‘Did you let anyone know, even a friend, that you planned to visit us?’
‘I don’t have many friends,’ admitted Freddie, sipping his chocolate. He looked up at Giles and added, ‘Please don’t tell me I have to go back.’ Giles couldn’t think of a suitable reply.
‘Let’s worry about that in the morning,’ said Karin. ‘Drink up, and then I’ll take you to the guest bedroom so you can get some sleep.’
‘Thank you, Lady Barrington,’ said Freddie. He finished off his hot chocolate. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble.’
‘You haven’t,’ said Karin. ‘But now let’s get you off to bed.’ She took his hand once again and led him out of the room.
‘Goodnight, Lord Barrington,’ said a far more cheerful voice.
Giles switched on the kettle and took a teapot down from the shelf above him. While he waited for the kettle to boil, he picked up the phone, dialled directory enquiries and asked for the number of Freddie’s prep school in Scotland. Once he’d made a note of it, he checked to make sure he had Archie Fenwick’s home number in his phone book. He decided that seven a.m. would be a sensible hour to contact them both. The kettle began to whistle just as Karin reappeared.
‘He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, poor fellow.’
Giles poured her a cup of tea. ‘You were so calm and reassuring. Frankly I wasn’t quite sure what to say or do.’
‘How could you be?’ said Karin. ‘You’ve never experienced someone knocking on your door in the middle of the night.’
When the Baroness Clifton of Chew Magna rose to deliver her maiden speech in the House of Lords, the packed chamber fell silent. She looked up at the Distinguished Strangers’ Gallery to see Harry, Sebastian, Samantha and Grace smiling down at her – but not Jessica. Emma wondered where she was. She turned her attention to the opposition front bench, where the shadow leader of the House sat, arms crossed. He winked.
‘My lords,’ she began, her voice trembling. ‘You must be surprised to see this newly minted minister standing at the despatch box addressing you. But I can assure you, no one was more surprised than me.’
Laughter broke out on both sides of the House, which helped Emma to relax.
‘Lord Harvey of Gloucester sat on these benches some fifty years ago, and Lord Barrington of Bristol Docklands sits on the other side of the House as the opposition leader. You see before you their inadequate granddaughter and sister.
‘The Prime Minister has allowed me this opportunity to continue my work in the health service, not this time as a member of the board of a great hospital, its deputy chairman or even chairman, but as one of the government’s undersecretaries of state. And I want members of this House to be in no doubt that I intend to carry out my duties as a minister with the same scrutiny and rigour that I have tried to bring to every position I have held, in both public office and private life.
‘The National Health Service, my lords, is at a crossroads, although I know exactly in which direction I want it to go. In me, you will find a devoted champion of the surgeon, the doctor, the nurse and, most important of all, the patient. And as I look around this chamber, I can see one or two of you who might well be in need of the NHS in the not-too-distant future.’
Emma had considered the line added by her brother a little risky, but Giles had assured her that their lordships, unlike Queen Victoria, would be amused. He was right. They roared with laughter as she smiled across the despatch box at the leader of the opposition.
‘And to that end, my lords, I shall continue to fight overweening bureaucracy, the fear of innovation, and overpaid and overrated special advisors who have never wielded a scalpel or emptied a bedpan.’
The House roared its approval.
‘But just as important,’ said Emma, lowering her voice, ‘I will never forget the sage words of my grandfather, Lord Harvey, when as a young child I had the temerity to ask him, “What’s the point of the House of Lords?” “To serve,” he replied, “and keep those knaves in the Commons in check.”’
This statement brought cheers from both sides of the House.
‘So let me assure your lordships,’ Emma concluded, ‘that will always be my mantra whenever I take a decision on behalf of the government I serve. And finally, may I thank the House for its kindness and indulgence towards a woman who is painfully aware that she is not worthy to stand at the same despatch box as her grandfather or brother.’