The sun was high in the sky as Claire strolled in Hyde Park for exercise and fresh air after being couped up in her small flat. She sat on a seat under a tree as horses with riders trotted by. It was a colourful scene, and it sharpened her disappointment that today would not be as she would have wanted. Today was the day that Rick had promised he would take Claire to Wimbledon. Front row seats for the ladies’ final. A spectacle rounded off with strawberries and cream.
From last year, the colour of the court, the colours in the crowd, even the grunts and the closeness of the players, was still in her memory. Who won did not matter, it was just the hush during play, almost like keeping a secret, until it was let out by the roars of approval as points were won.
But Rick had forgotten. He had said nothing last time he called, and Wimbledon today for Claire, was not to be. Claire’s feelings for Rick were growing colder by the day. Perhaps that was mutual.
Claire walked as far as Kensington Palace. The brightness of the day for a short while made her feel good, refreshed, confident and determined to sort out festering, outstanding, unpleasant business. The call to Lady Ruth was short but exactly as Claire had wanted it.
‘I can’t believe that you want to see me about anything other than Marine House; there’s only one week left on the lease; I haven’t had the last quarter rent yet so please make sure Mr Stone pays it before he leaves.’ Lady Ruth got in first as she answered Claire’s call. ‘But if I find time to meet you, why don’t you want Edith and Josh in this room with me? I have no secrets from them, and they are going to inherit one day.’
There was no high tone which Claire had expected from Lady Ruth.
‘What I’ve got to say is best said to you alone, Lady Ruth. But after that I’m sure you’ll want to do what is right for your family,’ Claire replied.
‘Very well. But I trust you will be quick and concise in what you have to tell me. So, can we say the meeting is only for twenty minutes? And at my house in Mayfair. Later this afternoon.’
Claire agreed.
It was a very hot, sultry day, and Claire would have preferred to have been out of suffocating London, maybe at Arrow Hall site or in Brighton tidying up in Stone’s study. Or even, she dared to think, at Wimbledon watching the ladies’ final. But for today, Claire felt good just to be able to dress for a business meeting and out of her clothes that she had worn for too long on the dirty site. Inevitably, Claire was feeling tense as she walked into Lady Ruth’s bare boardroom. The air was stale, and unlike meeting with Edith, this was no comfortable five-star hotel lounge with coffee.
‘Would you like some water?’ Lady Ruth asked. Her voice was light, slow and showed cheerfulness, more than the last time they had met.
‘Thank you, no.’
‘I’m still surprised, Claire, that you are able to work for such a man as Harry Stone. He’s uncouth, untutored, brash. You name it, he lacks basic human manners I look for in someone I’m about to do business with.’
‘You do realise he’s not a well man? He has cancer eating away at him,’ Claire said.
‘Whatever his health, that still doesn’t excuse him. So, for a moment, we put that aside and you tell me what you have come to talk about.’
Claire hesitated. What she was about to say would not change Lady Ruth’s perception of Harry Stone. It might even drag it down more. But Claire knew she would only get one chance and she was not going to let it slip away.
‘First, Lady Ruth, I have to tell you I’m not here with Mr Stone’s approval. I haven’t even told him I’m coming to see you. But there’s something important I think you should know about Marine House.’
Lady Ruth was watching Claire closely. Almost as if she was interviewing her for an important job and she was going to put Claire on the spot.
‘I think we’ve wrapped Marine House up. We have somebody else we are about to close a deal with. They’re people without all the baggage that your man Harry Stone has brought to the property. So, for one last time, there can’t be much new, but I’ll listen just because it’s you, Claire.’
Claire breathed in deeply and she sat upright in her chair.
‘Your daughter Edith has had £75,000 from Harry Stone. And it was just as she had asked for, all in £20 notes. I delivered the bag to her just two days ago. And it’s not only Edith who’s asked for upfront payments; Josh has too. He asked for £100,000. And both promised Mr Stone if they were paid then the deal to buy Marine House would be his. Edith even put this in writing to him.’
