LADY VIRGINIA FENWICK
1970
28
“I WOULD LIKE TO open this meeting,” said Adrian Sloane, “by offering my heartiest congratulations to Major Fisher on being elected as a Member of Parliament.”
“Hear, hear,” said Desmond Mellor, patting the new MP on the back.
“Thank you,” said Fisher. “May I say that I consider it an added bonus that it was Giles Barrington I defeated.”
“And if I have my way,” said Sloane, “he won’t be the only Barrington who’s about to suffer a loss. But first, I’m going to ask Desmond to tell us how his meeting with Arnold Hardcastle went.”
“Not well, to begin with, because he clearly wasn’t interested in selling his mother’s shares, even at the inflated price of three pounds nine shillings. But when I told him that my first action as the majority shareholder would be to sack Adrian and remove him from the board, his whole attitude changed.”
“He took the bait?” said Fisher.
“Of course he did,” said Sloane. “He hates me as much as you hate Emma Clifton and Giles Barrington, perhaps even more.”
“That’s not possible,” said Lady Virginia.
“But the clincher,” said Mellor, “was when I told him who I intended to appoint as chairman of Farthings in Adrian’s place.” Mellor couldn’t resist pausing for as long as he felt he could get away with, before saying, “Ross Buchanan.”
“But one phone call to Buchanan, and he’ll know…”
“You’ve forgotten, major, that Hardcastle signed a confidentiality agreement, so he won’t be phoning anyone. And I’d love to see his face when he discovers that we’re changing the name of the bank from Farthings to Sloane’s.”
“Can he still change his mind if someone makes him a better offer for the shares?” asked Lady Virginia.
“It’s too late,” said Mellor. “He’s already signed the share transfer certificates, so as long as I pay up within twenty-one days, the stock is mine.”
“And you’ll only be out of pocket for a short time,” said Sloane, “before Hakim Bishara buys the shares, giving you a handsome profit.”
“But if Bishara doesn’t pay up, we’ll all be left in the lurch,” Virginia reminded them.
“He’s been on the phone twice a day wanting updates on everything that’s going on. He even postponed a visit to Beirut for a meeting with the Lebanese president. In fact, I’m thinking of upping the price from five pounds to six, but not until the last moment.”
“Isn’t that a bit of a risk?” asked Fisher.
“Believe me, he’s so desperate to get his hands on Farthings, he’ll agree to almost anything. Let’s move on to the second part of our plan, which involves you, Lady Virginia, and the timing of your trial, which is crucial.”
“Emma Clifton will be served with pleadings next week, and my lawyers have told me they anticipate the trial will begin some time in November.”
“That couldn’t be better,” said Mellor, checking his diary, “because the next Barrington’s board meeting is in three weeks’ time, and I’ll insist that Mrs. Clifton stands down as chairman, for the good of the company, at least until the trial is over.”
“And there are no prizes for guessing who will take her place during that time,” said Sloane.
“Once I’m in the chair,” said Mellor, “I will consider it nothing less than my fiduciary duty to let the shareholders know what really happened on the first night of the Buckingham’s maiden voyage.”
“But that’s always been shrouded in mystery,” said Fisher, looking a little uneasy.
“Not for much longer it won’t be. When I first joined the board of Barrington’s, Jim Knowles hinted that all had not gone well on that voyage, but however much I pressed him he wouldn’t elaborate. Of course, I checked the minutes of the board meeting that was held on the ship later that morning, but all I could find was an apology from the captain for an explosion that took place in the early hours, which he blamed on the Home Fleet, who he claimed were carrying out night exercises in the North Atlantic. One look at the Admiralty records and you’ll quickly discover that the Home Fleet was anchored off Gibraltar at the time.”
“So what really happened?” asked Fisher. “Because I tried to get the truth out of Knowles myself, and even after a few drams he remained tight-lipped.”
“The only thing I could find out,” said Mellor, “was that he and the other board members had signed a confidentiality agreement. I thought I’d come to a dead end until last month’s board meeting when Mrs. Clifton made a rash decision without realizing its potential consequences.”
No one asked the obvious question.
