Vatican Vendetta: A thrilling battle of power and politics by Peter Watson

Author:Peter Watson [Watson, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2017-10-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

David ran up the steps of the archbishop’s house in Westminster and rang the bell. March was offering one of its sunnier days. The door was opened by a steward who showed him into a waiting room. ‘The tribunal is running a little late, Mr Colwyn,’ he said. ‘But they won’t keep you long.’

David sat down. As usual he had brought some work with him so he didn’t have to waste the time. He took a report from his briefcase and read it through. He had already looked at it briefly in his office and it did not make pleasant reading. A very rare collection of ancient weapons, known as the Rookwood Armoury, was soon to be sold – but the collection wasn’t coming to Hamilton’s. Once again Steele’s had slipped in and, once again, the Prime Minister had clearly had a finger in the decision. The report David was holding was written by the director of Hamilton’s weapons department and explained why, as in a growing number of cases, Hamilton’s had lost out to Steele’s. On this occasion, it appeared, Cyril Rookwood had been told – discreetly, of course – that the government would put up no objections to the export of his armoury, provided it was sold through Steele’s. This made the sale particularly attractive to foreign buyers, and increased the amount of money Rookwood could expect from the sale. All this was rumour and conjecture, of course, but David had little doubt it was true. It was yet another of the ‘quid pro quos’ Paul Clegg had warned David about when they had met at the club.

The Prime Minister knew how to harbour a grudge and, it seemed, was determined to hurt Hamilton’s to the point where they would be forced to back out of the royal sale. The board meeting called by Averne, after the Duffield Manor business, had been stormy. Although an American, Averne held no brief for the British Royal family. He believed that the PM’s vendetta could seriously harm Hamilton’s in the long run, and could more than off-set the boost which the royal sale was bringing. He advocated pulling out.

David, vociferously supported by Lord Afton, had disagreed. He countered by saying that the publicity which would attach to such a move would be far too damaging. He admitted that the Argyll and Duffield house sales represented serious losses of Hamilton’s traditional business; but once the royal sale was over, he said, it would pick up again.

Averne had insisted on pushing the matter to a vote and this had gone 8 to 7 to David. He had won again – but these attacks by Averne were getting stronger and now, after this latest report, David wasn’t sure he could hold the firm on its present course.

The steward came back into the waiting room. ‘The tribunal will see you now, Mr Colwyn. Follow me, please.’ He led the way out into the corridor and up a flight of stairs wrapped around an old-fashioned caged lift.

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