Unexpected Blessings. Barbara Taylor Bradford

moment later Evan was standing in front of the desk, and he glanced up, his eyes questioning.

      ‘Thanks for being such a calming influence, Jack. Would it be all right if I told Robin that Jonathan is in Hong Kong? He was wondering where his son was when I had lunch with him today. It will ease his mind knowing Jonathan’s not in the country.’

      ‘By all means. Be my guest, Evan.’

      A moment later Linnet and Evan went to sit with Tessa and India, gently talking to Tessa, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right. She accepted their words, their kindness, their reassurances, and tried to smile, tried to bring herself back to a normal state. But the tension was deeply imbedded in her, and she was also aware that her life had been changed forever by the events of the day. She also knew that no easing of her pain would come until her child was safely by her side.

      Gideon Harte sat at his desk in the offices of the Yorkshire Consolidated Newspaper Company, in South East London, not far from the famed Fleet Street of yesteryear. Although the renowned street of ink was still there, many of the great national daily newspapers had moved to quarters elsewhere as the Hartes’ newspaper company had.

      Overlooking a portion of the Thames, Gideon’s office was spacious, light-filled and airy, with lots of plate-glass windows, shaded by silver metal-mesh panels. It was discreetly decorated in shades of white and grey, and there were lots of books banked in low-slung black-lacquered shelves that rode across a long back wall. His black-lacquered desk was empty, the way he liked it, with a few memos in simple black trays, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and antique crystal inkpots on a silver tray.

      Pushing his chair back, Gideon lifted his feet to the desk and leaned back in the chair, watching the large modern clock on the wall straight ahead. Once the hands hit six forty-five he lowered his legs, sat up straight and picked up the phone. He dialled the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills and waited.

      When the operator answered he said, ‘Toby Harte, please.’

      A moment later his brother was saying, ‘Hello? Toby Harte here.’

      ‘It’s me, Toby. Gid. And it’s good news. Jack’s found Mark. He’s admitted he has Adele, and he’s on his way to Pennistone Royal now bringing her back to Tessa.’

      ‘Thank God! What a bastard he is, Gid, taking his own child in that way, and all to get back at poor Tessa. He should be – well, I can’t think of anything quite bad enough to do to that shit!’

      Gid laughed. ‘How about horsewhipped, to use an old-fashioned phrase? Or even better, what about hung, drawn and quartered?’

      Toby also laughed and said, ‘I’ll punch him in the face a few times myself and I’ll be relieved when I know Adele is actually with Tessa at the house. Only then will I relax, I don’t trust that bugger.’

      ‘I agree with you. But I promised to let you know as soon as I had some news, and I just hung up on Jack. Evan had called me a few minutes before, to pass the word for him. But then Jack called himself, wanted to talk to me about security. Not only at Pennistone Royal, which is very vulnerable, as we now know, but all of our homes, and I think he’s right. They should have more protection.’

      ‘Agreed. And Jack’s the right chap to set everything up. By the way, do Paula and Shane know anything yet, Gid?’

      ‘God, no! And don’t get involved. Don’t tell our parents, because you know our mother will pass it on to Paula. They’re as thick as thieves.’

      ‘Well, all of them are. Mother and Dad. Shane and Paula, Sally and Anthony Standish, Amanda. And Sarah, now she’s back in the fold. They grew up together, for God’s sake,’ Toby reminded his brother. ‘We all know about Heron’s Nest, the summers they spent there, now don’t we!’

      ‘Listen to this. Jack told me that one of his operatives found out that a man with a small child was registered at the Spa Hotel in Ripon – your old hunting ground, if you recall. Anyway, the man had registered under the name of William Stone. It meant nothing to Jack’s chap, but the minute Jack heard it he knew it had to be Mark. William Stone equals Jonathan Ainsley. That’s his pseudonym.’

      ‘Oh Christ, you’re right! Was Jonathan involved, do you think?’ Toby wondered out loud.

      ‘I’ve no idea,’ Gideon answered, ‘but it’s crossed Tessa’s mind and Linnet’s, not to mention Jack’s as well, so Evan told me.’

      ‘I see. Paula will have to be told eventually, you know, something like this can’t be shoved under the rug.’

      ‘It couldn’t be anyway, because Tessa’s promised Mark Longden the earth to bring Adele back to her, and she’s going to have to discuss all that with her mother and Shane. It could involve millions, according to Linnet. I guess right now Longden is harping on about joint custody, so Tessa is trying to buy him off. Everybody has a price, according to our great-grandmother. Emma’s rule.’

      ‘Emma was right. And that joint custody bit won’t sit well with Tessa. Thank God Adrianna and I don’t have any kids, it certainly makes things easier.’

      ‘Are you and Adrianna definitely getting the divorce, then, Toby?’ Gideon asked.

      ‘We are, but at least it’s amicable. We both want it, Gid. She’s decided she prefers to live and work in Hollywood, and I want to be in London. Have to be, as a matter of fact, when you consider my responsibilities. The marriage was a big mistake, in all truthfulness. But she’s being decent, believe it or not … she’s not a gold-digger, far from it. Adrianna doesn’t want alimony. She’d like me to buy her a small flat in London, so she can have a base: you know, one foot each side of the Atlantic, and I agreed. Actually, though, I’m thinking of letting her have our flat. I’ve never really liked it, and she has always loved it.’

      ‘I felt you wanted a divorce, so am glad for you, Toby. And Dad will be, too. He’s looking for grandchildren from you, Toby, and he never thought Adrianna was the motherly type.’

      Toby began to chuckle. ‘Never a truer word spoken by our dear dad. The old man’s right on the ball.’ There was a moment’s hesitation before Toby went on. ‘Do you think I can call Tessa? I’ve been so terribly worried about her, and I do want her to know I’m here for her, whatever she needs.’

      ‘Why shouldn’t you phone her, Toby? You and she have been joined at the hip all of your lives. And she knows you’re there for her. Of course, give her a ring, for God’s sake.’

      ‘I wouldn’t want to call her just when she was getting Adele back, I wouldn’t want to interrupt that. Knowing Tessa the way I do, she’s suffered horribly today, not knowing where Adele was.’

      ‘You’ve got a few minutes before Mark arrives at the house. So call her now and give her my love.’

      ‘I will. Everything’s all right between you and Evan, isn’t it, Gid?’

      ‘Absolutely. Never been better. Talk to you later.’

      ‘Sure thing, Gideon.’

      Gideon leaned back in his chair, after hanging up on his brother, propped his feet on the desk again and closed his eyes. He began to think about Evan Hughes.

      Things were better between them, even though she was constantly worrying about her father and his impending trip to England. But she’s really worrying about what he’ll think of me, and of Robin Ainsley, Gideon suddenly decided, and wished then that she wouldn’t wrestle with those sort of things, inventing problems when they didn’t exist. The problem was Evan herself, Gideon decided. She needed everybody to like the people she liked, and that wasn’t the way the world was.

      He knew he wanted to make a life with Evan, wanted her on a permanent basis. And ever since the beginning of their relationship he had felt she wanted to make a life with him. But he had come to the conclusion she couldn’t make that commitment to him because of her father and his peculiar attitude towards the Hartes.

      Gideon