“The Buckingham’s captain had reported to the board that during its latest voyage the third officer, a Mr. Jessel, was found drunk while serving on the bridge, and had been confined to his quarters for the rest of the crossing. Admiral Summers demanded that Jessel be sacked immediately without severance pay or a reference. I supported him because, like all the other board members, he’d forgotten that Jessel was the junior flag officer of the watch on the first night of the maiden voyage, and must have witnessed everything that took place.”
Fisher dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.
“It wasn’t difficult,” continued Mellor, “to track down Jessel, who is not only out of work, but admitted to being three months behind with his rent. I took him off to the local pub, and it didn’t take long to discover that he was still angry and bitter about his dismissal. He went on to claim that he knew things that would bring the company down. A few rums later and he began to elaborate on what those things were, assuming that I’d been sent to make sure he kept his mouth shut, which only made him open it even more. He told me that he saw Harry Clifton and Giles Barrington carrying a large vase of flowers up from one of the first-class cabins to the upper deck. They managed to throw it overboard just moments before it exploded. The following morning three Irishmen were arrested and the captain apologized to the passengers, giving them the Home Fleet story, whereas in truth they were only seconds away from a major disaster that could have killed heaven knows how many people and, quite literally, sunk the company without trace.”
“But why didn’t the IRA publicize what really happened?” demanded Fisher nervously.
“Jessel told me that the three Irishmen were arrested later that morning and transported back to Belfast on a Royal Navy ship before being locked up in a Belfast prison on other charges. They’ve recently been released, and one of their bail conditions is that if they say a word about the Buckingham they’ll be back in solitary the same day. And let’s face it, the IRA don’t talk a lot about their failures.”
“But if the IRA are in no position to corroborate the story, and our only witness is a drunk who was dismissed from his post, why would anyone be interested nearly six years later?” asked Fisher. “And how often,” he added, “have we read headlines claiming the IRA planned to bomb Buckingham Palace, the Bank of England, or the House of Commons?”
“I agree with you, major,” said Mellor, “but the press may take a very different attitude when, as the new chairman of Barrington’s, I decide to put the record straight just weeks before the launch of the Balmoral and the announcement of the date of its maiden voyage.”
“But the share price would collapse overnight.”
“And we’ll pick them up for almost nothing with the profit we make on the bank deal. With a new board in place and a change of name, we’ll soon get the company back to its former status.”
“A change of name?” queried Lady Virginia.
Desmond smiled. “Mellor Shipping. Adrian gets the bank, and I get a shipping company.”
“And what do I get?” said Virginia.
“Exactly what you always wanted, Virginia, the pleasure of bringing the Barrington family to their knees. And you still have a vital role to play, because timing will be everything. Another piece of information I picked up at the last board meeting was that Harry and Emma Clifton will be visiting New York next month, which as chairman she does every year. That will be the perfect time for you to let your friends in the press know what they can look forward to at the trial. It’s important that you get your side of the story over while she’s stuck in the middle of the Atlantic. So by the time Mrs. Clifton returns, she’ll have to defend herself on two fronts: the shareholders will want to know why, as chairman of a public company, she failed to let them know what really happened that night, and at the same time she’ll be having to deal with Virginia’s libel case. I predict it won’t be long before she joins her father as a footnote in the company’s history.”
“One snag,” said Virginia. “My lawyers only give me a fifty-fifty chance of winning the case.”
“By the time the trial opens,” said Sloane, “Emma Clifton will have lost whatever credibility she ever had. The jury will be on your side from the moment you enter the witness box.”
“But if I don’t win, I’ll end up with a hefty legal bill,” persisted Virginia.
“After Mrs. Clifton resigns as chairman of Barrington’s, I can’t see how you lose the case. But in that unlikely eventuality, the bank will happily cover all your costs. Pennies in the grand scheme of things.”
“That doesn’t solve the problem of Sebastian Clifton and his six percent,” chipped in Major Fisher. “Because if he gets a place on the board, he’ll know everything we…”
“I’ve got that covered,” said Sloane. “I’m going to call Clifton and suggest we meet.”
“Perhaps he’ll refuse to see you.”
“He won’t be able to resist, and when I offer him five pounds a share for his stock, giving him a hundred percent profit, he’ll roll over. From what I remember of that boy, he forgets any other commitments the moment he sees a chance to make a killing.”
