The Envoy by Edward Wilson

Author:Edward Wilson [Edward Wilson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781908129154
Publisher: Arcadia Books Limited
Published: 2011-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

Kit could see that Cord and Mary Meyer were having problems with their marriage. Their façade of happiness and mutual respect was too perfect. Both were too well brought up to discomfort a visitor by revealing the slightest flaw in their relationship. Kit knew they were showcasing the marital harmony: he would have felt more comfortable if they had thrown crockery at each other.

After a simple dinner – Chincoteague oysters, steak and salad – Mary went to work in her studio where she was trying to adapt oil and canvas to the sort of severe minimalism that Anne Truitt was developing with sculpture. Both Kit and Cord knew it was best not to comment. They shifted themselves to Cord’s study to drink Scotch on the rocks.

Kit was a little surprised to see that Cord had framed his Bronze Star and Purple Heart decorations and had them hanging on his study wall. He knew that Cord had been rattled by his experiences as a marine lieutenant in the Pacific – and thought he would have thrown his medals in a drawer just like everyone else. Cord had lost an eye and been left for dead when a Japanese grenade landed in his foxhole. A week later, Cord’s twin brother had been killed on Okinawa. There was a savage symmetry: you lose an eye and then you lose a twin. Spooky. Cord smiled wanly and stuck a thumb at the framed medals. ‘My dad had that done when I was in hospital. Can’t really throw them away.’ Kit had the queer feeling that his mind had been read. That was spooky too. Cord offered the Scotch and steered the conversation away. ‘How do you like England?’

‘It’s an acquired taste, but I am acquiring it. Still, I would have preferred Paris or staying on in Bonn. My German was getting pretty good. Are you still stuck on E Street?’

‘I get abroad quite a lot because of the Radio Free Europe stuff, but I have to be based here for reasons of control.’

Kit knew that Cord was the CIA’s undercover press czar. He oversaw a vast global network that churned out pro-America propaganda. His operation was a work of near genius. Cord’s philosophy was to recruit progressive and left-of-centre journalists to take up the American cause. He also fed funds to anti-communist trade unions. Cord was incapable of hypocrisy; he sincerely believed in what he was doing. He was an anti-communist liberal who believed in world government and the United Nations. Cord had written an intensely moving account of his war experiences called Waves of Darkness that veered towards pacifism. Kit thought it was a fine book, but maybe too intense, too sincere. At times, Kit wanted to grab Cord and shake him. ‘Tell me a joke, say something ironic.’ But he knew that Cord wouldn’t have seen the irony.

‘By the way,’ said Cord, ‘did you know that Jack Kennedy lives just up the road?’

‘Oh, does he? I didn’t know that.’

‘Jacqueline and Mary have become good friends.

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