Kane & Abel (1979) Read online

  ‘Don’t be silly, Anne. Our friendship has lasted for far too many years for a little thing like that to be of any importance.’

  The kindness of his words triggered off a fresh bout of weeping. Anne staggered to her feet.

  ‘I must go, Alan. I can hear someone at the front door - it may be Henry.’

  ‘Take care, Anne, and don’t worry. As long as I’m chairman, the bank will always support you. Don’t hesitate to call if there’s anything I can do.’

  Anne put the telephone down. The effort of breathing became overwhelming, and the vigorous contractions made her feel sick. She sank to the floor.

  A few moments later the maid knocked quietly on the door. She looked in to see her mistress lying on the floor. She rushed in, William by her side. It was the first time he had entered his mother’s bedroom since her marriage to Henry Osborne. Anne was shaking uncontrollably, unaware of their presence. Little flecks of foam spattered her lips. In a few seconds the attack passed, and she lay moaning quietly.

  ‘Mother,’ William said urgently, ‘what’s the matter?’

  Anne opened her eyes and stared wildly at her son. ‘Richard,’ she said, ‘thank God you’ve come.’

  ‘It’s William, Mother.’

  Her gaze faltered. ‘I have no more strength left, Richard. I must pay for my mistake. Forgive …’

  Her voice trailed off to a groan as another spasm overcame her.

  ‘What’s happening?’ said William helplessly.

  ‘I think it must be the baby,’ the maid said, ‘though it isn’t due for two months.’

  ‘Get Dr MacKenzie on the phone immediately,’ said William as he ran to the bedroom door. ‘Matthew!’ he shouted. ‘Come up quickly.’

  Matthew bounded up the stairs and joined William in the bedroom.

  ‘Help me get my mother down to the car.’

  The two boys picked Anne up and carried her gently downstairs and out to the car. She was panting and groaning, clearly in considerable pain. William ran back into the house and grabbed the phone from the maid while Matthew waited in the car.

  ‘Dr MacKenzie.’

  ‘Yes, who’s this?’

  ‘My name is William Kane - you won’t know me, sir.’

  ‘Don’t know you, young man? I delivered you. What can I do for you?’

  ‘I think my mother is in labour. I’m driving her to the hospital immediately. We should be there in a few minutes.’

  Dr MacKenzie’s tone changed. ‘All right, William, don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you, and everything will be prepared and ready by the time you arrive.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’ William hesitated. ‘She seemed to have had some sort of a fit. Is that normal?’

  William’s words chilled the doctor. He too hesitated.

  ‘Well, not quite normal. But your mother will be just fine once she’s had the baby. Get her here as quickly as you can.’

  William put down the phone, ran out of the house and jumped into the Rolls-Royce. Matthew, having only had one lesson on his father’s Rolls, drove the car in fits and starts, never once getting out of first gear. He didn’t stop for anything until they reached the hospital entrance. The two boys lifted Anne gently out of the car and placed her on a waiting stretcher. A nurse quickly guided them through to the maternity unit, where Dr MacKenzie was standing in the doorway of one of the delivery rooms. He took over, and asked them to remain outside.

  William and Matthew sat in silence on a small bench in the corridor and waited. Frightening cries and screams, unlike any sound they had ever heard before, came from the delivery room - to be succeeded by an even more frightening silence. For the first time in his life William felt totally helpless. The two boys sat on the bench for over an hour, not a word passing between them. Eventually a tired Dr MacKenzie emerged. When they rose the doctor looked at Matthew. ‘William?’ he asked.

  ‘No, sir, I’m Matthew Lester. This is William.’ The doctor turned and put a hand on William’s shoulder. ‘William, I’m so sorry. Your mother died a few minutes ago … and the child, a little girl, was stillborn.’

  William’s legs gave way and he sank back onto the bench.

  ‘We did everything in our power to save them, but it was too late.’ He shook his head wearily.

  William sat in silence. At last he whispered, ‘How could she die? How could you let her die?’

  The doctor sat down on the bench beside him. ‘She wouldn’t listen,’ he said. ‘I warned her repeatedly after her miscarriage not to have another child, but after she married again, she and your stepfather never took my warnings seriously. When you brought her in today, for no apparent reason her blood pressure had soared to the level where eclampsia ensues.’

  ‘Eclampsia?’

  ‘Convulsions. Sometimes patients can survive several attacks. Sometimes they simply - stop breathing.’

  William began to cry and let his head fall into his hands. No one spoke for several minutes. William eventually stood up and Matthew guided him gently along the corridor. The doctor followed them. When they reached the entrance, he looked at William.

  ‘Her blood pressure went up so suddenly. That’s most unusual, and she didn’t put up a real fight, almost as if she no longer cared. Strange - had something been troubling her lately?’

  William raised his tear-streaked face. ‘Not something,’ he said with passion. ‘Someone.’

  Alan Lloyd was sitting in a corner of the drawing room when the two boys arrived back at the Red House. He rose as they entered.

  ‘William,’ he said immediately. ‘I blame myself for authorizing the loan.’

  William stared at him, not taking in his words.

  Matthew stepped into the silence. ‘I don’t think that’s important any longer, sir,’ he said quietly. ‘William’s mother has just died giving birth to a stillborn child.’

  Alan Lloyd turned ashen, steadied himself by grasping the mantelpiece and turned away. It was the first time either of them had seen a grown man weep.

  ‘It’s my fault,’ said the banker. ‘I’ll never forgive myself. I didn’t tell her everything I knew. I loved her so much that I never wanted her to be distressed.’

  His anguish enabled William to be calm.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault, Alan,’ he said firmly. ‘You did everything in your power, I know that, and now it’s me who’s going to need your help.’

  Alan Lloyd braced himself. ‘Has Osborne been informed about your mother’s death?’

  ‘I neither know nor care.’

  ‘I’ve been trying to reach him all day about the hospital contract. He left his office soon after ten this morning and he hasn’t been seen since.’

  ‘He’ll turn up sooner or later,’ William said grimly.

  After Alan Lloyd had left, William and Matthew sat together in the drawing room for most of the night, dozing off and on, rarely speaking. At four o’clock in the morning, as William counted the chimes of the grandfather clock, he thought he heard a noise in the street. He looked up to see Matthew staring out of the window, and walked stiffly across to join him. They both watched Henry Osborne stagger across Louisburg Square, a bottle in one hand, a bunch of keys in the other. He fumbled with his keys for some time and finally stepped into the hallway, blinking dazedly at the two boys.

  ‘I want Anne, not you. Why aren’t you at school? I don’t want you,’ he said, his voice thick and slurred, as he pushed past William and walked into the drawing room. Where’s Anne?’

  ‘My mother is dead,’ said William quietly.

  Osborne looked at him, disbelief etched on his face. He walked across to the sideboard and poured himself a whiskey, which caused William to lose his self-control.

  ‘Where were you when she needed a husband?’ he shouted.

  Osborne didn’t let go of the bottle. ‘What about the baby?’

  ‘Stillborn, a little girl.’

  Osborne slumped into a chair, drunken tears starting to run down his face. ‘She lost