“But if he were to turn down your offer,” said Fisher.
“Then it’s plan B,” said Sloane. “I don’t care either way.”
* * *
“As I explained when we first met, Lady Virginia, in my professional opinion, your chances of winning this case are no better than fifty-fifty, so perhaps it might be wise to drop the action.”
“Thank you for your advice, Sir Edward, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“So be it,” replied her silk. “But I felt it necessary to place my opinion on the record, so there can be no misunderstanding at a later date.”
“You’ve made your position abundantly clear, Sir Edward.”
“Then let’s begin by looking at the facts of the case as objectively as we can. You either did, or did not, sell, and later buy back, a large number of Barrington’s shares with the sole purpose of harming the company.”
“Why would I want to harm the company?”
“Why indeed. I should mention at this juncture that it will be the other side’s responsibility to prove that you did, and not ours to prove that you didn’t. Nevertheless, on three separate occasions, which coincided with the company having to announce bad news, you sold shares at their peak, and then ten days later when they had fallen in price you returned to the market and repurchased them. Is that a fair assessment?”
“Yes. But I only did so after taking Major Fisher’s advice.”
“I think you should avoid mentioning Major Fisher when you’re in the witness box.”
“But he’s a Member of Parliament.”
“Perhaps this is the time to remind you, Lady Virginia, that lawyers, estate agents, and MPs are only just behind tax collectors in the opinion of most jurors.”
“But why shouldn’t I mention it, when it’s the truth?”
“Because Major Fisher was a director of Barrington’s at the time you sold and repurchased the shares, and as he was your representative on the board, the jury won’t be in any doubt where you were getting your information from. With that in mind, I shall be advising you not to call Major Fisher, although it might be wise for you to alert him to the possibility of his being called by opposing counsel. If I were them, I would subpoena him.”
Virginia looked anxious for the first time.
“And then, at a later date,” continued Sir Edward, “you purchased a large holding in Barrington’s in order to take your place on the board, at a time when the company was selecting a new chairman.”
“Yes. Major Fisher was my choice to chair the board.”
“That’s something else I must advise you against mentioning in the witness box.”
“But why? I thought Major Fisher would make a better chairman.”
“Possibly, but a jury of twelve ordinary citizens selected at random may well feel you were pursuing a vendetta against Mrs. Clifton, which would suggest that your original purpose in buying and selling the shares was indeed to harm her and the company.”
“I simply wanted the best-qualified person as chairman. In any case, I still don’t think a woman is capable of doing the job.”
“Lady Virginia, try to remember that it’s likely half the jury will be women, and such an observation will not exactly endear you to them.”
“This is beginning to sound more like a beauty contest than a trial.”
“If you think along those lines, Lady Virginia, you won’t go far wrong. Now, we must also assume that the other side will call your former husband Sir Giles Barrington as a witness.”
“Why? He wasn’t involved in any way.”
“Except that all these transactions took place after your divorce, and your choice for chairman just happened to be the man who twice stood against him at general elections, which the jury may feel is one coincidence too many.”
“But even if they did call Giles, how can he possibly help their cause? He’s an ex-husband, an ex-MP, and an ex-minister. He hasn’t exactly got a lot going for him.”
“All that may well be true,” said Sir Edward, “but I have a feeling he would still impress the jury.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He has a great deal of experience as a public speaker, and the dispatch box prepares one well for the witness box. So we can’t afford to underestimate him.”
“But the man’s a loser,” said Virginia, unable to control her feelings.
“I must stress that any personal attacks on the other side will play into their hands, so please remember to remain calm when you’re giving evidence, and play to your strengths. You are the injured party, someone who doesn’t understand the ways of the City and who wouldn’t have the first idea how to bring a company down.”
“But that will make me appear weak.”
“No,” said Sir Edward firmly, “that will make you appear vulnerable, which will work in your favor when the jury see you’re up against a shrewd, tough businesswoman.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on your side, Lady Virginia, but it is my responsibility to be absolutely sure that you know what you’re up against. With that in mind, I must ask you once again, are you certain you want to go ahead with this case?”
“Yes, I most certainly am, because there’s one piece of evidence that I haven’t told you about, Sir Edward, and once it becomes public, I don’t think this case will ever get to court.”