The Hoax by Irving Clifford

Author:Irving, Clifford [Irving, Clifford]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: E-Reads
Published: 2013-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

SCENE: Our old friend Frank Powis — tall, thin, bearded, and elegant — meets us in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in London as Dick and I are drinking our second bourbon sour and we take a cab to Rule’s. The place is everything Frank claimed it to be when he picked us up at Gatwick that afternoon — a splendid example of Ye Olde Englande, except for the waiters, all of whom are Spanish. “We have a reservation,” Frank says to the maître d’hôtel, and a moment later we are tucked away in a corner on the second floor, perusing menus the size of small billboards.

We order a noble meal. We chat idly of this and that. Conversation is difficult for both Dick and myself; our thoughts are elsewhere. Before the dessert arrives, Frank excuses himself. The moment he is gone, Dick says: “Okay, so he hates Luce and he didn’t know that the book had been sold to Life. Besides, he never read your contract with McGraw-Hill and he thinks he’s being cheated, that all the subsidiary money should go to him directly. It’s the Eastern Establishment after his ass, just like they were after TWA. Is that what you meant?”

“Pretty much. Beverly told me not to tell him the serial rights have been bought by Life. So Octavio finds out and threatens to back out of the deal. He demands the full quarter of a million Life is paying for first serial rights. Maybe …” I break off as Frank returns to the table. We sit there for another hour, have coffee and several liqueurs apiece. When Frank drops us at the Ritz, Dick and I are too tired to go on with the conversation. We say goodnight and leave a call with the desk for eight o’clock. Our plane leaves for Miami at ten.

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