This Was a Man Read online

  “But why not, my dear? After all, you may never get another chance like this again.”

  “I suppose you’re right. But I’m already feeling guilty about leaving Papa to fend for himself.”

  “No need to, my dear, believe me. In any case, there will be more than enough of us to make sure he’s well occupied. So off you go, and show those Yanks what we British are made of.”

  “I know that’s what he wants,” said Alice, “but I just can’t bear the idea of him being on his own so soon after dear Mama’s death.”

  “You needn’t worry yourself on that count,” said Virginia, who was pleased to see Giles paying his respects to the duke before he left.

  Virginia gave Alice a warm hug before heading off in search of her final prey. A mother, a father, and three small children were not difficult to locate, but this time she wasn’t greeted with quite the same enthusiasm.

  “Hello, I’m—” began Virginia.

  “I know exactly who you are,” said Lady Camilla, and before Virginia could deliver her next well-prepared sentence, she turned her back on her and started chatting to an old school friend, making no attempt to include Virginia in the conversation. Virginia quickly took her leave before anyone could notice the slight. Two out of three wasn’t a bad return, especially as the one failure lived on the other side of the world. Virginia saw no purpose in hanging around any longer, so she made her way across to the duke to bid him farewell … for now.

  “I’ve had the most enjoyable time renewing my acquaintance with your delightful children,” she said. She wondered if he knew how little she’d seen of them during the past twenty years, not least because of the late duchess’s attempts to keep them apart.

  “And I’m sure they enjoyed seeing you again,” said the duke. “I hope I will too, and in the not-too-distant future,” he added, “if you have nothing better to do.”

  “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.

  23

  VIRGINIA 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 afterward.”

  “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 jewelry, 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 leaned 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 taxm