Max refused to allow anything, anyone, to touch his, and he simply, instead, gave him a calculated smile.
‘But how can you?’ his grandfather protested shakily. ‘Your work …’
Max shrugged carelessly.
‘As it happens, things are pretty slack at the moment, and I had been thinking of taking a few weeks’ leave. I may as well spend some of it in Jamaica as here under Maddy’s feet …’
‘You mean you really would go, Max?’
Max watched dispassionately as his grandfather fought to control his emotions, coming over to him and grasping his shoulders as he blinked rapidly and told him huskily, ‘I knew I could rely on you, Max. You’re your uncle David all over again. He wants to come home, I know he does. Once he knows that that unhinged woman isn’t going to make a nuisance of herself … My God, just let her try. She’s already caused enough damage. When I think …’
‘It’s going to be an expensive trip,’ Max warned him, ignoring his comments about Tiggy. ‘And …’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ his grandfather quickly assured him.
‘Jamaica’s a fair-sized island, and there’s no saying just whereabouts David might be,’ Max pointed out—or even if he would still be there, Max acknowledged, but he kept that thought to himself. A few weeks in Jamaica at his grandfather’s expense was exactly what he needed right now. Smiling to himself, he mentally thanked Harold. Who knew, he might even be able to pick up some potential new clients while he was out there.
Finding David was, of course, another matter entirely and not one he was inclined to give any serious thought to. After all, if his uncle genuinely wanted to return home, there was absolutely nothing to stop him from doing so.
Silently he studied his grandfather. Did he really honestly believe what he was saying; that the only reason David had left—disappeared—was because his marriage had broken down? Well, if so, it was no business of his to enlighten him, but the old man really must be losing his grip.
‘Max, you don’t know how much this means to me, my boy,’ he heard Ben telling him gruffly. ‘I should have known I could rely on you. Your father …’ He stopped and shook his head. ‘It’s always been a disappointment to me that Jon doesn’t … that he isn’t … he doesn’t know how lucky he’s been to have a brother like David,’ he finished heavily. ‘I lost my twin brother …’
Max looked impatiently at his watch.
‘Look, Gramps,’ he interrupted, cutting across the old man’s all-too-familiar reminiscences, ‘if I’m going to Jamaica, I should make a few phone calls. It’s not going to be easy getting a flight to the Caribbean at such short notice at this time of the year. Half of Belgravia and Sloane Square will be flying out there on the first flights out of Heathrow after the New Year, and then I’ll have to get myself sorted out with a hotel.’
Given the choice, Max would have infinitely preferred to ignore the Christmas and New Year celebrations at Haslewich completely, of course, and taken the first flight he could to the Caribbean, but he knew that not even Maddy would wear that one.
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ his grandfather agreed.
‘And … I think we should keep this thing just between the two of us for now,’ Max told his grandfather smoothly. ‘As you’ve said, Dad doesn’t seem to be too keen on having David home and …’
‘Yes. Yes, you’re right,’ his grandfather conceded.
Max smiled confidently at him. The old boy was amazingly easy to manipulate once you knew which buttons to press. The one marked ‘David’ was always a dead cert. Contemptuously, Max wondered why his own father didn’t press it a little bit more often. There was no way that he, Max, would allow the old man to patronize him and put him down, comparing him unfavourably to others the way Ben did with Jon. No way at all, and it irritated Max that Jon should do so. After all, his father could be stiff-necked and stubborn enough when it suited him, and Max already knew that the news that he was going to Jamaica to look for David would not be received well in his parents’ household—for a variety of reasons.
The last thing his father would want was for David to be found and encouraged to come home. Not because, as Ben seemed so deludedly to believe, Jon was jealous of his twin. Max knew that Jon wouldn’t welcome the complications and hassles that would arise with having David and all the potential problems surrounding his fraudulent behaviour back on his doorstep.
In his father’s shoes, Max knew that he would have lost no time at all in informing Ben of just what his precious son had done. But Jon, to Max’s disgust, had gone to inordinate lengths to protect his father from discovering the truth about his favourite.
David wouldn’t come back to Haslewich, of course, and Max knew full well that it was extremely unlikely that he would even be able to find him—not that he intended to try very hard! A leisurely month or so relaxing in the sun was more the kind of thing he had in mind. He would pay some local agency to make a few general inquiries, of course, just to keep Gramps happy.
He would wait until after Christmas to break the news to Maddy that he was going to Jamaica. That way, there was no risk of him coming under family pressure or disapproval and no risk either of his father or anyone else bending Ben’s ear to try to make him change his mind.
‘Oh, Maddy, he looks so sweet.’
