Be Careful What You Wish For (The Clifton Chronicles) Read online

  “I have to rush to the airport and take a plane to Paris. The French are causing me many problems.”

  “What kind of problems?” asked Arnold.

  “Nothing you can help me with, sadly. I have forty thousand transistor radios sitting in a bonded warehouse. The French customs are refusing to allow me to distribute them to my suppliers until every box has been opened and inspected. At the moment, they are managing two a day. The idea is to hold me up as long as possible, so that French manufacturers will be able to sell their inferior product to impatient customers. But I have a plan to defeat them.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it,” said Arnold.

  “Simple really. I shall build a factory in France, employ locals and then distribute my superior product without having to bother with customs officials.”

  “The French will work out what you’re up to.”

  “I’m sure they will, but by then everyone will be like Cedric and want a Sony radio in their front room. I can’t afford to miss my plane, but first I’d like a word in private with my new partner.” Arnold shook hands with Morita before he and Sebastian left the room. “Cedric,” Morita said taking the seat on the other side of the chairman’s desk. “Have you ever come across a man called Don Pedro Martinez? He came to see me after the show last night, along with a Major Fisher.”

  “I only know Martinez by reputation. However, I have met Major Fisher, who represents him on the board of the Barrington Shipping Company, where I also serve as a director.”

  “My view is that Martinez is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, while Fisher is weak, and I suspect dependent on Martinez’s money to keep afloat.”

  “You worked that out after only one meeting?”

  “No, after twenty years of dealing with such men. But this one is clever and devious, and you should not underestimate him. I suspect that for Martinez, even life is a cheap commodity.”

  “I am grateful for your insight, Akio, but even more for your concern.”

  “May I beg a small favor in return before I leave for Paris?”

  “Anything.”

  “I would like Sebastian to remain the link between our two companies. It will save us both a lot of time and trouble.”

  “I only wish I could grant you that favor,” said Cedric, “but the boy’s going up to Cambridge in September.”

  “Did you go to university, Cedric?”

  “No, I left school at fifteen and, after a couple of weeks’ holiday, joined my father at the bank.”

  Morita nodded. “Not everyone is cut out for university, and some are even held back by the experience. I think Sebastian has found his natural metier, and with you as his mentor, it’s even possible you might have found the right person to eventually take your place.”

  “He’s very young,” said Cedric.

  “So is your Queen, and she ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five. Cedric, we are living in a brave new world.”

  GILES BARRINGTON

  1963

  18

  “ARE YOU SURE you want to be leader of the opposition?” asked Harry.

  “No I don’t,” said Giles. “I want to be prime minister, but I’ll have to do a spell in opposition before I can expect to get my hands on the keys to Ten Downing Street.”

  “You may have held your seat at the last election,” said Emma, “but your party lost the general election by a landslide. I’m beginning to wonder if Labor can ever win another election. They seem destined to be the party of opposition.”

  “I know it must look like that right now,” said Giles, “but I’m convinced that by the time the next election comes around, the voters will have had enough of the Tories and think it’s time for a change.”

  “And certainly the Profumo affair hasn’t helped,” said Grace.

  “Who gets to decide who’ll be the next leader of the party?”

  “Good question, Sebastian,” said Giles. “Only my elected colleagues in the House of Commons, all two hundred and fifty-eight of them.”

  “That’s a tiny electorate,” said Harry.

  “True, but most of them will take soundings in their constituencies to find out who the rank and file would prefer to lead the party, and when it comes to Trade Union affiliated members, they’ll vote for the man their union supports. So any shipping union members from constituencies like Tyneside, Belfast, Glasgow, Clydesdale and Liverpool ought to back me.”

  “The man,” repeated Emma. “Does that mean that out of two hundred and fifty-eight Labor Members of Parliament, there’s not a single woman who can hope to lead the party?”

  “Barbara Castle may decide to enter the lists, but frankly she hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell. But let’s face it, Emma, there are more women sitting on the Labor benches than on the Conservative side of the House, so if a woman ever does make it to Downing Street, my bet is she’ll be a socialist.”

  “But why would anyone want to be leader of the Labor Party? It must be one of the most thankless jobs in the country.”

  “And at the same time, one of the most exciting,” said Giles. “How many people get the chance to make a real difference, to improve people’s lives and leave a worthwhile legacy for the next generation? Don’t forget, I was born with the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth, so perhaps it’s payback time.”

  “Wow,” said Emma. “I’d vote for you.”

  “Of course, we’ll all support you,” said Harry. “But I’m not sure there’s a lot we can do to influence two hundred and fifty-seven MPs we’ve never come across, and are hardly likely to.”

  “It’s not that kind of support I’m looking for. It’s more personal, because I have to warn all of you sitting around this table that once again you can expect the press to start delving into your private lives. You may feel you’ve had enough of that already, and I couldn’t blame you if you did.”

  “As long as we all sing from the same hymn sheet,” said Grace, “and say nothing other than that we’re delighted Giles is standing for leader of his party because we know he’s the right man for the job and we’re confident he’ll win, surely they’ll soon get bored and move on?”

  “That’s just when they’ll start digging around for something new,” said Giles. “So if anyone wants to admit to anything more serious than a parking ticket, now’s your chance.”

  “I’m rather hoping my next book will get to number one on the New York Times bestseller list,” said Harry, “so perhaps I ought to warn you that William Warwick is going to have an affair with the chief constable’s wife. If you think that might harm your chances, Giles, I could always hold off publication until after the election.” Everyone laughed.

  “Frankly, darling,” said Emma, “William Warwick ought to have an affair with the mayor of New York’s wife, because that would give you a far better chance of making it to number one in the States.”

  “Not a bad idea,” said Harry.

  “On a more serious note,” said Emma, “perhaps this is the moment to tell you all that Barrington’s is just about holding its head above water, and things aren’t going to get any easier during the next twelve months.”

  “How bad is it?” asked Giles.

  “The building of the Buckingham is running more than a year behind schedule, and although we’ve had no major setbacks recently, the company has had to borrow a large sum of money from the banks. If it could be shown that our overdraft exceeded our asset value, the banks could call in those loans, and we might even go under. That’s the worst possible scenario, though it’s not impossible.”

  “And when could that happen?”

  “Not in the foreseeable future,” said Emma, “unless of course Fisher felt that washing our dirty linen in public could be used to his advantage.”

  “Martinez won’t let him do that while he has such a large shareholding in the company,” said Sebastian. “But that doesn’t mean he’s just going to sit on the sidelines and watch, if you do decide to throw your hat in the ring