Redemption - Leon Uris [124]
“That’s a reasonable point, Caroline,” her father said harshly.
“I would have gone with him, anywhere,” she said.
“But you didn’t!” Jeremy cried.
“Conor would not take me because he cared for things other than himself. He did not want the blood of innocent people on his hands, from the riots your father and grandfather would have created. They would have turned his province into a pyre.”
Suddenly Frederick Weed emitted a laugh, low at first, then rather hardy. “Well now, we’ve all said our little piece,” he said. “Your mother is probably right. Well, Jeremy?”
“Poor, dear pitiful little Jeremy!” Jeremy screamed. “Poor, weak stuttering Arthur! Despicable Jeremy! Shitty Jeremy!”
“Jeremy, go to Molly O’Rafferty!”
“I am going to Hubble Manor and I shall soon join the family regiment!”
“You are a despicable coward,” Caroline said very softly and firmly. “I am ashamed that you are my son. Now, get out of my sight.”
“Grandfather!”
“Pack your things and leave, Jeremy,” Frederick Weed said.
Frederick Weed led a pair of servants into Caroline’s quarters, one carrying a tray of food and the other holding a pair of candelabra.
“Caroline?”
“I’m over here, Freddie, I’m not sleeping.”
The food and soft light were arranged at a table. Caroline took off her lap robe and went from her chaise lounge.
“He’s gone,” her father said.
“I know.”
“Well now,” Freddie said, twirling his unlit cigar, “it’s been quite a day. I guess we’ve both been lying to ourselves about Jeremy all his life.”
“Isn’t that a fact,” she said. “I was so pleased when he made his entrance. Roger knew from the minute he was born that Jeremy belonged to you. Well, Jolly Roger has what he wants. Not one, but two young men in stud service.”
“And we,” he laughed, “are back to square one. To hell,” he said, “I’m lighting this damned cigar.”
“Freddie, you shouldn’t…. Here, give it to me.” Caroline went through the old ritual of softening it, biting off the end, and rolling the flame on, just so, and stuck it in his mouth.
“Caroline,” he said contemplatively, “the damned stroke brought me face to face with the myth of my invincibility. One starts summing up. I’m an entrepreneur, a product of my times. The era has called for hard men. Along the way Ulster has become some kind of a mutation. It’s too late for me to change. I have to go out the way I know.”
“I realize that, but you don’t act like you’re history, Freddie.”
“We face the most serious challenge of my life in Roger. He is intrinsically evil. Roger has those two boys under this thumb. They are his Orange card just as Londonderry was once his Orange card. But I still have the ace in the hole. I still have you, Caroline.” He took his daughter’s hand and held it to his lips and unlikely tears fell down his cheeks.
“The worst mistake in my life was engineering you into marriage with Roger Hubble. I have loved you more than anyone in my life, Caroline, including your dear mother.”
“Freddie…”
“I should have known that a daughter like you was worth a half-dozen sons. It’s not too late. You can manage my operation, blindfolded.”
“Are you certain, Freddie?”
“Aye.”
“Then I’m your girl.”
“I intend to be around for some time. But since the stroke I have become obsessed with a fear of Roger taking over Weed Ship & Iron. His earldom is nonsense alongside of what I control. A great deal of prosperity comes from ventures I’ve brought him into. He’ll jump us the minute I go down.”
Candlelight enshadowed her hair, hanging below her shoulders as she wore it when she was a little girl. The chamber was scented and silk-walled with portraits of her by her Impressionist friends. Freddie sipped a nip of forbidden cognac.
“I have assembled a brilliant team of engineers, architects, scientists, foremen, and a work force second to none in Britain. My board of directors, save Roger, is totally clean. Your seat on the board until now has always been used by me as a proxy. I want you to activate it and learn. The team is loyal to me and they will be loyal to you.”
“Roger is not going to disappear