Rewards and Dilemmas by Roderick Craig Low

Author:Roderick Craig Low
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: love story, romance, romantic, suspense, relationships, holiday read, bestsellers, Kenya, Africa, India
ISBN: 9781782344797
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2012
Published: 2012-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

‘Do you remember how we were?’

‘Yes. I remember you were very suspicious. Said something about rewards and dilemmas. Feared what the manuscript might reveal. Clearly you had some sort of premonition.’

‘I knew how spiteful Hugh could be!’

‘Spiteful?’

‘You never saw that side in him?’

‘No.’

‘Well, you didn’t know him very well, did you?’

Perhaps she was right. I’d have affirmed he didn’t have a spiteful fibre in his body but our relationship was deep and unspoken. Maybe, ‘deep and unspoken’ just meant we knew nothing about each other at all. I put the thought out of my mind but felt any defence of the character of the man I knew and loved was, at this time and to say the least, inadvisable.

‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘when we left Bill’s place, we went out for a meal and Bobby convinced me.’

‘Convinced you of what?’

‘Convinced me that we were on to a goldmine.’

‘A goldmine?’

‘The books. Carefully managed, we could make a fortune. We thought we could “time” the publications so as to keep the critics and the buying public salivating at the mouth for them.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. He said we should treat the whole thing as a sort of business and read each others’ inheritance.’

‘But why not read your own first, to avoid just the sort of problem you seem to have encountered?’

‘Bobby again! That was why! He said we might shy away from publication and that the best return could be obtained from sticking together and publishing all three.’

I shook my head in disbelief.

‘Well, it’s alright for you!’ Virginia roared, ‘You’ve already got your million!’

‘It is of no consequence,’ I said. ‘Frankly, all that has done is to complicate my life.’

‘That’s easy to say. I suppose you’ve never had money?’

‘Not like that,’ I said.

‘You’ll grow into it, believe me. You may be overwhelmed at present but, in a few months, you’ll take it all for granted.’

I didn’t believe her. ‘So, what’s the problem?’ I asked. ‘Bobby and Anne are loyal to you. Destroy it. You don’t need the money and the secret will remain within the family. I honestly don’t see the problem!’

‘It was a shock to them.’

‘What was? No,’ I interrupted myself, ‘don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.’

‘Now,’ she continued, ‘I don’t think I can trust them.’

‘Look,’ I said, ‘it’s still your property and you can expect them to honour your wishes. It’s only fair. Do you want to publish?’

‘I need the money.’

We fell silent, she sipping her glass, me contemplating her dilemma.

‘Perhaps,’ I suggested, after a little while, ‘Anne and Bobby could publish their novels and you could all share the proceeds from the two. It seems to me ...’

‘But they know too much! They are shocked by the news about me.’

‘Do they say that?’

‘No. But I can tell. It’s in their eyes.’

‘Odd you couldn’t see these signals in Mr. Hugh but you see them in your children? What are their books like?’

‘Equally revealing, in a more oblique way, if you see what I mean.’

‘What do you mean, oblique?’

‘More disguised.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘He’s written about us! Don’t you see? Us! Our faults or shortcomings, as he sees them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.