Cat O'Nine Tales and Other Stories by Jeffrey Archer

Author:Jeffrey Archer [Archer, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780330418836
Google: 1rXrbL1QzSIC
Publisher: Pan Books
Published: 2007-04-14T18:30:00+00:00

The Wisdom of Solomon

“M ind your own business,” was Carol’s advice.

“But it is my business,” I reminded my wife as I

climbed into bed. “Bob and I have been friends for over twenty

years.”

“All the more reason to keep your own counsel,” she

insisted.

“But I don’t like her,” I replied tartly.

“You made that abundantly clear during dinner,” Carol

reminded me as she switched off her bedside light.

“But surely you can see that it’s going to end in tears.”

“Then you’ll just have to buy a large box of Kleenex.”

“She’s only after his money,” I muttered.

“He hasn’t got any,” replied Carol.

“Bob’s practice is quite successful, but hardly puts

him in the Abramovich league.”

“That may well be the case, but it’s still my duty, as a

friend, to warn him not to marry her.”

“He doesn’t want to hear that at the moment,” said

Carol, “so don’t even think about it.”

“Explain to me, O wise one,” I said as I plumped up

my pillow, “why not.”

Carol ignored my sarcasm. “If it should end up in the

divorce courts, you’ll just look smug. If the marriage turns out to be wedded bliss, he’ll never forgive you–and neither will she.”

“I wasn’t planning to tell her.”

“She already knows exactly how you feel about her,”

said Carol. “Believe me.”

“It won’t last a year,” I predicted, just as the phone

rang on my side of the bed.

I picked it up, praying it wasn’t a patient.

“I’ve only got one question for you,” said a voice that

needed no introduction.

“And what’s that, Bob?” I asked.

“Will you be my best man?”

Bob Radford and I first met at St. Thomas’ Hospital

when we were both house officers. To be more accurate, we had

first come into contact with each other on the rugby field, when he tackled me just as I thought I was about to score the winning try.

In those days we were on opposite sides.

After we were appointed senior house officers at

Guy’s, we started playing for the same rugby team and regularly

had a midweek game of squash–which he invariably won. In our

final year we ended up sharing digs in Lambeth. We didn’t need to look far for female companionship as St. Thomas’ had over three

thousand nurses, most of whom wanted sex and for some

unfathomable reason considered doctors a safe bet. Both of us

looked forward to taking advantage of our new status. And then I fell in love.

Carol was also a house officer at Guy’s, and on our

first date made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. However, she underestimated my one

talent, persistence. She finally gave in after I’d proposed for the ninth time. Carol and I were married a few months after she’d

qualified.

Bob headed off in the opposite direction. Whenever we

invited him to dinner, he would turn up escorted by a new

companion. I sometimes got their names muddled up, a mistake

Carol never made. However, as the years passed, even Bob’s

appetite to taste some new delicacy from the table d’hôte became less hearty than it had been during his student days; after all, we had both recently celebrated our fortieth birthdays.

It didn’t

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