Whirlpool Page 5

  ‘A leader like you.’

  Roderick’s face was flushed. ‘You must realise that I can do the company, and you, a great deal of good as chairman. I want to pull Waterford Electronics out of the Dark Ages, Kirby. I can deliver bigger and faster profits than you’ve ever seen before! And I could really hurt you as chairman of a rival firm. After all,’ he said sleekly, ‘I’d not only be taking my experience and expertise with me. I’d also be taking a very intimate knowledge of Waterford Electronics’s strong and weak points.’

  Kirby watched him without responding. The flickering light from the fire was reflected in her pupils. The evening was growing cold and damp, and already the Lodge was shrouded in mist. Though normally she regarded fires as a waste, the ancient central heating of the Lodge was far from efficient, and tonight she was glad of the fire.

  Had Roderick really been approached by a rival firm? Or had it been Roderick to approach them? Or was it all a bluff, designed to force her hand?

  His mocking smile suggested that he knew exactly what sort of internal turmoil she was in.

  ‘As a matter of interest,’ she said mildly, ‘just how would I stop Sir Malcolm Denison, and half the board with him, from resigning?’

  Roderick’s lips curled in contempt as he gulped down his brandy. ‘Malcolm Denison can do as he pleases. I’m the only one capable of taking over from where Keith Waterford left off.’

  ‘That’s a big claim, Roderick,’ Kirby said thinly. ‘Sir Malcolm would certainly resign if I appointed you chairman over his head. And we can’t afford to lose him. He’s one of the finest business brains around.’

  ‘Sir Malcolm’s only concerned with lining his own nest. He hasn’t the imagination to face the coming challenge. He’s too old, Kirby.’ Roderick’s dark eyes locked with hers. ‘His day is done. Let him resign, and good riddance. Waterford Electronics is changing direction.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘If you have the guts to recognise it, yes. Kirby, if you think you’re rich now, I’ll make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams! I’ll turn Waterford Electronics into the biggest money-spinner in the North! We’ll get rid of all those grants and subsidies we currently make. They’re nothing more than a waste of company profits. Just step down. Give me full power, as acting chairman, to take executive decisions. The company charter makes allowance for exactly that situation. I’ve checked it very thoroughly, I can assure you!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Roderick,’ she said.

  ‘Are you refusing?’

  ‘Yes.’ She saw his eyes change to dark pools of anger.

  ‘Keith left those shares to me because he thought I would look after the company he built from nothing―not so that I could hand it over to the first challenger who thought it was up for grabs.’

  ‘Now listen, Kirby—’

  ‘You’ve been an excellent chief manager, but you’re not in line to be chairman of my husband’s company. You must accept that, now and for ever.’

  He was silent for a moment, breathing heavily through his nose, his lips tightly compressed. ‘I admire you, Kirby. I really do. But you haven’t heard my full offer yet.’ He put his glass down on the mantel, and came towards her with an odd expression on his face. Kirby took an instinctive step backwards as he reached to grasp her arms. His fingers bit into her elbows, immobilising her. ‘You’ve been a widow long enough, bonny lass. Half a year is plenty. It’s time you thought about marrying again. Someone to take Keith’s place. Someone strong and mature, someone who’ll look after your interests in Waterford Electronics―'

  ‘You?’ she gasped, brown eyes widening in astonishment.

  ‘Has it really never occurred to you before now?’

  ‘Of course not, Roderick,’ she said shakily.

  His fingers tightened as his eyes burned into hers. ‘I want you, Kirby. In my bed.’

  She felt sick. ‘You must be insane to even think—’

  ‘I know you don’t love me.’ He grinned mirthlessly. ‘But then, you didn’t love Keith Waterford either, did you?’

  ‘That’s a despicable thing to say!’ she gasped, paling.

  ‘But a true one. You were too infatuated with that brilliant cousin of yours to love anyone but him.’ She was struggling so fiercely that he was forced to let her go. ‘Oh, I know I’m no Adonis, like Damian Holt. And I’m not a gentleman, like Keith was. But I’m man enough to run Waterford Electronics the way it should be run. And man enough to keep you satisfied in bed, I might add. Whatever the differences that led to my divorce with Susan, there was none of that sort of trouble. Now—’

  ‘Don’t say any more, please.’ Her voice was trembling.

  She made an effort to restrain herself from showing her feelings of repulsion-she really did not want to hurt this man’s feelings, whatever he was. ‘Thank you for your proposal, unexpected as it was. But I’m not ready to remarry, and I doubt whether I ever will be.’ He made as if to argue, and she clenched her teeth. ‘That’s my last word, Roderick,’ she said tightly.

  ‘No, it’s not,’ he smiled smugly. ‘Think about everything I’ve said, and consider the consequences. I think you’ll find it an unmatchable offer. In the meantime, I think I’ll take some leave I’ve got due.’

  ‘Leave?’ she echoed in confusion.

