For a moment Emily thought she had misheard. She was so surprised she was speechless. She gaped at her grandmother, and then finally managed to ask, ‘Are you serious?’
‘Really, Emily, that’s a stupid question. Do you honestly think I would joke about my business?’
‘No, Grandy.’ Emily bit her lip, trying to digest her grandmother’s words. The General Retail Trading Company, known within the family as Genret, was one of Harte Enterprises’ most important assets, and an enormous money-maker. As the implications behind her grandmother’s announcement began to sink in, she was assaulted by a mixture of emotions: she was flattered, overwhelmed, worried and scared all at once. But these feelings were almost instantaneously overshadowed by genuine bafflement.
Sitting forward with a jerk, she asked in a puzzled voice, ‘But why do you suddenly need me? You have Leonard Harvey. He’s been running Genret for years, and brilliantly. Or so you’ve always said.’
‘And I meant what I said.’ Emma picked up her drink, took a sip, sat nursing it in her hands. ‘However, Len reminded me several weeks ago that he will be retiring in three years. I’d hoped he would stay on, but he insists on going when it’s time. He wants a chance to enjoy life, do a few of the things he’s always wanted to do, like take a trip around the world, for one thing.’ Emma laughed softly. ‘I can certainly understand his point of view. That man’s worked for me for over thirty-five years, and I don’t remember him ever taking a day off, except for his annual summer holidays in August. Naturally, I’d no option but to agree, albeit reluctantly.’
Emma put down her drink, rose, and went to stand with her back to the fireplace. She stared down at Emily, and continued matter-of-factly: ‘Len brought up his retirement because he thought it was high time I started to think about his successor. It occurred to me at once that here was the perfect opening for you. I’ve been racking my brains for months, wondering how to get you situated within Harte Enterprises, in a division you would enjoy. I believe I’ve found it, Emily, and I’m also convinced Genret could well use your special talents.’
Emily said nothing. She, who had an opinion about everything which she usually had no qualms expressing, was now oddly at a loss for words.
Emma stood waiting, giving Emily a chance to catch her breath and marshal her thoughts. She understood perfectly the girl’s unprecedented reticence. She had just dropped a bombshell on her. But as the silence grew, Emma, always in a hurry to settle matters and move on, announced peremptorily, ‘I need you to start working at Genret immediately. Len wants to begin his training programme at once. Three years may seem like a long time to you, but it isn’t really. Genret is a large company, and you will have a great deal to absorb and understand. So, what do you say?’
Still Emily was mute, and Emma threw her a sharper look. Then she scowled at her. ‘Come along, dear, you must have some comment to make. I can’t believe that the cat’s got your tongue permanently.’
Pulling herself together, Emily gave her grandmother an uncertain smile. ‘Are you sure? Really sure about me going into Genret?’
‘I wouldn’t have suggested it, if I’d had any doubts,’ Emma retorted crossly.
‘But what about the group at Genret?’ Emily asked quickly. ‘I mean, will they sit still for it? For me?’
‘I am Genret, Emily. Or had you forgotten that?’
‘No, no, of course I hadn’t, Grandmother. What I meant was, will Len and the top management team accept me? I know you can appoint anybody you want, since it’s your company, but surely Len must have a protégé, somebody he would like to follow in his footsteps, who knows the inner workings of Genret.’
‘He doesn’t. Furthermore, he thinks you’re the ideal choice. And he’s not just pandering to me. Len’s too shrewd and outspoken to fall into that trap. And, whilst he realizes I would like a member of the family inside Genret once he goes, he would tell me point blank if there was no suitable candidate. He would insist we look outside the family. It just so happens that he thinks you’re ideally suited to head up a wholesale supply company. For several reasons, all of them excellent. Your experience with the stores, your considerable knowledge of retailing, not to mention merchandise, plus your natural business abilities. That you also happen to be my granddaughter is simply fortuitous. It didn’t influence him one iota, I can assure you of that. Besides, you’re a quick study, Emily, and you’ve learned a lot in the last five years.’
