Jacobsson…’
Andrew Craig had been in no humour for this appointment with Count Bertil Jacobsson.
The riddle of Emily Stratman’s personality, her unreasonable rejection of him, had left Craig almost destitute of will to live. The drinking of the evening before had not alleviated his desperation, and the enjoyment of Lilly’s body in the night and the solace of her comforting extroversion had been all too brief.
In the morning his resentment of Leah’s meddling and her dangerous jealousy had hardened him, and he had returned to the hotel with every intention of a showdown. But Leah, no doubt anticipating his fury, had been too clever to present herself before him so soon. A flippant note, left on the stand beside his bed, advised him that, in the company of Margherita Farelli, and under the guidance of Mr. Manker, she was off for the day and the night to the province of Dalarna, north of Stockholm, to tour the Lake Siljan district. Her note begged Craig not to worry about her-this was the flippancy-for she would be back early the morning of the tenth, in time to help dress him for the Nobel Ceremony.
The day had been vacant, haunting, and he had read and wandered and avoided all bars, entertaining Emily constantly in his thoughts, resenting her and loving her and hating her responsibility for the resumption of his torment.
He had not been unmindful of his four o’clock appointment with Jacobsson, a date made several days before, and every hour he had considered cancelling it on some pretext. Jacobsson had wanted Craig to visit his private apartment above the Foundation offices, and see his museum-whatever that was-and at the time, Craig had agreed, had even looked forward to the visit, assuming that Emily would accompany him. But, with circumstances as they were, it was a dull duty. What had made him keep the date, finally, was boredom-that, and no wish to disappoint the fine old gentleman.
Now, nearly half an hour had passed among the books and glass cases of Jacobsson’s spacious library in his apartment at Sturegatan 14. To his surprise, Craig had not found the visit disagreeable. The tranquillity of the room, as removed from wordly cares as a station in space, the literacy of the host, had eased Craig’s nerves and absorbed his attention.
They stood before the last of the glass cases. Jacobsson pointed his cane at a yellowed letter. ‘Romain Rolland wrote that on behalf of Carl Spitteler of Switzerland. More than anything, that helped Spitteler win the literary award in 1919… Next to it, an 1882 first edition of
A cautious rapping on the door interrupted them, and Jacobsson excused himself and opened the door. His secretary, Astrid Steen, had a message, and she delivered it verbally, in an undertone. Jacobsson listened, frowning, and then considered the message a moment.
Turning suddenly to Craig, he said, ‘Miss Sue Wiley is outside. She has requested permission to see me for a moment, to authenticate some piece of information or other. Do you mind if I have her in here and get it over with?’
‘Of course not,’ said Craig. ‘I’m inoculated against all Typhoid Marys.’
Jacobsson chuckled and turned back to the door. ‘Very well, Mrs. Steen, show her in, but tell Miss Wiley it will be only for a moment.’
He waited at the open door, and Craig occupied himself with kindling his pipe.
Sue Wiley entered breezily, thanking Jacobsson, and briefly disconcerted by Craig’s unexpected presence. ‘Well, I didn’t think I’d find you here,’ she said to Craig. ‘What’s up? Counting your money?’
Craig kept his temper. She was not worth it, and she was too ridiculous in some kind of newly purchased fur Cossack hat, with a matching fur muff that she carried looped over one wrist. ‘If it’s private, I’ll step outside,’ said Craig.
‘None of my comings and goings are private, Mr. Craig. Stay put. I’ll be out in a flash.’ She pivoted on her spiked heels towards Jacobsson. ‘Just a point of information, Count. I’m becoming a historian-and I’m strictly contemporary-so every once in a while, I get shaky about a fact. This one concerns George Bernard Shaw. Remember him?’
‘I certainly do’, said Jacobsson courteously.
‘Somebody told me he turned down the Nobel Prize flat. That’s it. True or false?’
‘I am afraid I must disappoint you, Miss Wiley. What is true is that we voted Mr. Shaw the prize in 1925. When the Swedish Minister in London notified him of the award, Mr. Shaw, who was often critical of prizes in general and our own prize in particular, replied in strongest terms, “No, I do not want it. What do I need the money for?” The untrue part is your information that he actually turned it down. He did not. After giving the matter more mature consideration, for one week, he changed his mind and accepted the prize. I will add that he was most gracious about the money we gave him. He assigned it for use in the creation of an Anglo-Swedish Alliance that would encourage literary and artistic understanding between Great Britain and Sweden.’
‘Thank you,’ said Sue Wiley, ‘and, may I add, you are wrong to think I am disappointed. If I didn’t know you were such a nice person, I’d believe you were letting people poison your mind against me. What do you think I’m after, Count Jacobsson-scandal and nothing else? I’m anything but an advocate of yellow journalism. I’m simply after the truth.’
‘Miss Wiley,’ said Jacobsson with infinite restraint, ‘in my experience I have found that truth has three faces-a whole truth, a half-truth, and a white lie that is barely truth.’ He paused. ‘As a matter of fact, I am glad you brought the word up. I have meant to invite you in for a little orientation talk. It has come to my attention-or would you prefer to converse at another time in private?’
‘Not at all. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Mr. Craig or anyone else.’
‘Then, what I have been meaning to say to you is this-and only the pressure of my responsibilities during this week of festivity has prevented my saying it sooner-it has come to my attention that you have been making numerous inquiries about the city concerning one type of information and one type only.’
‘What is that supposed to mean?’
‘The inference has been, and I have heard it from several reliable sources, that you are attempting to acquire only such information as will be detrimental to the Nobel institutes.’
‘Says who?’ snapped Sue Wiley, colouring. ‘That’s ridiculous. I’m an objective reporter doing an objective job. I don’t invent material. I take it as it comes. If it sometimes turns up black instead of white, well-as I said-truth.’ Suddenly, her eyes began to blink, and they narrowed. ‘You wouldn’t be suggesting that I leave out some of the things I find, to conform to your ideas of-of censorship, would you?’
Craig found this unbearable, and shifted from one leg to the other, irked by her tone, her obvious attempt to force a censorship angle out of Jacobsson. But Jacobsson remained unruffled and diplomatic. ‘I am suggesting no such thing, Miss Wiley, and do not even dream of it. You are in a free country, among a free people, and we encourage you to write as you please. I only say that it distresses me to have our guests seek half-truths about us, and offer them to the world as whole truths.’
‘If that’s all that is worrying you, have no fears about me. I’m sticking strictly to the facts. If you find lies or libel in my copy, you can sue. That’s how sure I am.’
A smile flickered across Jacobsson’s wrinkled features. ‘The Nobel Foundation is a quasi-government institution, Miss Wiley. We approve or disapprove, but we do not sue.’
‘Then we understand each other. Well, I guess I’ve taken enough of your-’
‘One moment, Miss Wiley. Something occurs to me. Since you have been gathering so much information from so great a variety of sources, perhaps it would be to your benefit to add one more story that comes to you straight from the headquarters of the awards.’
Sue Wiley brightened. ‘A story! Any time!’
Jacobsson looked off. ‘If you do not mind, Mr. Craig-’
