would think a little more about what they were
saying. Apart from anything else, solving problems
with violence was more the province of a lout like
Connors than a gentleman like Todd. "Pour me a
drink, please; we need to think this through."
"Sherry?" he asked, lifting the stopper from the
decanter.
"Whisky; this is serious."
Todd didn't raise an eyebrow, but simply opened
another decanter and sloshed strong measures into
two tumblers; the situation seemed to warrant it,
somehow. Elizabeth sat down delicately on the very
edge of the sofa and sipped her drink
appreciatively. "Did you speak to Daniel when you
238
UUL
saw him outside? How did he look to you?"
"I don't know; miserable, I suppose. He was very
quiet, and Joseph didn't even speak. In fact they
both looked as if they'd lost a sixpence and found a
penny."
"That doesn't sound very much like a man
escaping from an intolerable situation, does it?"
asked Elizabeth. "Surely, Daniel would at least be
feeling some kind of relief at the prospect of being
free from unwanted attention?"
"But he didn't look like a man who had just
solved a problem, or freed himself from an
uncomfortable association," Todd conceded,
thoughtfully. "What is it you're trying to say,
Mother?"
"Oh dear, I honestly wish I knew! I don't know if
even Harrison is quite clear about Daniel's reasons
for making this decision."
"Well, it sounds to me very much as if Harper
doesn't want whatever it is that Harrison's offering
him." Elizabeth glanced up speculatively towards
her elder son, who was pacing backwards and
forwards with such military precision that he
seemed likely to wear a hole in the hearth-rug. "I
don't know," she replied. "Since your talk with him,
Harry's probably been so careful that Daniel doesn't
even know there's anything being offered. They
may not have managed to make themselves clear to
one another at all," she concluded, mournfully. "Oh,
it's all so confusing!"
Todd considered what she'd said. "You mean you
think Harper wants the same thing Harry does, but
he doesn't think there's any chance that Harry will
239
agree to it?"
"That's it exactly, Todd, and that's why he's
leaving Liverpool - he's going to protect Harry,
because he's somehow got it into his head that
Harry couldn't possibly want him. I do wish I could
just bang their heads together and make them see
sense," she added in exasperation.
The affection of two men for each other of any
but a comradely or brotherly nature, was something
Todd simply could not quite envision, but he
reasoned that if that was what Harrison wanted
from Daniel then there was really only one course
of action to be taken. "We'll have to do something
about it, then," he said.
"Yes, but I don't know quite what," agreed
Elizabeth. "We'll have to think about it." Then, after
a few minute's deliberation, "You'll just have to talk
to him yourself, that's all."
"Which one, Harper? Yes, I can probably talk
some sense into him." It wouldn't be easy, but he
often had to be persuasive in his business dealings
and usually ended up getting his own way - most of
the time, at least. This should be no more difficult
than that, he thought.
"No, I mean Harrison. Persuade him to speak to
Daniel about his feelings before it's too late for both
of them."
"Oh, he won't listen to me at all," protested Todd,
horrified by the prospect of facing his brother and
willing to walk over hot coals to avoid it if he could.
"He listened to you before," his mother pointed
out coolly, "and just look at the damage it's done. I
think you owe it to him to try and put it right if you
240
UUL
can - don't you?"
And of course, when she put it that way, Todd
had little choice but to agree.
"Very well," he conceded, with a great show of
reluctance. "But when he throws me out and tells
me to mind my own bloody business - well, please
don't say I didn't warn you!"
241
CHAPTER 18
When Harrison ignored the knock at his
bedroom door it was repeated - insistently.
"Harry, it's Todd," came the voice from outside,
although he had known it anyway. "We have to talk,
it's important."
Harry sighed. If there was one thing he knew for
sure about his brother, it was that Todd would not
give in, and therefore the only way to get rid of him
was to let him have his say and hope it wouldn't
take too long.
"The door's open," he answered, heavily.
Harrison was sitting by the fire, its low flickering
light the only illumination in the room. He did not
get up or turn to look towards his visitor. "What is it,
Todd? What do you want?"
"We have to talk," his brother repeated
stubbornly.
"And it can't wait?" Harrison shook his head
slowly; his life was collapsing around him and Todd
presumably wanted to discuss business. He couldn't
have picked a worse time if he'd tried, but then that
was Harry's contribution to the family; his speciality
was legal advice, and matters of business took no
account of heartbreak or any other personal
emotion. "Go ahead," he sighed, and prepared
himself to offer guidance on some obscure point of
contract law or other.
"I want to talk to you about Daniel Harper," his
brother told him steadily.
Really, this was too much. Harrison looked up at
him then, allowing all the anger and pain he was
242
UUL
feeling to show, not troubling to restrain himself in
the face of the expected mockery or sermonising. It
was bad enough to have to suffer these emotions in
the first place - and Heaven knew he'd tried to
shield himself against them - but having to defend
himself against his brother in addition was more
than he could reasonably be expected to bear.
"Get out of my room," he ordered tightly. "I'm not
going to discuss this with you."
"No," refused Todd. "I'm sorry, but this is
important. I want you to listen to me, Harry."
"Why? You have what you wanted - Daniel is
going to be out of my life from now on, he's moving
to Manchester; surely that's enough for you? Now,
please, just leave me alone."
"I know," said Todd. "But perhaps it doesn't have
to be like that. "You could try talking to him,
couldn't you? After all, talking's what you do best,"
he added.
Harrison rarely lost his temper with his brother,
having learned over the years to withdraw into a
detached disdain which Todd had never seemed to
find an answer for. This he did again now. "Why the
turnaround, Todd? Why this sudden concern?" he
asked, the deceptively calm voice masking his
roiling inner turmoil.
Todd sat down firmly on the edge of the bed and
stared at him for a long moment before replying.
"I've come to the conclusion, Harry, that maybe you
were wrong. No, hear me out," he continued, when
Harrison opened his mouth to object, and then
continued, not quite looking at him. "It seems to me
that the pair of you are both making a lot of
243
assumptions about what the other one wants. That
happens in business sometimes too, and it always
leads to disaster." He paused. "It may be painful, but
I think at least you ought to clear the air with him;
if you don't, then we'll never really know why he's
doing this."
"We?" queried Harrison, icily. "'We' are not
involved in this, Todd; this is not a family matter,
this is personal, and there are only two things you
really need to know - and the first is that yes, I do
love Daniel. You know, I wasn't even sure of that
myself at first, not even when you so kindly pointed
it out to me, so I suppose I should be grateful. The
second thing is that Daniel is leaving the city for
reasons of his own, and I have absolutely no right to
try to interfere with that in any way. Now, is all that
clear enough for you?"
Silently Todd nodded, but was unable to resist
making one further attempt to persuade him. "I still [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]