The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [79]
Genie sighed as she sank into the seat he had indicated. So it was going to be like that, was it?
Ferdie continued his writing for another few minutes. He was used to assessing people and had taken her in in that one quick glance. She was young, extremely attractive, and nervous. And yet she was also determined, otherwise she would not be there.
“So, Miss Reese,” he said at last, coming around the desk to shake hands with her. “I am glad to meet you, though I’m not sure why we are meeting.”
Genie fished in her purse and handed him some papers. “My credentials,” she said with a smile, “just so you know I am who I say I am. And there’s a fax from my network giving me the go-ahead on this interview. Now all I need is you to agree, Baron Arnhaldt.”
He perched on the corner of his desk, taking her in silently with pale Prussian-blue eyes, and Genie’s smile widened. “Of course the program would not just be for America,” she said quickly. “There’s also a wide European audience for a human interest story like this. After all, Baron, they say you are one of the world’s wealthiest men, and one of its most interesting. I thought we might begin at the beginning, maybe with a tour of this house while you tell me the family history. And then perhaps a brief glimpse of the steel plants and your offices. I should mention that the other names on our list for possible interviews include Agnelli, Getty, the Duke of Westminster: all men whose families founded dynasties and who have taken the family businesses to even greater power and wealth.”
She glanced apprehensively at him from beneath her lashes as she handed him a list of names. Would he, or wouldn’t he?
Suddenly Arnhaldt smiled. Folding his arms across his chest, he said, “I must admit I’m flattered to be included in such an elite roster of names and to be told that audiences might be interested in someone as mundane as myself.”
Genie smiled back, relieved. “I’m afraid I can’t accept that statement, sir. I’ve been looking into a few of the facts about your family and your business. I find both aspects fascinating, as I am sure my audience will. For instance, your great-great-grandfather, the founder of the business, must have been quite a dynamic character.”
“The first Ferdinand Arnhaldt. I am his namesake,” the baron said thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose each of the Arnhaldt men has made his mark in his own way. But of course, in this age of liberation, we must not forget the Arnhaldt women. For instance, the old lady with the drapery store whose only son founded the business. She was uneducated, poor and a widow, and yet it was her strength and wisdom that guided her son all the way to success. She translated all the knowledge she had gained in her dealings in her small business into larger concepts and Ferdinand Arnhaldt carried them out. She even insisted on living near the plant. She said if she could see the flames belching from the smelting sheds she knew the Arnhaldt business was safe. It wasn’t until she was very old and her son built this house that she agreed to move. The rest of the Arnhaldt men seemed to take their cue from her: They always married strong women. My own great-grandmother, who brought me up after my mother died when I was still a child, would interest your viewers.”
He pointed to the full-length portrait hanging behind his desk. It was by Sargent and showed a tall woman in a pale satin ballgown with pink roses in her dark hair. Her features were symmetrical and the ambience romantic, but her pale eyes stared haughtily from the canvas as if she were already impatient with the sitting and the artist and had more important matters to attend to. “Bossy” was the word that came to Genie’s mind.
“I think she was probably the strongest of the Arnhaldt women. She ordered everyone around: the servants, the workers, the factory