‘I’m glad to have Len’s vote of confidence, as well as yours, Grandy.’ Emily started to relax, and as her depression also began to lift, she discovered she was excited about the sudden turn of events. She asked, ‘And Alexander? Have you discussed it with him?’
‘Naturally. He thinks you’ll be marvellous.’
‘What does Paula say?’
‘She’s delighted too. She’s going to miss you at the stores, but she recognizes the good sense behind my plans for you.’
‘Then it’s settled!’ Emily beamed, and allowed her natural enthusiasm to surface. ‘Genret is a big responsibility, but now that I’ve recovered from my initial surprise, I’m looking forward to it, I really am. I’ll try very hard, and I’ll do my best not to let you down.’
‘I know you will, dear.’ Emma returned her smile, delighted to finally witness Emily’s eagerness and her excitement. Not that she had had any doubts about her offer being accepted. Emily was far too clever to thwart her, or to pass up the opportunity to head a division. Besides, Emily loved a challenge. This last thought prompted Emma to add, ‘I’m quite certain you’ll enjoy this new venture as much as you did your sojourn in Paris last year. It’s going to be equally as challenging, and ultimately very rewarding.’
‘Yes, I know it will be.’ With a sudden flush of embarrassment, Emily recalled her outburst of earlier. Looking extremely shame-faced, she apologized, ‘I’m sorry I behaved in such a childish way, when you said I couldn’t go back to Paris, Grandy. It was ridiculous of me to act like that.’
‘I understand. You were disappointed. In any case, you’ll be going to Paris quite a lot for Genret, and travelling all over the world on your buying trips. That’s certainly something to look forward to, Emily.’
‘Oh it is, Grandy. And thank you for your faith in me, and for this wonderful opportunity.’ Emily jumped up and hugged Emma tightly. With a happy little laugh, she said, ‘Oh Grandy, you’re such an inspiration! You make everything seem possible – and attainable. And exciting as well. Do you know what? I feel like rushing down to the Genret offices in Leeds right now, and getting stuck into the work with Len immediately.’
‘Len and Genret have managed to exist without you until now, Emily, so I think they’ll survive for another few days,’ Emma replied, her mouth twitching with hidden laughter. ‘In the meantime, I have a much better idea. I think you should come downstairs with me, and have lunch instead. I don’t know about you, but I’m famished.’
CHAPTER 5
Emma sat at the table in her splendidly-appointed Adam dining room, sipping a cup of coffee after lunch, smiling and nodding occasionally, enjoying Emily’s natural joie de vivre and bubbling enthusiasm for everything. Earlier, when they had been eating, Emily had bombarded her with questions about Genret. Each one had been probing and not without a certain shrewdness, and this had pleased Emma.
Now, the twenty-two-year-old was entertaining her with titbits of gossip about the family, and, as usual, Emma found her pithy comments hilarious. Robin and Kit were most often the butts of her barbed wit, and she had already managed to get in a few sharp digs about her uncles.
But here her sarcasm stopped, for she never made astringent or unkind remarks about anyone else. Although Emily tended to be something of a chatterbox, she was not malicious, nor was she a talebearer intent on stirring up trouble. In point of fact, she was anything but this, and Emma was well aware that her granddaughter’s predilection for chattering was harmless enough, especially since she knew herself to be the girl’s only confidante. T
o Emma’s considerable relief, Emily was not only discreet but extremely close-mouthed with everyone else in the family, and even Paula and Alexander, with whom she was on very intimate terms, were no exceptions to this rule.
Unexpectedly, Emily veered away from her discourse on the family, and launched into glowing descriptions of the outfits she had chosen for the fifteen-year-old twins to wear the next day. Recently Emily had elected to play a motherly big-sister role with Amanda and Francesca, and Emma had assigned to her the task of selecting their clothes and looking after similar details.
But it was not very long before Emma found her attention straying, her mind forever preoccupied with business, and specifically Paula’s meeting with the Crosses. She could not help speculating on the outcome, wondering how Paula had fared. If the negotiations had gone well she was facing a fair amount of work. Not that this troubled Emma unduly. She had always thrived on honest-to-goodness toil, and still did, and Paula had laid out foolproof plans for the takeover.
