Changeling

“I tell you it is only a matter of time. I am almost there, and she’ll be ready to defy you. Think again.”

“I tell you I will not have it.”

“Isn’t it her decision?”

“I am her guardian. I will forbid it. I have no doubt you have been a charming suitor and in the event of failing with her you have your eyes on Belinda. You’d have to wait a long time for that one. But get this out of your mind. You are not getting a foothold in this family. I know too much about you and now you are indulging in attempted blackmail, I tell you it is the end.”

“You can’t do it, Lansdon. Just think what it means. It put an end to your grandfather’s political ambitions. Can’t you learn from him? This Devil’s Crown affair. It’s damning.”

“How … how did you …?”

“How did I discover? Never mind, I did. Think again. You’d better be careful. You’ll be better off as my stepfather-in-law, you know, than if certain things came out into the open.”

“Get out of this house.”

“Do you think you can push me out like this? What of my contracts?”

“It will be arranged through lawyers.”

“Don’t think I shall go meekly.”

“I don’t care how you go as long as you go.”

“It’s not the end of this, Benedict Lansdon.”

“It’s the end of our association, Oliver Gerson.”

I knew the door was about to open and I sped upstairs. I stood on the landing above looking down. I saw Oliver Gerson stride down the stairs.

I still stood there in a dazed fashion. Benedict came up the stairs and saw me.

“Rebecca!” he said, and I realized at once that he knew I had overheard at least something of what had been said.

“You were listening.”

I could not deny it.

“Come into my study,” he said. “It is time we talked.”

I followed him in. He shut the door and stood looking at me for a few seconds.

Then he said: “Sit down. How much did you hear?”

“I heard him threatening you, demanding a partnership … and then something about marrying me.”

He said: “How could you marry a man like that! Did you imagine yourself in love with him?”

I flushed. “No. I certainly did not.”

“Thank God for that. I couldn’t make up my mind. You were with him a great deal. All those rides with the children … all that gallantry.”

“You … noticed that?”

“Of course I did.”

“I’m surprised. I thought you were quite oblivious of our existence.”

“Belinda is my daughter. You are my stepdaughter. You were left in my charge. Of course I am aware of you. I blame myself for allowing him to come here.”

“I gather he is a close associate of yours. It was natural that he should come here.”

“I guessed what he was after when he paid so much attention to you.”

“He wanted a partnership in your business, I gather, and he thought if he married me it would help him to get it.”

“That is so.”

“He did ask me to marry him some time ago. I declined.”

“He is so sure of himself that he thought in time you would change your mind.”

“He made an error of judgment.”

“I am glad of that. He has a certain superficial charm. I should have seen through him before. When I told him I would never allow him to marry you, I think he lost his head. He saw his careful plans coming to nothing … and then he tried to blackmail me. You heard it. You might as well understand the position clearly … particularly as you are concerned.”

“I am a little shocked. I don’t know what to think.”

“You couldn’t see the motive behind all the gallantry.”

“What surprises me most is that you were aware of it.”

“Do you think I am blind?”

“To your family … yes. I know you are very astute in other matters.”

“Your welfare has always been my concern. You were left in my care by …” He faltered a little. “By your mother. I looked upon it as a trust. I know that you resented me right from the moment we were married. I tried to understand it. She explained it to me. She said that because you had no father you and she had been particularly close. You didn’t want change. We never got together, did we? And then … she died.”

He turned away and I said: “I know. I lost her too.”

“She was … everything I wanted …”

I nodded.

“There has been animosity between us … It was not my wish …”

“I see that now.”

And I was seeing a completely different person. He was vulnerable as I had never thought of him before. He might be the stern ruthless man but he had his weaknesses … and he had loved my mother and needed her … he needed her now.

I was sad and lonely. I had lost her, as he had, and then I had thought I could have a happy life with Pedrek, and now I had lost him, too.

He said: “We should try to help each other, you and I … instead of which …” He was silent for a short while and then went on: “There was only ever one trouble between your mother and me. It was these clubs. She hated it when I inherited them from my grandfather. She wanted me to get rid of them. I should have listened to her. It was the only time there was contention between us. She knew my grandfather. He was an adventurer. Everyone said I was like him. But I think there is a difference. I should have listened to her. I should have got rid of them long ago.”