To Be the Best. Barbara Taylor Bradford

Paula had expected to hear, and she was taken aback. She stared at Sir Ronald without speaking for a moment. ‘I’m quite sure he wouldn’t,’ she said at last in a surprised voice. ‘That division is far too important to Harte Enterprises. And to Harte stores, for that matter.’

      ‘Yes, it has great value to Sandy, and to you too, of course, since the Lady Hamilton line is made exclusively for Harte’s,’ Sir Ronald said.

      Michael interjected, ‘He may want to unload it, Paula – for the right price, and to the right people. Let’s face it, Sandy has been terribly overburdened ever since that family débâcle, when he fired Jonathan and Sarah. He and Emily really have their hands full, and they have to work awfully hard running Harte Enterprises – ’

      ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she cut in swiftly, ‘they seem to manage quite well, Michael.’

      ‘In any case, we’d be prepared to pay top money for that division,’ Michael added, determined to get his point across.

      ‘I’m sure you would,’ Paula replied evenly, ‘and I’m just as sure Sandy wouldn’t even consider it, no matter what you offered.’ She looked from the younger Kallinski to the older, rapidly and with quickening interest. ‘Why do you want to buy Lady Hamilton Clothes, Uncle Ronnie?’

      ‘We’d like to have our own women’s fashion division,’ Sir Ronald explained. ‘And to supply your stores with women’s ready to wear in much the same way we supply your men’s clothing, and to sell to your boutiques in the hotels. Just as importantly, we wish to start and to build up a strong export line.’

      Paula nodded slowly. ‘I see.’

      ‘Obviously, we wouldn’t sell the women’s fashions in countries where you own retail stores,’ Michael pointed out. ‘We’re thinking of trading only in common market countries – ’

      ‘Excluding France,’ Sir Ronald interrupted, ‘since you have a store in Paris.’

      ‘Oh I know you’d never do anything to damage my business, that goes without saying,’ Paula murmured. ‘And I can see why you’d like the acquisition, Uncle Ronnie, it makes a lot of sense.’

      She glanced at Michael. ‘But you know how conservative Sandy is, and bound by tradition. Those are just two of the reasons Grandy gave him control of Harte Enterprises. She knew it would be safe in his hands because he would never do anything to weaken its basic structure. Such as selling off a very, very profitable division,’ she finished dryly, but her mouth twitched with sudden amusement.

      Both men laughed.

      ‘Touché,’ Sir Ronald said.

      ‘Yes, I do know exactly what kind of person Sandy is,’ Michael acknowledged, shifting in his chair. ‘And that’s why I suggested to Dad that we got your reading on the matter first.’

      At this moment the waiter arrived with the food, and Michael changed the subject. The three of them chatted about inconsequential things for the next few minutes, and once they had been served, the sommelier poured the chilled white wine for Michael. After tasting it, he nodded approvingly.

      Sir Ronald and Paula sipped their wine and both of them commented on its fresh dry taste and lightness, and then Sir Ronald put his goblet down. ‘Bon appétit,’ he said, and picked up his fork and cut into the poached salmon.

      ‘Bon appétit,’ Paula and Michael responded almost in unison.

      They ate in silence for a while, but at one moment Paula swung her gaze between the two Kallinski men, and asked curiously, ‘Uncle Ronnie, Michael, why don’t you simply start your own women’s clothing division? Certainly you’ve got all the necessary resources.’

      ‘We thought of that, my dear,’ Sir Ronald admitted. ‘But quite frankly we’d prefer to buy a well-established brand. So much easier, you know. And it would save us an enormous amount of time – and money, of course, in advertising and promoting a new product.’

      ‘And surely there must be lots of manufacturers who would jump at the chance to sell to Kallinski Industries!’ she exclaimed.

      ‘I’m perfectly certain there are.’ Sir Ronald gave her a pointed look. ‘But I’m interested in Lady Hamilton Clothes because it was founded by Emma and my father all those years ago. He had a soft spot for the company long after he sold his shares to your grandmother, and so do I.’ Sir Ronald smiled wryly, and finished, ‘I must admit, I do feel rather sentimental about it.’

      Paula placed an elegant, beautifully manicured hand on Sir Ronald’s arm, squeezed it affectionately. ‘But Alexander has no reason to sell that division … at least, not one I can think of, Uncle Ronnie. His sister’s been running it successfully for a number of years now.’ Her arched black brows drew together in a small frown. ‘Besides, what would she do if he sold Lady Hamilton? Amanda would be out of a job, and Sandy would always take that into consideration. You know how he fusses about her.’

      ‘She need not necessarily be out of a job,’ Michael was quick to announce. ‘Amanda’s terrific at what she does. She’d remain with the company and run it for us.’

      Paula made no comment. She toyed with the cucumber salad on her plate, suddenly acknowledging to herself that if Lady Hamilton were ever up for grabs Sandy ought to sell it to the Kallinskis. In a way they were entitled to it.

      Sir Ronald dabbed his mouth with his napkin and ventured, ‘I’d like to pose a hypothetical question, Paula.’

      ‘Of course.’ She looked at him alertly, wondering what was on his mind now.

      He said, ‘Let us just suppose that Alexander did want to sell Lady Hamilton, was anxious to do so, in fact. Could he? Or would he have to go to the other shareholders, get their agreement?’

      ‘Oh no. There’s only Emily, and she would go along with anything her brother wanted to do. She always has, you know.’

      Puzzlement flickered in Sir Ronald’s eyes and he leaned back in his chair, regarding Paula thoughtfully. After a second, he said slowly, ‘Only Emily … But surely you told me several years ago that Sarah and Jonathan still owned their shares in Harte Enterprises, even though they were thrown out of the company because of their shoddy behaviour.’

      ‘That’s perfectly true, they do. They draw their dividends, receive the company reports and balance sheets, but they have no power whatsoever. But then, neither does Emily, now that I think about it.’

      Sir Ronald appeared to be more baffled than ever.

      Recognizing this, Paula said, ‘Let me clarify things for you, Uncle Ronnie, and for you too, Michael.’

      Father and son nodded and Sir Ronald said, ‘Please do, my dear.’

      ‘My grandmother left fifty-two per cent of Harte Enterprises to Sandy. The remaining forty-eight per cent was split three ways between Emily, Jonathan and Sarah, who each received sixteen per cent. As chairman of the board and majority stockholder, Sandy can do virtually anything he wishes in the company, or with it, for that matter. This is the way Grandy set it up. Whilst she wanted all four of them to draw income from the company, she knew Sandy must have absolute power to prevent any bickering between the four cousins. She felt Sandy had earned, and also deserved, the bulk of the shares in her privately owned company. She gave total control to him because she knew that he would always abide by her wishes.’

      ‘Ah, yes, I can see the sense in everything your grandmother did.’ Sir Ronald never failed to be impressed by the late Emma Harte’s clever strategy. He went on, ‘As usual, Emma was shrewd – and most prudent, I might add. Certainly Sandy has guided Harte Enterprises through some rough periods and done admirably well in the past few years.’

      Quickly Michael said, ‘Look, Paula, I know you’re adamant about Sandy not being interested in selling, and perhaps you’re right. At least about his attitude at present. But he may well change his mind and decide