This Was A Man (28 page)

‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure. I’ll wait for you to be in touch,’ she said, as a small queue began to form behind her.

‘My family are only able to be with me for a few more days,’ whispered the duke. ‘Once they’ve all gone their separate ways, may I give you a call?’

‘I’ll look forward to that, Perry,’ a name only the late duchess and the duke’s oldest friends ever used when addressing his grace, the Duke of Hertford.

Once Camilla had seen Virginia depart, she didn’t waste any time before joining her brother.

‘Did I see you talking to that frightful woman, Virginia Fenwick?’

‘You did,’ said Clarence. ‘She seems a nice enough lady, and she promised to keep an eye on Pa while we’re all away.’

‘I’ll bet she did. If anything would stop me going back to New Zealand, it’s the thought of that woman getting her hands on Pa.’

‘But she couldn’t have been more considerate.’

‘Don’t allow that consummate actress to fool you for one moment.’

‘Why are you so set against her, Camilla, when all she wants to do is help?’

‘Because dear Mama always had a good word for everyone, and she had two for the Lady Virginia Fenwick. Scheming bitch.’

‘How long have I got?’ asked Virginia.

‘The Revenue will grant you no more than ninety days before they begin proceedings, my lady,’ replied the bank manager.

‘So how long have I got?’ repeated Virginia.

Mr Leigh turned over several pages of his diary before he responded. ‘The final day for payment, unless you wish to be saddled with extortionate interest, is December
twenty-first.’

‘Thank you,’ said Virginia, before leaving the bank manager’s office without another word.

She could only wonder how long it would be before the duke got in touch, because if he didn’t call soon, she would be spending Christmas Day in Buenos Aires.

V
IRGINIA DIDN
’
T HAVE TO
wait long before the duke called and invited her out on their first date. And that was certainly
how she regarded their evening at Mosimann’s. She was coy, flattering and flirtatious, and made him feel twenty years younger, or at least that’s what he told her when he dropped her
back at her flat in Chelsea, with a kiss on both cheeks. Appropriate for a first date, thought Virginia. She didn’t invite her paramour in for coffee for several reasons, not least because he
couldn’t have failed to notice that there were only hooks where paintings had once hung.

The duke rang the following morning and invited Virginia out on a second date.

‘I’ve got tickets for
Noises Off
starring Paul Eddington, and I thought we might have supper afterwards.’

‘How sweet of you, Perry. But unfortunately I have to attend a charity gala this evening,’ she said, looking down at an empty page in her diary. ‘But I’m free on Thursday
evening.’

After that, her dance card had only one name on it.

Virginia was surprised how much she enjoyed her role as the duke’s companion, confidante and friend, and quickly grew used to a style of life she had always assumed was hers by right.
However, she had to accept that the taxman was still demanding his pound of flesh, 185,000 pounds of flesh to be exact, and that if she didn’t pay up, this idyllic existence would stop as
abruptly as a train hitting the buffers.

She considered asking Perry for a loan to cover her tax bill, but felt it was a little too soon, and if he thought that was the only reason she’d shown any interest in him, the
relationship would surely end as quickly as it had begun.

Over the next few weeks, the duke showered her with gifts of flowers, clothes, even jewellery, and although she considered returning them to some of the more fashionable
establishments on Bond Street in exchange for cash, it wouldn’t have even made a dent in the taxman’s demand. In any case, it would only be a matter of time before the duke found out
what she had been up to.

However, when the weather changed from a chilly November to a freezing December, Virginia began to despair, and decided that she had no choice but to tell Perry the truth, whatever the
consequences.

She selected his seventieth birthday as the day of revelation, during a celebration dinner at Le Gavroche. She was well prepared, having spent most of her monthly allowance on a gift for Perry
that she could ill afford. Cartier had crafted a pair of gold cufflinks, engraved with the Hertford crest. She would need to choose the right moment to present them, and then explain why she would
be leaving for Buenos Aires early in the New Year.

During the meal, which consisted mostly of vintage champagne, the duke became a little maudlin and began talking about ‘crossing the finishing line’, his euphemism for death.

‘Don’t be silly, Perry,’ Virginia reprimanded him. ‘You have many years ahead of you before you need to think about anything quite so depressing, especially if I’ve
got anything to do with it. And don’t forget, I promised the children I’d keep you going.’

‘And you’ve more than kept your end of the bargain, old gal. In fact, I don’t know how I would have survived without you,’ he added as he took her hand.

Virginia had become accustomed to the duke’s little signs of affection, even a hand reaching under the table and ending up on her thigh. But tonight, it remained there while the
maître d’ opened another bottle of champagne. Virginia had drunk very little that evening, as she needed to be as sober as a judge when she delivered her plea in mitigation. She chose
that moment to present him with his birthday present.

He slowly unwrapped it, before opening the leather box.

‘My darling Virginia, how kind of you. I’ve never had a more thoughtful present in my life.’ He leant across and kissed her gently on the lips.