Emma and Paula wanted Aire Communications for its three most important assets: its magazine division, its local radio stations, its huge, modern building on the Headrow. Following Paula’s advice, she fully intended to make Aire Communications a subsidiary of the Yorkshire Consolidated Newspaper Company. Once she had relocated the entire staff of Aire in the offices of the Yorkshire Morning Gazette, her newspaper headquartered in Leeds, she would sell the Aire Communications building. This would enable her to cut down on Aire’s staggering overheads, and at the same time she would cleverly recoup part of the purchase price, possibly a good half of her two-million-pound investment. Yes, that building’s worth at least a million, Emma reflected, whatever Jonathan says to the contrary. She would have to have a little talk with her grandson tomorrow, a very serious talk. He was dragging his feet with his second evaluation of Aire’s prime bit of real estate. She had asked him for it days ago and he had not yet responded. Once again she wondered why, and her mouth tightened.
‘Grandy, you’re not listening to me!’ Emily shook her arm impatiently.
‘Oh sorry, dear. You were saying you’d chosen navy-blue dresses and coats for the twins. I’m sure they’re very smart, you have such good –’
‘Goodness, Gran, that was five minutes ago,’ Emily interjected. ‘I was already on to another subject. Aunt Edwina to be precise.’
‘Now why on earth is she suddenly so interesting to you?’
‘She’s not really. I think she’s an old sourpuss and a crashing bore,’ Emily said in her typical blunt fashion. ‘However, I’m positive we’re going to be in for a rocky ride with her this weekend. I bet she’s going to give us all an earful.’
‘What about?’ Emma asked, sounding slightly baffled.
‘The divorce,’ Emily said succinctly.
This reply brought Emma upright in her chair, and she stared hard at Emily. ‘So, you’ve heard about that, have you?’ Surprise immediately gave way to humour, and Emma chuckled and shook her head. ‘Is there anything you don’t know about this family of ours?’
‘Not much,’ said Emily, grinning at her. ‘But I don’t pry, Gran. You know that. Everyone just tells me things automatically. It must be my sympathetic nature.’ Her grin widened. ‘And then I tell you. Never secrets, though. I don’t break a confidence. Ever.’
‘I should hope not, dear. Remember what I’ve always said…a still tongue and a wise head. Anyway, who mentioned Anthony’s divorce?’
‘Jim. He came to see me last weekend. He wanted my opinion about something, my advice really. He brought up the divorce in passing. It was Aunt Edwina who told him. Apparently she’s terribly upset…scandal touching the sacred name of the Dunvales and all that silly nonsense. As if anybody cares about divorce these days. But she’ll harp on about it for the next few days, you mark my words.’
‘I doubt it, since Anthony will be here himself. In fact, he’s already here.’
‘In this house?’ It was Emily’s turn to be astonished.
‘No. He’s staying with your Uncle Randolph up at Middleham. Actually, he’s going to be there for the next week.’ A wicked gleam entered Emma’s eyes, and she could not resist teasing, ‘Obviously there are some things you don’t know, Emily. Our young earl is staying with the Hartes because he’s courting Sally. Very seriously courting her.’ Emma was unable to hold back a laugh as she observed the expression on Emily’s face.
Emily was so dumbfounded by this piece of news her jaw had dropped. But it took less than a second for her to recover, and she retorted, ‘And I bet Aunt Edwina doesn’t know either! Otherwise she would have scuttled that relationship ages ago. And she’ll still try.’
‘She can do nothing,’ Emma snapped, her face hardening. ‘Anthony is not only of age, he’s thirty-three. He doesn’t have to answer to his mother, or anyone else for that matter, and I told him so last night. He has my blessing. Frankly, I’m glad he’s going to marry Sally. She’s a fine girl and quite lovely, and it’s a perfect match in my opinion.’