  ‘I won’t be in to the factory again, lass. Not unless it’s as chairman.’

  ‘You mean―you’re tendering your resignation?’

  ‘Let’s just call it leave,’ he grinned. ‘For the time being, anyway.’

  ‘You can’t do that,’ Kirby said quietly. ‘Your contract binds you to giving at least six weeks’ notice of resignation.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ He looked amused. ‘Slap my wrist?’

  Kirby followed him to the door on shaky legs, feeling sense of impending dread in her heart.

  Roderick swung back on her at the front door. ‘Sleep on it, Kirby. You’ll see how right I am.’ He kissed her cheek, and Kirby watched him get into his Rover.

  When the tail-lights were out of sight in the heavy mist, Kirby went back into the house, and picked up the telephone to call Sir Malcolm Denison.

  There had been fifteen years between Kirby’s late husband and Sir Malcolm, an age difference which hadn’t interfered with their close friendship. At fifty-seven, Sir Malcolm Denison was beginning to take on the distinguished air of an elder statesman. Knighted a few years ago for his work with an ailing wing of a now de-nationalised industry, he wore his title and his years with a pompous manner which rather suited him.

  He had his finger in a .great many pies these days, though few as profitable as the WEC pie. He was the second largest shareholder in Waterford Electronics, after Kirby herself. Roderick was the third largest.

  Between the three of them they dominated the board. But Kirby’s position was anomalous. She didn’t have enough shares on her own to impose her will on the firm without serious problems. She could only do that with support from either one of the other two-and preferably with the support of both.

  So far, the alliance had held, though she’d been aware of its increasing fragility.

  And though her husband had liked both men, for different reasons, he had fully trusted neither. And it was the memory of Keith’s distrust, more than any other factor, that had stopped Kirby from letting either man grasp at the chairmanship, even though she would have liked nothing better than to resign, and let someone else take on the responsibility.

  She told Malcolm what had happened with Roderick Braithwaite. She didn’t tell Malcolm about Roderick’s crude proposal of marriage. But she passed on his ultimatum about resigning.

  ‘He’s going to be a great loss to Waterford Electronics,’ Sir Malcolm sighed portentously. ‘This is a serious blow. Braithwaite was a bully-boy, but definitely a great asset to the company. I don’t know how we’ll replace him. This has been a bad miscalculation, Kirby.’

  She stiffened. ‘I’m not sure I understand the word “miscalculation” .’


  ‘Perhaps I should have said a set-back. Quite apart from anything else, Braithwaite is going to hand the opposition a disastrous amount of insider knowledge about Waterford Electronics and its doings. A great pity. Perhaps if the situation had been handled differently…’

  ‘Differently? He gave me an ultimatum, Malcolm. The chairmanship, on a plate, or he would resign.’

  ‘Of course, I’m not criticising you in the slightest. I’m sure you did the best you could. But possibly if Braithwaite had been dealing with someone a little more experienced, this dilemma might have been avoided…’

  Kirby smiled tightly without interrupting as Sir Malcolm went on. She’d anticipated that, with Roderick gone, Sir Malcolm would start his own bid for the chairmanship by and by, but she hadn’t expected him to get his attack into gear quite so quickly!

  ‘Controlling men like Braithwaite takes a firm hand,’ he was saying. ‘Come to that, controlling most men in business takes a firm hand. One needs a great deal of character, experience and tact. It takes considerable skills, really, to make a good chairman.’

  ‘Yes. So Roderick Braithwaite was telling me,’ Kirby said calmly.

  Sir Malcolm cleared his throat. ‘Of course, the idea of a man like Braithwaite chairing the board at Waterford Electronics is preposterous.’

  ‘Exactly what I told him.’

  ‘But, in general terms, a strong leadership would be the best thing for the company. We need to make changes, substantial changes, to the way things are run.’

  ‘Do we?’

  ‘Yes. We could make Waterford Electronics a great deal more profitable than it is, Kirby. Of course, I mean that with no disrespect to Keith’s memory. In fact, the person who chairs the board needs to be someone who was close to Keith Waterford. Someone who understood his ideals. Someone who has the best interests of the company, and indeed the whole Waterford family, at heart.’

  ‘Quite. Which was why,’ she said succinctly, ‘Keith left the biggest share of the stock to me.’

  Sir Malcolm was evidently taken aback. ‘Well, that of course was Keith’s intention for the interim. Until a more―ah, permanent solution could be found.’

  ‘I have no intention of standing down in the immediate future.’

  ‘Not for Braithwaite, you mean.’

  ‘Not for anyone,’ she said firmly.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll want to reconsider that stance soon, Kirby. After all, you must want to get back to your own life. To have wealth without having to administer it is a very rare privilege. You don’t want to spend the next twenty years worrying about Waterford Electronics, do you?’

  Kirby’s heart sank heavily. Sir Malcolm, too, was manoeuvring her into a corner.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘we’ll need to discuss this at a full board meeting, very soon. Shall I call one for Friday next week?’