‘I’m so glad you like it, Perry. Because it’s almost impossible to find something for a man who has everything.’

‘Not quite everything, my darling,’ he replied, still clutching her hand.

Virginia decided there was never going to be a better moment to tell him about her problem with the taxman.

‘Perry, there’s something I need to ask you.’

‘I know,’ he said. Virginia looked surprised. ‘You were going to ask, your place or mine?’

Virginia giggled like a schoolgirl, but didn’t lose her concentration, although she suddenly realized she should perhaps delay telling him about her imminent departure, as there might be
an even better opportunity to plead her case a little later.

The duke raised his other hand, and a moment later the maître d’ appeared by his side bearing a silver tray on which there lay a single slip of paper. Virginia had become used to
checking the details of every bill before allowing the duke to write out a cheque. It was not unknown for a restaurant to add an extra dish, even another bottle of wine, after a guest had consumed
a little too much.

It was when she opened the bill and saw the figure £18.50, that the idea first crossed her mind. But could she risk it? She had to admit such a gift-wrapped opportunity was unlikely to
present itself again. She waited for the sommelier to pour him a second glass of Taylor’s before she declared, ‘The bill’s fine, Perry. Shall I write out a cheque while you enjoy
your port?’

‘Good idea, old gal,’ said the duke, taking out his cheque book and handing it to her. ‘Be sure to add a generous tip,’ he said as he drained his glass. ‘It’s
been a memorable evening.’

Virginia wrote out the figure 185,000, having moved the comma and added two noughts. She dated the cheque December 3rd 1982, before placing it in front of him. He signed unsteadily, just below
where Virginia’s finger covered the noughts. When he disappeared to ‘spend a penny’, another of his oft-used euphemisms, Virginia deposited the cheque in her handbag, took out her
own cheque book and wrote out the correct figure. She handed it to the maître d’ just before Perry returned.

‘It’s the duke’s birthday,’ she explained, ‘so it’s my treat.’

Marco didn’t comment that she’d forgotten to add the generous tip the duke had suggested.

Once they were seated in the back of the duke’s Rolls-Royce, he immediately leant across, took Virginia in his arms and kissed her; the kiss of a man who was hoping for more.

When the car stopped outside the duke’s home in Eaton Square, the chauffeur rushed around to open the back door, giving Virginia enough time to straighten her dress while the duke buttoned
up his jacket. The duke led Virginia into the house, where they found the butler waiting for them, as if it was midday, not midnight.

‘Good evening, your grace,’ he said, before taking their coats. ‘Will you require your usual brandy and cigar?’

‘Not tonight, Lomax,’ the duke replied, as he took Virginia by the hand and led her up the sweeping staircase and into a room she’d never entered before. The bedroom was about
the same size as her flat, and dominated by an antique oak four-poster, adorned with the family crest
Ever Vigilant
.

Virginia was about to comment on the Constable hanging above the Adam fireplace, when she felt the zip on the back of her dress being clumsily pulled down. She made no attempt to stop it falling
to the floor, and began to unbuckle the duke’s belt as they edged unsteadily towards the bed. She couldn’t remember when she’d last made love, and could only hope that the same
was true for the duke.

He was like a schoolboy on a first date, petting and fumbling, clearly needing her to take the lead, which she was happy to do.

‘That’s the best birthday present I could have hoped for,’ he said once his heartbeat had returned to normal.

‘Me too,’ said Virginia, but he didn’t hear her, because he’d fallen asleep.

When Virginia woke the following morning, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. She began to consider the consequences of everything that had taken place the previous evening. She
had already decided not to present the cheque for £185,000 until December 23rd, confident that it wouldn’t be cleared before Christmas, possibly even the New Year.

However, there was an outside chance that someone along the line would consider it their duty to alert the duke about such a large withdrawal. There was also the possibility – although it
seemed unlikely to Virginia – that the cheque might bounce. If either of these catastrophes occurred, she’d be on her way to Heathrow not Castle Hertford, because it wouldn’t be
HM Inspector of Taxes pursuing her but an ever-vigilant duke, and she suspected his daughter Camilla wouldn’t be far behind.

The duke had already invited Virginia to spend Christmas on his estate in Hertford. But she had only accepted when she learned that Camilla and her family wouldn’t be travelling over from
New Zealand, as they felt two trips to England within a few months was an unnecessary extravagance.

Virginia had written to Clarence and Alice regularly during the past few weeks, to keep them up to date on everything their father was up to, or at least her version of it. In their replies,
both of them made it clear how delighted they were that she would be joining them at Castle Hertford for Christmas. The idea that at the last moment she might have to beat a hasty retreat and spend
the New Year in Buenos Aires with a distant cousin wasn’t that appealing.

When the duke finally awoke, he knew exactly where he was. He turned over, delighted to find that Virginia hadn’t already left. He took her in his arms, and spent considerably longer
making love a second time. She began to feel confident that this wasn’t going to be a one-night stand.