Lady Ruth stared at Claire as if she was pained by what she was being told but would fight back.
‘I didn’t know of it, and it doesn’t surprise me. And I did warn you about my daughter Edith. But if they’ve had upfront money as you call it, that doesn’t alter anything. Marine House is a very valuable property, and the family needs to get the best money for it that we can. And we will not be selling to Mr Stone for reasons I have told you.’
‘Harry Stone doesn’t have much longer to live. He’s trying to get his affairs in order, and buying Marine House was a big part of that,’ Claire said.
‘If he is as unwell as you say, then why on earth does he want to buy a big property like Marine House? Seven bedrooms? And has he still got the time and energy to pull it around to convert into apartments as he says he’s going to do? To me that doesn’t quite add up.’
‘Please, Lady Ruth, I would ask you to consider it. I don’t think this is just money any longer for Harry Stone. It is to be a place where he will spend whatever life is left for him.’
‘You sound as if you know the man inside that brassy exterior. Are you sure he’s got the money? We have never asked for his bank to confirm that. Perhaps we should have done so to stop wasting time on this.’
‘Harry Stone has the money. He’s done many deals bigger than this,’ Claire said, but she was not sure if that was true.
‘From what you’ve told me, it looks like he deals with hard money, bundles of notes. Where he gets them all from, we won’t ask. Better we don’t know. And the first time I met him, I thought he was that sort of market trader. A lot of shouting, a lot of haggling. But not a lot of substance behind it.’
‘Do you know where Josh is?’ Claire asked suddenly.
Lady Ruth stared at Claire with a frown as if she was being impertinent.
‘No, I don’t know. Should I?’
‘Harry Stone asked Josh to bring back some diamonds for him from a little island in the Caribbean. And after we met last time in this room, Josh stopped me and gave me the bag of diamonds he had collected. Only, when I gave them to Mr Stone, there was one big, valuable diamond missing.’
‘Josh never told me he was running errands for Mr Stone. And to a Caribbean island to collect something unusual, to say the least.’
Lady Ruth again stared at Claire. And Claire felt she suddenly saw disapproval at this visit and what had been said to her.
‘I can only say it as it is. Josh is not answering his phone, and I would have preferred to have spoken to him directly about all this,’ Claire said.
There was a pause and Claire stood. She had said enough; she was ready to leave. There was a distinct barrier being put up by Lady Ruth when talking about Harry Stone. And Claire was not sure if she had made any dent in that armour. This meeting was now better left.
‘Before I go, just something else,’ Claire said. ‘When I was at Marine House on my own the other day, Edith called. For almost an hour, Edith walked around the house on her own and took away a small painting of London. It might have been by Canaletto and if so, it would have been valuable. She was high-handed in what she did, and I hope you agree she should have asked Mr Stone’s permission before wandering around the house. And she should certainly have asked him before taking the painting. After all, his lease has not quite expired yet.’
‘I’m still not sure what this is all about. We’ll leave today as a confidential meeting between you and I. My children will do what I tell them but please, you or Mr Stone don’t talk to them any further.’
‘Thank you for seeing me, Lady Ruth. I will tell Mr Stone that you don’t think he’s a suitable buyer for Marine House and that you are now expecting to close a deal with other people. But one last thing, if I may. Mr Stone has become aware that Josh had a sexual assault case against him. Not wanting to cause any trouble, he has decided therefore that he will not take this incident of his missing diamond to the police,’ Claire said.
For a moment, Lady Ruth’s stiffness in her face tightened. She sat more upright.
‘That’s not a threat, I hope,’ she said, looking hard at Claire.
‘No, please don’t take it that way. But I hope you will agree that a missing diamond is a serious matter.’
Two minutes later, Claire left; she was uncertain. Stone would never leave Edith and Josh alone now they had taken enough rope to hang themselves. But today, raking around the grubby bits of the Jackson family to get the can of worms out on view that the siblings had been feeding on, just maybe had stopped the face-off that was looming.