A Dangerous Fortune - Ken Follett [48]
But what made Augusta dislike him was that of all the men in the family he was the most difficult to persuade. She could charm old Seth, who was susceptible to an attractive woman even at his advanced age; she could generally get around Joseph by wearing down his patience; George Hartshorn was under Madeleine’s thumb and so could be manipulated indirectly; and the others were young enough to be intimidated, although Hugh sometimes gave her trouble.
Nothing worked on Samuel—least of all her feminine charms. He had an infuriating way of laughing at her when she thought she was being subtle and clever. He gave the impression that she was not to be taken seriously—and that offended her mortally. She was much more wounded by Samuel’s quiet mockery than she was at being called an old bitch by a trollop in the park.
Today, however, Samuel did not wear that amused, skeptical smile. He looked angry, so angry that for a moment Augusta was alarmed. He had obviously come early in order to find her alone. It struck her that for two months she had been conspiring to ruin him and that people had been murdered for less than that. He did not shake her hand, but stood in front of her, wearing a pearl-gray morning coat and a deep wine-red tie, smelling faintly of cologne. Augusta held up her hands in a defensive gesture.
Samuel gave a humorless laugh and moved away. “I’m not going to strike you, Augusta,” he said. “Though heaven knows you deserve a whipping.”
Of course he would not touch her. He was a gentle soul who refused to finance the export of rifles. Augusta’s confidence came back in a rush, and she said disdainfully: “How dare you criticize me!”
“Criticize?” he said, and the rage flashed again in his eyes. “I don’t stoop to criticize you.” He paused, then spoke again in a voice of controlled anger. “I despise you.”
Augusta could not be intimidated a second time. “Have you come here to tell me that you are willing to give up your vicious ways?” she said in a ringing voice.
“My vicious ways,” he repeated. “You’re willing to destroy my father’s happiness and make my own life miserable, all for the sake of your ambition, and yet you can talk about my vicious ways! I believe you’re so steeped in evil that you’ve forgotten what it is.”
He was so convinced and passionate that Augusta wondered if perhaps it really was wicked of her to threaten him. Then she realized he was trying to weaken her resolve by playing on her sympathy. “I’m only concerned for the bank,” she said coldly.
“Is that your excuse? Is that what you’ll tell the Almighty, on the Day of Judgment, when he asks you why you blackmailed me?”
“I’m doing my duty.” Now that she felt in control again she began to wonder why he had come here. Was it to concede defeat—or to defy her? If he gave in she could rest assured that soon she would be the wife of the Senior Partner. But the alternative made her want to bite her nails. If he defied her there was a long, difficult struggle ahead, with no certainty of the outcome.
Samuel went to the window and looked out at the garden. “I remember you as a pretty little girl,” he said meditatively. Augusta grunted impatiently. “You used to come to church in a white dress with white ribbons in your hair,” he went on. “The ribbons didn’t fool anyone. You were a tyrant even then. Everyone used to walk in the park after the service, and the other children were scared of you, but they played with you because you organized the games. You even terrorized your parents. If you didn’t get what you wanted you could throw a tantrum so noisy that people would stop their carriages to see what was going on. Your father, God rest his soul, had the haunted look of a man who cannot understand how he has brought such a monster into the world.”
What he was saying was close to the truth and it made her uncomfortable. “That all happened years ago,” she said, looking away.
He went on as if she had not spoken. “It’s not for myself that I’m worried. I