Rivals

Rupert’s always been the one to get in touch with him. And because I was ultra-conscious of security, I’ve always made a point of directly contacting all the moles from a call box outside Penscombe, so the calls couldn’t be traced back. Anyway, if the telephone was only bugged last Friday, I rang everyone about the dry run before that. I’ve got a horrible feeling someone tipped Tony off.’

‘All right,’ said Freddie, sitting down heavily on a lot of tapes, ‘let’s go through the list of possibilities. Taggie was working at Sarah Stratton’s a fortnight ago and the Baddinghams and the Verekers were both there.’

‘Don’t be bloody silly,’ snapped Rupert, who was pacing up and down the room. ‘Of course it’s not Taggie. She’s entirely responsible for all those letters being sent to the IBA and what the fucking hell’s she got to gain by leaking secrets to Tony?’

Freddie raised his eyebrows. ‘No need to overreact. She could have just let somefink slip to Sarah over the dishes.’

‘And how d’you know the Verekers and the Baddinghams were at the Strattons the other night?’ said Rupert, still furious. ‘I suppose Lizzie told you. Lizzie’s much more likely to have told Tony.’

‘Lizzie’s nothing to do with us,’ said Declan irritably. ‘Do keep to the point, Rupert.’

‘Lizzie’s something to do with Freddie,’ persisted Rupert. ‘You could easily have talked in your sleep.’

Freddie turned dark red. ‘There’s nuffink going on there.’

‘Hum,’ said Rupert.

Declan looked disapproving. ‘Is there?’ he said icily.

Freddie shuffled his feet. ‘I’m very fond of Lizzie. I haven’t told her anyfing.’

Declan then admitted that Maud had told him Caitlin had been out once with Archie Baddingham, but they were just a couple of kids, and he was quite certain Caitlin knew nothing of importance. Anyway she was back at school now.

‘Caitlin knows everything,’ said Rupert. ‘She doesn’t miss a trick, and she might easily have seen Sally Maples or Harold.’

‘They’ve never been to the house,’ said Declan. ‘I suppose one of the moles could have turned countermole.’

‘More than their life’s wurf,’ said Freddie, shaking his head. ‘If they shopped us, they automatically shop themselves. Georgie is the only one it might have been, and he was far too upset when Tony broke the news yesterday. I expect Tony’s got the thumbscrew on him now, getting the rest of Venturer’s secrets out of him.’

‘What about Maud?’ said Rupert. ‘She’s always hanging around with Monica.’

‘When did my wife ever take the slightest interest in the franchise? She doesn’t know a thing,’ said Declan bitterly.

‘Valerie’s got a soft spot for James Vereker,’ suggested Rupert.

Freddie sighed. ‘Valerie’s like Maud, simply not interested.’

‘Much as I’d like to suspect the Bishop and Professor Graystock,’ said Rupert, ‘they’re far too motivated by greed and self-interest to shop us, and the same goes for Marti.’

‘Not if Tony made it worth their while,’ said Declan. ‘I wouldn’t rule them out.’

‘Well, Basil’s in the clear,’ went on Rupert, ‘and I honestly think Wesley and Henry are too thick, or in Wesley’s case too spaced out to remember anyone’s names anyway. But I suppose they’re possibilities.’

‘Everyone’s a possibility,’ said Declan bleakly, ‘and finally there’s Cameron. She’s my choice. I’ve had my doubts about her all along.’

‘Balls,’ said Rupert irritably. ‘She’s far too obsessed with us winning the franchise and, since she came back from Ireland, with making movies with you.’

‘And frankly,’ said Freddie, ‘she’s far too smitten by our Rupe.’

When Declan said nothing, Rupert protested: ‘Cameron’s got a lot of faults, but she’s basically honest. That’s why she so loathed carrying on with Tony and Corinium while she was sleeping with me.’

‘I’ve always suspected she was treacherous,’ said Declan. ‘How do we know she hasn’t been spying for Tony from the very beginning?’

‘Don’t let’s get Le Carre-ed away,’ said Rupert. ‘We’ll just have to keep an eye on her.’

‘We’ll have to keep an eye on everyone,’ said Declan grimly.

In an atmosphere of sniping and growing suspicion, Venturer carried on preparations for the IBA interview. There were secret communications with Georgie, Billy, Harold and Sally, arranging that they would join Venturer if and when the franchise was won — it no longer seemed a certainty — but there was no way they could be present at the IBA meeting on 29th November. Night after night without them, therefore, Hardy Bissett fired endless questions at the rest of the consortium, until they were word perfect, and answered almost without thinking. Then he accused them of being too glib.

One evening Charles Fairburn, desperately trying to hide his anxiety about being fired, turned up dressed as Lady Gosling in a grey wig, half-moon spectacles, and hundreds of shawls, and proceeded to lay everyone in the aisles by answering questions in a high soprano until Hardy sharply slapped him down.

But the questions rolled on: ‘How d’you hope to promote interest in scientific matters in your schedule? What is your attitude to training schemes? How will you ensure equal opportunity for women in your company?’

‘By screwing every one of them,’ answered Rupert.

‘Don’t be bloody flip,’ yelled Hardy. ‘You can be funny, but never flip, and, with a female chairman, never never be funny about women.’

Rupert was bored and fed up. Why the fuck couldn’t they tell the truth, that they just wanted to make good programmes and a lot of money, and dispense with all this flannel? He was relieved when Cameron and Declan set off to Ireland for a final week’s shooting. He needed some space and time to think. He spent most of the week they were away in London on political work and keeping the rattled Venturer backers happy. Outside his office the last of the plane leaves were drifting down, reminding him unbearably of Taggie. He still had the thirty leaves she and the children had given him. They hadn’t brought him much bloody happiness. He steeled himself not to ring her up, or drop round. He was truly terrified how much he wanted to.

45

When Rupert didn’t take advantage of Cameron’s week away to ring her, Taggie wanted only to retreat into her turret room in utter despair. But, alas, Monica had asked her to do the food for the first night party for The Merry Widow next Saturday, and when she wasn’t cooking and freezing in both senses of the word (now the cold weather had set in, The Priory was absolutely arctic) Taggie was calming down or boosting the morale of an increasingly demanding and nervous Maud. Corinium were showing highlights of the first night and Maud was counting on Declan getting back from Ireland in time. She couldn’t face such an ordeal alone.

In addition the press were on the prowl for a story. Both Venturer and Corinium consortiums were turning out in force and dinner jackets for the first night. The newly sacked Charles Fairburn was playing Monica’s lover, Declan’s exquisite wife was making her stage comeback, and her leading man was the handsome Bas who was on opposing sides to his loathed brother Tony. With Declan due back from Ireland, with Rupert Campbell-Black’s live-in lover, who was also Tony’s ex, it was clear that there were endless possibilities for fireworks. ‘Cotchester’, wrote Nigel Dempster slyly, ‘are celebrating Guy Fawkes Day ten days late this year.’

The Merry Widow dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon was disastrous. The presence of the television crew on a dry run threw the entire cast. Tempers flared, lights dimmed too early, lines were fluffed or forgotten. The television director decided to put two cameras in the dress circle and in the two boxes on either side of the stage, so they wouldn’t have to take out any stall seats. The technicians stood around yawning, one sound man even fell asleep and snored loudly throughout the second act. James Vereker (Cotchester’s dusty answer to Humphrey Burton, according to Charles Fairburn) would be presenting the programme.

‘Just as well we bombed early,’ said Barton Sinclair, The Merry Widow’s director,