A Dangerous Fortune(135)
“I’ll be glad to,” Bertie said. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t go swimming in Bishop’s Wood.” Maisie frowned at him, and he said: “Sorry. Bad joke.”
“They still talk about that, do they?” Hugh said.
“Every year the head tells the story of how Peter Middleton drowned, to try and frighten chaps. But they still go swimming.”
After tea they said good-bye to Bertie, Maisie feeling tearful as always about leaving her little boy behind, even though he was now taller than she. They walked back into the town and took the train to London. They had a first-class compartment to themselves.
As they watched the scenery flash by, Hugh said: “Edward is going to be Senior Partner at the bank.”
Maisie was startled. “I didn’t think he had the brains!”
“He hasn’t. I shall resign at the end of the year.”
“Oh, Hugh!” Maisie knew how much he cared for that bank. All his hopes were tied up in it. “What will you do?”
“I don’t know. I’m staying on until the end of the financial year, so I’ve got time to think about it.”
“Won’t the bank go to ruin under Edward?”
“I’m afraid it may.”
Maisie felt very sad for Hugh. He had had more bad luck than he deserved, while Edward had far too much good. “Edward is Lord Whitehaven, too. Do you realize that if the title had gone to Ben Greenbourne, as it should have, Bertie would be in line to inherit it now?”
“Yes.”
“But Augusta put a stop to all that.”
“Augusta?” said Hugh with a puzzled frown.
“Yes. She was behind all that rubbish in the newspapers about ‘Can a Jew be a peer?’ Do you remember?”
“I do, but how can you be so sure that Augusta was behind it?”
“The Prince of Wales told us.”
“Well, well.” Hugh shook his head. “Augusta never ceases to amaze me.”
“Anyway, poor Emily is Lady Whitehaven now.”
“At least she got something out of that wretched marriage.”
“I’m going to tell you a secret,” Maisie said. She lowered her voice even though there was no one within earshot. “Emily is about to ask Edward for an annulment.”
“Good for her! On the grounds of nonconsummation, I presume?”
“Yes. You don’t seem surprised.”
“You can tell. They never touch. They’re so awkward with each other, it’s hard to believe they’re man and wife.”
“She’s been leading a false life all these years and she’s decided to put an end to it.”
“She’ll have trouble with my family,” Hugh said.
“With Augusta, you mean.” That had been Maisie’s reaction too. “Emily knows that. But she’s got a streak of obstinacy that should serve her well.”
“Does she have a lover?”
“Yes. But she won’t become his mistress. I can’t think why she should be so scrupulous. Edward spends every night in a brothel.”
Hugh smiled at her, a sad, loving smile. “You were scrupulous, once.”
Maisie knew he was talking about the night at Kingsbridge Manor when she had locked her bedroom door against him. “I was married to a good man and you and I were about to betray him. Emily’s situation is quite different.”
Hugh nodded. “All the same I think I understand how she feels. It’s the lying that makes adultery shameful.”
Maisie disagreed. “People should grab happiness where they can. You only have one life.”
“But when you grab happiness you may let go of something even more valuable—your integrity.”
“Too abstract for me,” Maisie said dismissively.
“No doubt it was for me, that night at Kingo’s house, when I would have betrayed Solly’s trust willingly, if you had let me. But it’s become more concrete to me over the years. Now I think I value integrity more than anything else.”
“But what is it?”
“It means telling the truth, keeping promises, and taking responsibility for your mistakes. It’s the same in business as it is in everyday life. It’s a matter of being what you claim to be, doing what you say you’ll do. And a banker of all people can’t be a liar. After all, if his wife can’t trust him, who can?”
Maisie was getting angry with Hugh and she wondered why. She sat back in silence for a while, looking out of the window at the London suburbs in the dusk. Now that he was leaving the bank, what was there left in his life? He did not love his wife and his wife did not love their children. Why should he not find happiness in the arms of Maisie, the woman he had always loved?
At Paddington Station he escorted her to the cab stand and helped her into a hansom. As they said goodbye she held his hands and said: “Come home with me.”
He looked sad and shook his head.
“We love each other—we always have,” she pleaded. “Come with me, and to hell with the consequences.”
“But life is consequences, isn’t it?”
“Hugh! Please!”
He withdrew his hands and stepped back. “Goodbye, dear Maisie.”
She stared at him helplessly. Years of suppressed yearning caught up with her. If she had been strong enough she would have seized him and dragged him into the cab by force. She felt maddened by frustration.