  ‘Yes,’ Kirby said heavily, ‘I suppose you’d better.’

  ‘We’re going to miss Braithwaite,’ he told her heavily. ‘Miss him badly.’

  Ironically, Kirby noted the fake regret in Sir Malcolm’s voice. No doubt Sir Malcolm was feeling intense delight that his biggest rival within Waterford Electronics was apparently going, that no direct blame for Roderick’s resignation could attach to the name of Sir Malcolm Denison, and that he himself had not had to deal with Roderick.

  ‘Hypocrite’ was the word that rose in Kirby’s mind.

  Far from backing her up, or showing any gratification that Kirby had defended his position against Roderick Braithwaite, Malcolm, she knew, was going to use this incident against her. Possibly even to further attack her standing with the remainder of the board.

  But that, she knew by now, was the nature of the game.

  It was so difficult, there was so much she did not understand, and felt she would never understand. The past ten months had been a terrible strain for her.

  Damian had called it a crushing burden, and, as usual, his choice of words had been deadly accurate.

  Just getting a grasp of how Waterford Electronics was run, and understanding the implications of the decisions that constantly had to be taken, had been crushing.

  And now this. She was under no illusions about Sir Malcolm Denison. Not any more. Friday after next was going to be a watershed, a meeting at which Malcolm was going to press hard, very hard, to be given the chairmanship.

  Her standing with the rest of the board was going to be very shaky in the wake of Roderick Braithwaite’s resignation, and she was going to find it very hard to fight off a concerted attack.

  She had until Friday after next to find a way of doing so.

  Later, as she ate sparingly in the kitchen, alone as always, there was a tap at the door, and she turned tiredly to face Mrs Carstairs. ‘A call for you, Mrs Waterford.’

  ‘Who is it from?’

  ‘Mr Damian Holt, ma’am.’ She saw Kirby put down her knife and fork and close her eyes in misery, and added sympathetically, ‘Shall I tell him you’ll call back?’

  ‘No,’ Kirby said with an effort, ‘I’ll speak to him.’

  She went into the drawingroom and picked up the telephone, her throat tight. ‘Kirby Waterford speaking.’

  ‘Hello, Kirby,’ came the deep-timbred tones down the line. ‘Everything all right?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said in a brittle voice. ‘Why?’

  ‘You sounded a bit rattled,’ Damian commented.

  ‘I’m perfectly all right. What is this call about, Damian?’

  ‘I’m having lunch at L’Escargot tomorrow. Would you like to join me? We haven’t really had a chance to talk about old times yet.’

  It was typical of him to choose the most expensive restaurant in the area, but there was an underlying significance to L’Escargot, in that it had been the place he’d used to take her, in the old days, when they’d had something really special to celebrate. The very name brought back tingling memories.

  ‘I doubt whether Wendy would be very interested in our old times, Damian,’ she replied stiffly.

  ‘Wendy won’t be coming. She went back to London this morning, for a week.’

  ‘I see. While the cat’s away… is that it?’

  He laughed softly. ‘Exactly. See you tomorrow, then?’

  Her anger flared up.

  ‘No, Damian,’ she said sharply, ‘I do not want to have lunch with you tomorrow. Not even if you have just sent your fiancee back to her daddy in London. In case you haven’t got the message, I don’t want to see you again anywhere or any time!’

  ‘Kirby-‘

  ‘Whatever we had to say to each other,’ she went on passionately, cutting him off, ‘was all said six years ago. Kindly remember that.’

  She was shaking with emotion, but when Damian’s voice came back on the line, it was as calm as though her outburst just hadn’t happened. ‘I’ll be there at one-thirty. Come if you change your mind.’

  The line clicked dead in her ear.

  Damn him to hell. She felt like bursting into tears, but now was not the time to give in to foolish feminine weakness. She took another couple of deep breaths to steady herself, then walked to the window, and stared out into the night. In her mind she was hearing again those softly spoken words on the hillside. Whatever happens, you’ll always be something to me.

  Now was the time to turn to him for help. He had offered, hadn’t he? Why let stupid pride stop her from accepting? Because of the way he hurt me, something inside her replied. Humiliated me. Scarred me.

  Her eyes lost their focus. Her eighteenth birthday. The day Damian had chosen to let her know how things really stood between them.

  There had been a party. It was not a happy occasion. It had been one fraught with pain and tension because of what had been happening between her and Damian lately. Over the past few months, Kirby had been making her feelings about him abundantly clear. She loved Damian with every fibre of her being, and she had not tried to hide her adoration from him.

  Yet it was as though the mor
e she showed him her love, the more he replied with cruelty and indifference.

  As though he was deliberately trying to wound her in the most agonisingly sensitive area of her feelings. He rebuffed her constantly, and not just when they were alone; at the office, in front of others, he had delivered stinging snubs that had left her with swimming eyes and a bleeding heart.