A Dangerous Fortune - Ken Follett [133]
“No doubt I am. But something is worrying you, I can tell.”
“Dear Mrs. Pilaster, as perceptive as always. Why do I ever imagine I can hide anything from you?” He released her hand and took his tea. “Yes, I’m a little tense about the Santamaria railroad.”
“I thought the partners had agreed to that.”
“They have, but these things take so long to organize.”
“The financial world moves slowly.”
“I understand that, but my family doesn’t. Papa sends me cables weekly. I curse the day the telegraph reached Santamaria.”
Edward came in bursting with news. “Antonio Silva’s back!” he said before he had closed the door behind him.
Augusta paled. “How do you know?”
“Hugh saw him.”
“That’s a blow,” she said, and Micky was surprised to see that her hand was shaking as she put down her cup and saucer.
“And David Middleton is still asking questions,” said Micky, recalling Middleton’s conversation with Hugh at the duchess of Tenbigh’s ball. Micky was pretending to be worried, but in truth he was not altogether displeased. He liked to have Edward and Augusta reminded, from time to time, of the guilty secret they all shared.
“It’s not just that,” Edward said. “Antonio’s trying to sabotage the Santamaria railroad bond issue.”
Micky frowned. Tonio’s family had opposed the railway scheme back home in Cordova, but they had been overruled by President Garcia. What could Tonio possibly do here in London?
The same question occurred to Augusta. “How can he do anything?”
Edward handed his mother a sheaf of papers. “Read that.”
Micky said: “What is it?”
“An article Tonio plans to publish in The Times about your family’s nitrate mines.”
Augusta skimmed the pages rapidly. “He claims that life as a nitrate miner is unpleasant and dangerous,” she said derisively. “Who ever supposed it was a garden party?”
Edward said: “He also reports that women are flogged and children shot for disobedience.”
She said: “But what has this to do with your bond issue?”
“The railway is to carry nitrate to the capital. Investors don’t like anything controversial. Many of them will already be wary of a South American bond. Something like this could scare them off completely.”
Micky was shaken. This sounded like very bad news. He asked Edward: “What does your father say about all this?”
“We’re trying to get another bank to come in with us on the deal, but basically we’re going to let Tonio publish and see what happens. If the publicity causes a crash in South American stocks we’ll have to abandon the Santamaria railroad.”
Damn Tonio to hell. He was clever—and Papa was a fool, to run his mines like slave camps and then expect to raise money in the civilized world.
But what was to be done? Micky racked his brains. Tonio had to be silenced, but he would not be persuaded or bribed. A chill descended over Micky’s heart as he realized he would have to use cruder, riskier methods.
He pretended to be calm. “May I see the article, please?”
Augusta handed it to him.
The first thing he noticed was the hotel address at the top of the paper. Putting on an air of insouciance that he did not feel, he said: “Why, this is no problem at all.”
Edward protested: “But you haven’t read it yet!”
“I don’t need to. I’ve seen the address.”
“So what?”
“Now that we know where to find him, we can deal with him,” Micky said. “Leave it to me.”
CHAPTER THREE
MAY
1
SOLLY LOVED TO WATCH Maisie getting dressed.
Each evening she would put on her dressing jacket and summon her maids to pin her hair up and thread it with flowers or feathers or beads; then she would dismiss the servants and wait for her husband.
Tonight they were going out, which they did most evenings. The only time they stayed in, during the London