'O'Neil would never have made that deal without Josephine's approval.'
'I—I don't know what to say, David.'
'There is nothing to say. Except that I almost made the biggest mistake of my life.'
Kate walked over to the desk and picked up the list of candidates. Slowly, she began to tear it up.
In the weeks that followed, David plunged himself deeply into his work, trying to forget his bitterness and hurt. He received several letters from Josephine O'Neil, and he threw them all away, unread. But he could not get her out of his mind. Kate, deeply aware of David's pain, let him know she was there if he needed her.
Six months had passed since David received the letter from Tim O'Neil. During that time, Kate and David continued to work closely together, travel together and be alone together much of the time. Kate tried to please him in every way she could. She dressed for him, planned things he would enjoy and went out of her way to make his life as happy as possible. As far as she could tell, it was having no effect at all. And finally she lost her patience.
She and David were in Rio de Janeiro, checking on a new mineral find. They had had dinner at their hotel and were in Kate's room going over some figures late at night. Kate had changed to a comfortable kimono and slippers. When they finished, David stretched and said, 'Well, that's it for tonight. I guess I'll go on to bed.'
Kate said quietly, 'Isn't it time you came out of mourning, David?'
He looked at her in surprise. 'Mourning?'
'For Josephine O'Neil.'
'She's out of my life.'
'Then act like it.'
'Just what would you like me to do, Kate?' he asked curtly.
Kate was angry now. Angry at David's blindness, angry about all the wasted time. 'I'll tell you what I'd like you to do— kiss me.'
'What?'
'Bloody hell, David! I'm your boss, damn it!' She moved close to him. 'Kiss me.' And she pressed her Ups against his and put her arms around him. She felt him resist and start to draw back. And then slowly his arms circled her body, and he kissed her.
'Kate ...'
She whispered against bis lips. 'I thought you'd never ask...'
They were married six weeks later. It was the biggest wedding Klipdrift had ever seen or would see again. It was held in the town's largest church and afterward there was a reception in the town hall and everyone was invited. There were mountains of food and uncounted cases of beer and whiskey and champagne, and musicians played and the festivities lasted until dawn. When the sun came up, Kate and David slipped away.
'I'll go home and finish packing,' Kate said. 'Pick me up in an hour.'
In the pale dawn light, Kate entered the huge house alone and went upstairs to her bedroom. She walked over to a painting on the wall and pressed against the frame. The painting flew back, revealing a wall safe. She opened it and brought out a contract. It was for the purchase of the Three Star Meat Packing Company of Chicago by Kate McGregor. Next to it was a contract from the Three Star Meat Packing Company purchasing the rights to Tim O'Neil's freezing process for two hundred thousand dollars. Kate hesitated a moment, then returned the papers to the safe and locked it. David belonged to her now. He had always belonged to her. And to Kruger-Brent, Ltd. Together, they would build it into the biggest, most powerful company in the world.
Just as Jamie and Margaret McGregor would have wanted it.
BOOK THREE
Kruger-Brent, Ltd. 1914-1945
They were in the library, where Jamie had once liked to sit with his brandy glass in front of him. David was arguing that there was no time for a real honeymoon. 'Someone has to mind the store, Kate.'
'Yes, Mr. Blackwell. But who's going to mind me?' She curled up in David's lap, and he felt the warmth of her through her thin dress. The documents he had been reading fell to the floor. Her arms were around him, and he felt her hands sliding flown his body. She pressed her hips against him, making slow, small circles, and the papers on the floor were forgotten. She felt him respond, and she rose and slipped out of her dress. David matched her, marveling at her loveliness. How could he have been so blind for so long? She was undressing him now, and there was a sudden urgency in him. They were both naked, and their bodies were pressed together. He stroked her, his fingers lightly touching her face and her neck, down to the swell of her breasts. She was moaning, and his hands moved down until he felt the velvety softness between her legs. His fingers stroked her and she whispered, 'Take me, David,' and they were on the deep, soft rug and she felt the strength of his body on top of her.
There was a long, sweet thrust and he was inside her, filling her, and she moved to his rhythm. It became a great tidal wave, sweeping her up higher and higher until she thought she could not bear the ecstasy of it. There was a sudden, glorious explosion deep inside her and another and another, and she thought, I've died and gone to heaven.
They traveled all over the world, to Paris and Zurich and Sydney and New York, taking care of company business, but wherever they went they carved out moments of time for themselves. They talked late into the night and made love and explored each other's minds and bodies. Kate was an inexhaustible delight to David. She would awaken him in the morning to make wild and pagan love to him, and a few hours later she would be at his side at a business conference, making more sense than anyone else there. She had a natural flair for business that was as rare as it was unexpected. Women were few in the top echelons of the business world. In the beginning Kate was treated with a tolerant condescension, but the attitude quickly changed to a wary respect. Kate took a delight in the maneuvering and machinations of the game. David watched her outwit men with much greater experience. She had the instincts of a winner. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. Power.
They ended their honeymoon with a glorious week in Cedar Hill House at Dark Harbor.
It was on June 28, 1914, that the first talk of war was heard. Kate and David were guests at a country estate in Sussex. It was the age of country-house living and weekend guests were expected to conform to a ritual. Men dressed for breakfast, changed for midmorning lounging, changed for lunch, changed for tea—to a velvet jacket with satin piping—and changed to a formal jacket for dinner.
'For God's sake,' David protested to Kate. 'I feel like a damned peacock.'
'You're a very handsome peacock, my darling,' Kate assured him. 'When you get home, you can walk around naked.'
He took her in his arms. 'I can't wait.'
At dinner, the news came that Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, had been slain by an assassin.
Their host, Lord Maney, said, 'Nasty business, shooting a woman, what? But no one is going to war over some little Balkan country.'
And the conversation moved on to cricket.
Later in bed, Kate said, 'Do you think there's going to be a war, David?'
'Over some minor archduke being assassinated? No.'
It proved to be a bad guess. Austria-Hungary, suspecting that to neighbor, Serbia, had instigated the plot to assassinate Ferdinand, declared war on Serbia, and by October, most of the world's major powers were at war. It was a new kind of warfare. For the first time, mechanized vehicles were used—airplanes, airships and submarines.
The day Germany declared war, Kate said, 'This can be a wonderful opportunity for us, David.' David frowned. 'What are you talking about?' 'Nations are going to need guns and ammunition and—' 'They're not getting them from us,' David interrupted firmly. 'We have enough business, Kate. We don't have to make profits from anyone's blood.' 'Aren't you being a bit dramatic? Someone has to make guns.'
'As long as I'm with this company, it won't be us. We won't discuss it again, Kate. The subject is closed.' And Kate thought, The bloody hell it is. For the first time in their marriage, they slept apart. Kate thought, How can David be such an idealistic ninny?
