Kingdom of Shadows (75 page)

‘I didn’t know about it. Paul is in London. I only saw it today. My husband doesn’t speak for me.’

‘No?’ Neil gave a short laugh. ‘Well, it hardly matters, does it? You’re not selling, that’s the main thing. That much is true, I take it?’

‘I told you that at the hotel.’

‘Ah yes, before you ran away into the night with your husband.’

‘I didn’t go with him willingly, Mr Forbes.’

‘Of course not.’ His tone was sarcastic. ‘I don’t see much point in this conversation, Mrs Royland. Our quarrel is not with you, now. Earthwatch is going to direct its campaign against the issuing of prospecting licences in sites of special interest like Duncairn. Because this case has had so much publicity we will centre the battle in Scotland there, separately from but in close consultation with the similar campaigns going on in the south of England. If you care about Duncairn, Mrs Royland, you would be there with us.’

‘I do care,’ Clare said wearily.

‘But duty to your husband keeps you at his side? Of course.’ Neil’s tone was mocking. ‘I understand perfectly.’

‘You don’t understand at all.’ Clare’s voice fell to a whisper.

‘To support us would be to contradict his statement about us. What more is there to be said?’

‘I want to support you –’ Clare said desperately.

‘So what is stopping you, Mrs Royland?’ Neil hung up.

‘What indeed?’ Clare put the phone down. Her hands were shaking. She put her head in her arms on the desk top.

‘Oh, Clare, darling.’ Antonia went over to her and patted her anxiously on the shoulder. ‘You must not upset yourself like this –’

‘Please, Mummy, let me go.’ Clare groped for her mother’s hand. ‘Please. I’m sure Paul would say it was all right.’

Antonia shook her head unhappily. ‘It is for your own good, darling. Until Paul has sorted out this terrible man –’

‘What man?’ Clare frowned.

Antonia bit her lip. ‘This man in Cambridge who has been teaching you all these terrible things –’

‘Zak?’ Clare stood up staring at her. ‘I don’t believe this! Paul says he is going to sort him out? Paul doesn’t care about Zak! He’s never even met him! Anyway, Zak is in America now. He’s gone.’

‘Gone?’ Her mother echoed. ‘You mean he’s gone for good?’

‘I’ve no idea. Zak is a casual friend, Mummy, nothing more. He is not some kind of religious freak. All he taught me was some yoga and meditation.’

Mutely Antonia shook her head. ‘Whatever he is, darling, we can’t let you go yet. Wait until Paul makes sure it is safe for you. Wait until these terrible dreams have left you. Soon you will be able to go, I promise, but not yet, darling, not yet.’

‘You don’t really believe that I’m possessed.’ Clare sat down again slowly. ‘Not really. You are far too level-headed and realistic. Paul is making all this up, Mummy.’

‘He’s convinced Archie.’ Antonia side-stepped the question.

‘And so you back up Archie!’ Clare groaned. ‘Of course you do. What else? I notice he isn’t showing any signs of going away as he planned. Has he changed his mind? For God’s sake, Mummy, what has happened to your own will, your own mind? Can’t you think for yourself any more?’

Antonia tightened her lips angrily. ‘Of course I can, Clare. Being rude won’t help you. You never used to be rude. I agree with Archie. The best thing is for you to stay here quietly until Paul has sorted everything out. Did I tell you that James is coming up for a week’s shooting? He rang last night.’ She desperately tried to distract Clare with a change of subject. ‘That will be nice for you – to see your brother again.’

Clare raised an eyebrow. ‘James? So he’s in on it too, is he?’

‘He’s coming to shoot, Clare.’ Her mother sighed in exasperation. ‘But maybe he will be able to help us.’

‘James?’ Clare walked over to the window and stared out at the bleak garden. ‘Why should James know anything about it? He’ll just think you and Archie have gone completely off your heads.’

‘Perhaps he will.’ Antonia gave a wan smile. She hadn’t dared to tell her daughter that Paul had arranged for Sarah Collins to fly north to help them watch her, or that she would be arriving that afternoon.

Sir David Royland had picked up Geoffrey in central London before driving out to Kensington. They both stood in the drawing room of the Campden Hill house whilst Paul poured them a drink, then all three men sat down. Paul was on edge. The meeting at the office had been awful. They all knew. He had been suspended from the board pending an internal enquiry and asked not to go into Coleman Street for the next few days. It had been suggested that he develop an expedient dose of flu for the time being. On top of that had come his elder brother’s phone call announcing his visit this evening with Geoffrey.

