Night Over Water - Ken Follett [101]
She pushed through the crowd and went up to their table. Nat was the first to look up. His face showed shock and guilt, which gave her some satisfaction. Noticing his expression, Peter looked up.
Nancy met his eye.
He went pale and started up out of his chair. “Good Christ!” he exclaimed. He looked scared to death.
“Why are you so frightened, Peter?” Nancy said contemptuously.
He swallowed hard and sank back into his seat.
Nancy said: “You actually paid for a ticket on the S.S. Oriana, knowing you weren’t going to use it; you came to Liverpool with me and checked into the Adelphi Hotel, even though you weren’t going to stay there; and all because you were afraid to tell me you were taking the Clipper!”
He stared back at her, white-faced and silent.
She had not planned to make a speech but the words just came. “You slunk out of the hotel yesterday and rushed all the way to Southampton, hoping I wouldn’t find out!” She leaned on the table, and he shrank away from her. “What are you so scared of? I’m not going to bite you!” As she said the word bite he flinched, as if she might really do it.
She had not troubled to lower her voice. The people nearby had gone quiet. Peter looked around the room with an embarrassed expression. Nancy said: “I’m not surprised you feel foolish. After all I’ve done for you! All these years I’ve protected you, covered up for your stupid mistakes, and let you go on being chairman of the company even though you couldn’t organize a church bazaar! After all that, you tried to steal the business from me! How could you do it? Doesn’t it make you feel like a worm?”
He flushed crimson. “You’ve never protected me—you’ve always looked after yourself,” he protested. “You always wanted to be boss—but you didn’t get the job! I got it, and you’ve been scheming to take it away from me ever since.”
This was so unjust that Nancy did not know whether to laugh, cry or spit in his face. “You idiot, I’ve been scheming ever since to let you keep the chairmanship.”
He pulled some papers from his pocket with a flourish. “Like this?”
Nancy recognized her report. “You bet like that,” she said. “That plan is the only way for you to keep your job.”
“While you take control! I saw through it right away.” He looked defiant. “That’s why I came up with my own plan.”
“Which hasn’t worked,” Nancy said triumphantly. “I’ve got a seat on the plane and I’m coming back for the board meeting.” For the first time she turned to Nat Ridgeway and spoke to him. “I guess you still can’t take control of Black’s Boots, Nat.”
Peter said: “Don’t be so sure.”
She looked at him. He was petulantly aggressive. Surely he could not have something up his sleeve? He was not that smart. She said: “You and I own forty percent each, Peter. Aunt Tilly and Danny Riley hold the balance. They’ve always followed my lead. They know me and they know you. I make money and you lose it, and they understand that, even if they’re polite to you for Pa’s sake. They’ll vote the way I ask them to.”
“Riley will vote with me,” Peter said obstinately.
There was something in his mulishness that worried her. “Why would he vote with you, when you’ve practically run the company into the ground?” she said scornfully, but she was not as confident as she made herself sound.
He sensed her anxiety. “I’ve got you scared now, haven’t I?” he sneered.
Unfortunately, he was right. She was beginning to feel worried. He did not look as crushed as he should. She had to find out whether there was anything behind this bluster. “I guess you’re just talking through your hat,” she jeered.
“No, I’m not.”
If she kept taunting him he would feel compelled to prove her wrong, she knew. “You always pretend to have something up your