“Hi Ginny, it’s Buck Trend.”
Virginia disliked being addressed as Ginny—so common. But when the person who does so also sends you a check for $7,500 every month, you learn to grin and bear it.
“I’m phoning to warn you,” continued Buck, “that our esteemed governor of Louisiana, the Honorable Hayden Rankin, is planning a visit to London in July. And, according to my sources, he has an appointment to see your ex-husband, Lord Barrington.”
“What could those two possibly have in common?” said Virginia.
“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.”
“Haven’t your sources come up with any ideas?”
“Only that Cyrus T. Grant III is a close friend of the governor, as well as being one of his major campaign contributors. So it might be wise if you and little Freddie were out of town when the governor crosses the Atlantic.”
“Don’t worry, Freddie will be spending his hols in Scotland, and I’ll be in the Bahamas enjoying a well-earned rest.”
“Fine. But if you do find out why the governor wants to see your ex, call me. Because I need to know if he’s trying to find a way of stopping your monthly payments, and we wouldn’t want that, would we, Ginny?”
*
They never discussed anything serious until tea and two slightly burnt crumpets had been served.
“Giles will be under considerable pressure as we get nearer to an election.”
“He visits a different constituency every week,” said Karin.
“Does he still think it’s possible for Labour to win again?”
“He assures me they can over breakfast every morning and I’d believe him if he didn’t talk in his sleep.”
The baroness laughed. “Then we’d better prepare ourselves for a spell of the grocer’s daughter.”
“Two teas and two burnt crumpets, my lady.”
“Thank you, Stanley.”
“So what’s Pengelly up to?” Her voice changed, the moment the waiter left.
“Moscow thinks Julius Kramer might be a double agent.”
“Do they indeed?” said the baroness as she dropped a third sugar lump in her tea. “And what do they intend to do about it?”
“Kramer will be instructed to pass on some highly sensitive information to me, and if he doesn’t they’ll call him back to Moscow.”
“But if he does, it means they’re not testing Kramer, but you. If he doesn’t, it means you’re in the clear, in which case his life will be in danger and we’ll need to take him out of the front line immediately. You mustn’t allow yourself to be compromised, Karin, however sensitive that piece of information might be. So once you’ve briefed me, you should pass it on to Pengelly as quickly as possible.” The baroness took a bite of her crumpet. “Did Pengelly say anything else I should know about?”
“All agents are being instructed to spread a rumor that the real reason Harold Wilson resigned as prime minister was because MI6 had discovered he was in the pay of the Russians.”
“Then it’s time he bought himself a new Gannex mac with all that extra money he must have been earning.” She took another bite, before adding, “It would be funny, except some fools might actually believe it.”
“He also asked me to tell Giles that I’d heard the rumor and see how he reacted.”
“I’ll get Sir John to brief Giles on the real reason for Harold’s resignation. Mind you, it would have helped if the PM had been willing to admit he’d got Alzheimer’s at the time.”
“Do you have anything you want me to pass on?”
“Yes, I think the time has come for your tiresome ‘father’ to be called back to East Germany. So why don’t you tell him…”
46
“MY LORD.”
“Governor.”
“Swap?”
“Well, it’s funny you should mention that,” said Giles. “While I’ve never wanted to be a governor, I’ve always fancied being a senator.”
“And if you held your equivalent post in the Senate, you’d be Majority Leader Barrington.”
“Majority Leader Barrington. I rather like the sound of that.”
“So how much would I have to raise to become Lord Rankin of Louisiana?”
“Not a penny. It would be a political appointment, made on my recommendation to the prime minister.”
“No money involved and you didn’t even need to be elected.”
“Certainly not.”
“And Britain still doesn’t have a constitution or a bill of rights?”
“What a dreadful idea,” said Giles. “No, we work on legal precedent.”
“And even your head of state isn’t elected!”
“Of course not, she’s a hereditary monarch, appointed by the Almighty.”
“And you have the nerve to claim you’re a democracy.”
“Yes, we do. And just think how much money we save, and you waste, by electing everyone from dog catcher to president, just to prove how democratic you are.”
“You’re trying to get off the hook, Giles.”
“All right, then tell me how much you had to raise before you could even consider running for governor?”