|
Mattie watched these happenings with complete astonishment, rooted to her chair, clutching her saucer, unable to speak or move. As the door banged shut behind the fleeing secretary she rose and moved over to the phone, picking the dangling receiver up from where it was swinging beside the desk and putting it to her ear.
The voice coming out of the phone was unrecognisable as that of O'Neill, or indeed anyone. The words were incoherent, indecipherable, slowed and slurred to the point where it sounded like a doll with the batteries almost dead. There were gasps, moans, long pauses, the sound of tears.
falling, and of a man falling apart She replaced the receiver gently in the cradle.
Mattie went in search of the secretary, and found her washing her face in the cloakroom. Her eyes were red and swollen. Mattie put a consoling arm around her shoulders.
'How long has he been like that, Penny?'
'I can't say anything!' she blurted, and started weeping once more.
'Look, Penny, he's obviously in a very bad way. I'm not going to print any of this, for goodness sake. I would like to help.'
The other girl turned towards Mattie, fell into her arms, let the pain and worry of the last few months gush out, and sobbed until there were no more tears left.
When she had recovered sufficiently to escape from the cloakroom, Mattie took her gently by the arm and they went for a walk in nearby Victoria Gardens, where they could refresh themselves in the cold, vigorous air blowing off the Thames and talk without interruption. Penny told her how the Prime Minister's resignation had deeply upset O'Neill, how he had always been a little 'emotionally extravagant', as she put it, and the recent internal party turmoil and Prime Minister's resignation had really brought him close to a breakdown.
'But why, Penny? Surely they weren't that close?'
'He liked to think he was close to the whole Collingridge family. He was always arranging for flowers and special photographs to be sent to Mrs Collingridge, doing little favours whenever he could. He loved it all.'
Mattie shrugged her shoulders, as if she were shrugging off O'Neill's reputation once and for all. It's a great pity, of course, that he should be so weak and go to pieces just when the Party needs him most. But we both heard him this afternoon, Penny. Something has really got to Roger, something which is eating away at him from the inside.'
Mattie threw down the challenge. It wasn't fair, of course, but she gambled that Penny would not stand by and see O'Neill accused of weakness. She would loyally try to defend her boss - and would not lie in order to do so.
'I... I don't know for sure. But I think he blamed himself so badly over the shares.'
"The shares? You mean the Renox shares?' said Mattie in alarm.
'Charles Collingridge asked him to open the accommodation address because he wanted somewhere for his private mail. Roger and I went to Paddington in a taxi, and he sent me in to do the paper work. I knew he felt uneasy at the time, I think he sensed there was something wrong. And when he realised what it had been used for and how much trouble it had caused, he just began going to pieces.'
'Why did Mr Collingridge ask Roger to open the address and not do it himself ?'
I've no idea, really. Perhaps he felt guilty because of what he was going to use it for. Roger just breezed into the office one day during the summer and said he'd got a favour to do for Charles Collingridge, that it was terribly confidential and I was to breathe a word to no one.'
Her words reminded her that she had broken her promise - of silence and more tears began to flow, but Mattie soon reassured her, and they continued their walk.
'So you never saw Charles Collingridge yourself ?'
'No. I've never really met him at all. Roger likes to handle all the important people himself, and as far as I'm aware Mr Collingridge has never come into the office.'
'But you are sure it was Charles Collingridge?'
'Of course, Roger said so. And who else could it have been?' The dampness began to appear again at the comer of her eyes. She shivered violently as a burst of cold November air from across the river sent the dead autumnal leaves cascading around them. 'Oh, God, it's all such an awful mess.'
'Penny, relax! It will be all right. Why don't you take a couple of days off and let Roger take care of himself? He can survive without you for a little while. He knows how to use the office computer, doesn't he?'
92/134 首页 上一页 90 91 92 93 94 95 下一页 尾页
|