‘I second that, about Sally being a lovely person. But then I’m prejudiced. So are you – even more so, because she looks so much like your mother. And Edwina’s going to be prejudiced too, in the other direction.’ Emily stopped, thinking of her aunt’s reaction, which would be violent, and she cried excitedly, ‘Oh my God! I can’t wait to see Aunt Edwina’s face when she finds out he’s involved with Sally Harte. She’s going to be absolutely furious, Grandma. She has such grand ideas about everything. And after all, Sally’s only a generation removed from the working class.’
‘And what do you think Edwina is?’
‘A countess,’ Emily giggled gleefully, ‘and a Fairley to boot! She’s never been the same since she discovered her father was Sir Edwin Fairley, and a KC, no less. She’s an even bigger snob now than she was before. It’s a pity you ever told her the truth about you and old Edwin, Gran.’
‘I’m inclined to agree with you.’
Emma averted her face, looked out of the window, focused her thoughts on her eldest grandchild, son of her own first-born child. Anthony Standish was the only offspring of Edwina’s marriage with the Earl of Dunvale, and as such he was her whole life. Because Emma had been estranged from Edwina for years, she had not really come to know Anthony until he was eighteen. That was in 1951, when her brother Winston had affected a reconciliation between her and her daughter. More like an armed truce, Emma said inwardly, but at least the boy and I took to each other immediately, and thankfully we have continued to be close. She was extremely fond of Anthony, who, despite his reserved nature and gentle manner, had an inner strength and a toughness of mind that Emma had recognized instantly and privately applauded. Upon his father’s death, he had inherited the latter’s title and lands in Ireland. For the most part, Anthony lived at Clonloughlin, his estate in County Cork, but whenever he had the occasion to be in England he never failed to visit her. It was on one of these trips to Yorkshire, six months ago, that he had become re-acquainted with Sally, Winston’s granddaughter, who was his cousin. According to Anthony they had fallen in love at once. ‘It was a coup de foudre, Grandmother,’ he had confided shyly last night. ‘And as soon as my divorce from Min is final I intend to marry Sally.’ Emma, delighted at this news, had indicated her pleasure, and assured him of her full support.
Shifting in the chair, Emma glanced at Emily, and said, ‘I wouldn’t worry your head about Anthony. He can take care of himself. I told him not to hide his relationship with Sally any more, from his mother, that is, and to behave naturally at the christening. We might as well get this out in the open once and for all.’
‘Edwina will make trouble, Grandma. Big, big trouble,’ Emily warned, rolling her eyes at the ceiling.
‘If she knows what’s good for her she won’t,’ Emma replied, her voice murderously soft. ‘Now, on to other things. You said Jim wanted your advice. What about?’
‘The gift he’s bought for Paula. It’s a strand of pearls, and he wasn’t sure she’d
like them. But they’re beautiful, and I told him she’d be thrilled.’
‘That’s nice.’ Emma glanced at her watch, feeling restless. ‘I’ll have another quick cup of coffee, and then I’d better go up and do a little paperwork until Paula arrives.’
‘I’ll get the coffee for you,’ Emily volunteered, taking Emma’s cup to the sideboard. Returning with it, she said, ‘I had dinner with T.B. when I was in London on Tuesday. He sends his love.’
Emma’s face softened considerably. She had always cared for Tony Barkstone, Elizabeth’s first husband and father of Emily and Alexander. They had remained good friends over the years, and she asked, with a warm smile, ‘How is he?’
‘In good form. He’s as sweet as always, and he seems happy. No, content might be a better word. Or perhaps accepting is even better. Yes, that’s it. He’s accepting.’ Emily sighed heavily.
And a little too dramatically, in Emma’s opinion. But then Emily was a romantic girl and Emma knew that she had long harboured the desire for her parents to be reunited. A most unlikely event, as far as Emma was concerned. Looking at Emily thoughtfully, Emma’s brow lifted quizzically, and she murmured, ‘Accepting is a peculiar word to use about your father’s life, isn’t it, dear?’
‘Not really. I think T.B. is accepting – of his new family. But I don’t believe my father has been really happy since he split with Mummy. To tell you the truth, Gran, I think he’s still in love with her.’ She confided this in an intense tone, giving Emma a long and knowing look.