‘I think you should know, Paul, that we have talked with Emma this evening and she has given us permission to act in her name as well as our own,’ David said slowly. He took a sip from his glass. ‘We want to know the exact situation. Are the rumours true? Are you about to go bankrupt?’

Paul was tight-lipped. ‘Who has been talking to you?’

‘Never mind who has been talking. Is it true?’ David leaned back in his chair.

‘It looks like it. I shan’t be able to meet a settlement charge.’

‘How much?’

‘A little under two million.’

‘Good God, Paul! Are you out of your mind?’

‘It was a gamble – a certainty, I thought. If it had come off no one would have been the wiser.’

‘Until next time,’ Geoffrey put in. ‘Look, Paul, have you still got your shares in father’s company?’

Paul stood up. The veins in his temples were distended and throbbing. ‘Of course.’

‘Then the three of us will take them off your hands. David and I will take a third of them each and David is going to chip in with the rest to buy a third for Emma. That keeps it all in the family, as the trust lays down. That will clear your debt and leave you some over for any other obligations you may have. It will also take the worry off Clare’s shoulders.’ He frowned. ‘She must be protected from any outside stress at the moment at all costs.’

David was nodding. ‘It’s the best way, old chap, then, when things get better you can buy them back. This keeps it all in the family the way Dad would have wanted, and it leaves the children’s trust fund untouched.’ He glanced at Geoffrey.

‘The children’s trust fund!’ Paul echoed. ‘With one more little Royland to benefit, I gather.’ He gave a bitter laugh. ‘I haven’t congratulated you on the birth of your new son, yet, have I, David?’ He threw himself back in his chair with a sigh.

‘Cheer up, Paul, old chap,’ Geoffrey put in awkwardly. ‘This puts everything right. No more problems. No one will ever know. It could have happened to anyone.’

Paul was staring out into the dead, dark garden through the undrawn curtains. No one would ever know – as long as Rex Cummin kept quiet, and Diane Warboys, and as long as the board of BCWP closed ranks and kept silent and united against any questions which might be asked about insider dealing. ‘Of course it could have happened to anyone,’ he repeated dully. ‘But it didn’t, did it? It happened to me.’

The next morning he rang the president elect of Sigma International in London and offered him first refusal of the lands of Duncairn at a knockdown price. ‘Once the environmental lobby is silenced, which it will be once the licences are confirmed, you’ll be laughing. I just thought I’d tell you that the property is still on the market in case you want to apply again before the applications close.’ He hung up. He might have lost his holdings in the family firm; but he hadn’t lost everything. With the money from Duncairn he would buy into a new issue, recoup his losses ten-fold and buy back the shares within three months.

And Duncairn had to go. After what Clare had done to him he was going to make her pay. He was going to make her pay with Duncairn, and with her sanity.

He sat down at his desk, staring at the opposite wall. Locked alone in that tower, tormented by ghosts, how long would she last? Either she would break or she would throw herself off the top of the tower in a frenzy of claustrophobic terror.

* * *

Sarah Collins adored Airdlie on sight. She had seen photographs of the house before, but the reality met every romantic notion she held of the baronial Scottish hall: the huge draughty rooms, the pointed Victorian roofs, the stained glass, the wrought iron and there at one corner the genuine sixteenth-century tower with its flagpole – the tower where Clare was held prisoner.

She paid off the taxi with some of the money Paul had given her for the trip and walked up to the front door. The barking of the dogs and the rattling of the key, satisfyingly large and old-fashioned, as Archie opened it for her, all added to her excitement. She was going to enjoy this part of her job.

Clare was sitting in the library, her feet up on the sofa, reading, when Antonia brought Sarah in at last. ‘Clare darling, look who has arrived. Mrs Collins has come to give us all a hand.’ Antonia was looking distinctly nervous.

Clare’s face had lost weight. She looked gaunt and tired. Sarah smiled. ‘Mrs Royland. It’s good to see you.’

‘Hello, Sarah. Did Paul send you?’ Clare swung her feet to the floor.

Sarah, who had been half expecting to find Clare in chains, was almost disappointed to note the sheer stockings and the Gucci sandals.

‘He thought perhaps your mother and father could do with a bit of help with you being here, and your brother coming tomorrow.’ Sarah smiled uncertainly.

‘What a kind thought.’ Clare did not try to hide the sarcasm in her tone. ‘Where is he?’

‘Mr Royland? In London. We’ve closed up Bucksters for a while.’

‘I think I’ll make some tea,’ Antonia put in hastily with a glance at Clare. ‘Please, sit down – Sarah –’ She had hesitated, wondering whether to use the woman’s first name or to be more formal.

Sarah sat down with alacrity, facing Clare. Within ten minutes she felt as if she had been there for ever.

James was enjoying himself. Airdlie was his, even if his parents did live there. He loved the house, the gardens, the river and the moors. Not for long, mind you. More than a week and he’d probably be as mad as poor old Clare, but out on the hill with his step-father and the guns and the dogs he was deliriously happy. It was such a change from the City, and he was glad to be out of the City for a while. The press comment about Paul and Clare and the rumours about Paul were all becoming a bit embarrassing.

Sitting at the breakfast table he opened his copy of
The
Times
. Opposite him his mother, neatly dressed and coiffed, was ladling out the porridge.

‘Oh God, there’s another bit about Duncairn here.’ James folded back the paper. ‘Earthwatch has held a public meeting there to protest against onshore oil drilling on sites of special scientific interest. Where is Archie’s
Scotsman
? That will probably have more about it.’

‘Don’t let Clare see it, for goodness’ sake.’ Antonia put a bowl down in front of him. ‘She’s furious enough with that Forbes man as it is.’

‘Here it is. On the front page.’ James had rescued the
Scotsman
from his step-father’s chair. ‘Oh God –’ He read on in silence.

‘What does it say?’ Antonia glanced at the door in agitation in case Clare appeared.

In spite of Sarah’s meticulous relaying of Paul’s instructions that Clare was to be watched and guarded at all times, Archie had decreed, with one glance at his wife’s thunderous face, that just keeping her in the house was sufficient restraint for the time being, and Clare had been released from her room as usual as soon as she awoke that morning.

‘They’ve got hold of some story that Clare wanted to contest Aunt Margaret’s will!’ James read incredulously. ‘That Duncairn was not enough for her and she wanted money too. Is that true?’ He turned to his mother in indignation.

‘No, of course it’s not true.’ Antonia was visibly distressed. ‘Really, that man is impossible! How could he even suggest such a thing?’

‘Paul will probably sue him this time.’ James put down the paper and turned to his porridge, shamelessly spooning sugar into his bowl. ‘Meanwhile what on earth are you going to do with Clare? You can’t keep her here for ever. The whole thing is ludicrous.’

‘I know.’ Antonia looked up at him unhappily.

‘Then why do it? Surely to God you’re not afraid of Paul? There’s nothing wrong with her, you know. Or nothing a day or two in the fresh air wouldn’t cure. Paul is a sadistic bastard, if you ask me, and Archie’s no better. He seems to be enjoying this whole set up. Like the dreadful Mrs C. God, she was bad enough in the south! Here, she’s like a female Visigoth! It’s bloody bad luck on Clare.’

‘What is?’ Clare came in, closely followed by Sarah Collins. Clare was wearing some old jeans and a sloppy green jersey which James vaguely recognised as one of his old ones. Her face was pale and unmade-up, her hair longer and straighter than he remembered it. It dawned on him for the first time to his surprise that his sister was a very beautiful woman.

‘Keeping you cooped up inside,’ James answered. He stood up and pulled out a chair for her, ignoring Sarah, who sat down humbly at the far end of the table. ‘Why don’t you come up on the hill with us?’

‘Why not indeed?’ Clare tightened her lips. ‘I suggest you ask our step-father.’

‘I have.’ James shrugged.

‘And he told you the lies Paul told him.’ Clare picked up the paper. She glanced at it half-heartedly, then she stiffened. ‘There’s a bit about Duncairn here. They’ve held another meeting there.’

James exchanged glances with his mother.

‘It’s Mr Forbes again I’m afraid, dear,’ Antonia put in. ‘I’m sure Paul will deal with him. You musn’t let it worry you.’

‘Worry me!’ Clare stared at her. ‘Did you see what he said about me?’

She couldn’t use the phone again. Four times she tried but on each occasion either her mother or Sarah came in. She had no intention of speaking to Neil Forbes with either of them listening. What she had to say to him was for his ears only. She was hurt and angry. She had told him the truth and he had ignored it; he was turning his campaign into a vendetta against her personally. Furiously pacing the floor she began to chew her thumbnail. She had to get to Duncairn. Only there would she be able to clear her name and fight Paul, but first she had to get out and take one of the cars.