第 70 页

She had ended with 'I can't wait to meet you.'

He must get home. Kate would be cross with him if she ever discovered he'd been out on his own in that cold wind. But he had to see the opening of the shop and in any case tonight he would be with them all. He must leave now and let them enjoy their celebrations. They could tell him about the opening over dinner. He wouldn't tell them he'd been there, that would always be his secret.

He turned to go home and saw an old man standing a few yards away in a black coat, with a hat pulled way down on his head, and a scarf around his neck. He, too, was cold. Not a night for old men, thought William, as he walked towards him. And then he saw the silver band on his wrist, just below his sleeve. In a flash it all came back to him, fitting into place for the first time. First the Plaza, then Boston, then. Germany, and now Fifth Avenue, The man turned and started to walk towards him. He must have been standing there for a long time because his face was red from the wind. He stared at William out of those unmistakable blue eyes.

They were now only a few yards apart. As they passed, William raised his hat to the old man. He returned the compliment, and they continued on their separate ways without a word.

I must get home, thought William, before they do. ne joy of seeing Richard and his two grandchildren would make everything worthwhile again.

He must come to know Florentyna, ask for her forgiveness, and trust that she would understand what he could scarcely under-stand himself now. Such a fine girl, they all told him.

When he reached East Sixty-eighth Street, he fumbled for his key and opened the front door. Must tam on all the lights, he told the maid, and build the fire up to make them feel welcome. He was very contented and very, very fired.

'Draw the curtains,' he said, 'and light the candles on the dining room table. There's so much to celebrate!

William couldn't wait for them all to return. He sat in the old crimson leather chair by a blazing fire and thought happily of the evening that lay ahead of him. Grandchildren around him, the years he had missed. When had his little grandson first said three? A chance to bury the past and earn forgiveness in the future. The room was so nice and warm. after that cold wind, but the journey had been well worthwhile.

A few minutes later there was an excited bustle downstairs and the maid came in to tell William that his son had arrived. He was in the hall with his mother, and his wife and two of the loveliest children the maid had ever seen. And then she ran off to be sure that dinner would be ready for Mr. Kane on time. He would want everything to be perfect for them that night.

When Richard came into the room, Florentyna was by his side. She looked quite radiant.

'Father,' he said. 'I would like you to meet my wife.'

William Lowell Kane would have turned to greet them but he could not. He was dead.

42

Abel placed the envelope on the table by the side of his bed. He hadn't dressed yet. Nowadays he rarely rose before noon. He tried to remove his breakfast tray from his knees on to the floor. A bending movement that demanded too much dexterity for his stiff body to accomplish. He inevitably ended by dropping the tray with a bang. It was no different today. He no longer cared. He picked up the envelope once more, and read the covering note for second time.

'We were instructed by the late Mr. Curtis Fenton, sometime manager of the Continental Trust Bank, La SaUe Street, Chicago, to send you the enclosed letter, when certain circumstances have come about. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter by signing the enclosed copy, returning it to us in the stamped. addressed envelope supplied herewith!

'Goddamn lawyers,' said Abel, and tore open the letter.

Dear Mr. Rosnovski:

This letter has been in the keeping of my lawyers until today for reasons which will become apparent to you as you read on.

When in 1951 you closed your accounts at the Continental Trust after over twenty years with the bank, I was naturally very unhappy and very concerned. My concern was engendered not by losing one of the bank's most valued customers, sad though that was, but because I know you felt that I had acted in a dishonourable fashion. What you were not aware of at the time was that I had specific instructions from your backer not to reveal certain facts to you.

When you first visited me at the bank in 1929, you requested financial help to clear the debt incurred by Mr, Davis Leroy, in order that you might take possession of the hotels which then formed the Richmond Group.

I was unable to find a backer, despite approaching several leading financiers myself. I took a personal interest, as I believed that you had an exceptional flair for your chosen career. It has given me a great deal of satisfaction to observe in old age that my confidence was not misplaced. I might add at this point that I also felt some responsibility, having advised you to buy twenty-five per cent of the Richmond Group from my client, Miss Amy Leroy, when I did not know the financial predicament that was facing Mr. Leroy at that time. I digress.

I did not succeed in finding a backer for you and had given up all hope when you came to visit me on that Monday morning. I wonder if you remember that day. Only thirty minutes before your appointment I had a call from a financier who was willing to put up the necessary money, who, like me, had a great confidence in you personally. His only stipulation was, as I advised you at the time, that he insisted on remaining anonymous because of a potential conflict between his professional and private interests. The terms he offered, allowing you to gain eventual control of the Richmond Group, I considered at the time to be extremely generous and you rightly took full advantage of them. Indeed your backer was delighted when you found it possible, through your own diligence, to repay his original investment.

I lost contact with you both after 1951, but after I retired from the bank, I read a distressing story in the newspapers concerning your backer, which prompted me to write this letter, in case I died before either of you.

I write not to prove my good intentions in this whole affair, but so that you should not continue to live under the illusion that your backer and benefactor was Mr. David Maxton of the Stevens Hotel. Mr. Maxton was a great admirer of yours, but he never approached the bank in that capacity. The gentleman who made the Baron Group possible, by his foresight and personal generosity was William Lowell Kane, the chairman of Lester's Bank, New York.

I begged Mr. Kane to inform you of his personal involvement, but he refused to break the clause in his trust deed that stipulated that no benefactor should be privy to the investments of the family trust. After you had paid off the loan and he later learned of Henry Osborne's personal involvement with the Baron Group he became even more adamant that you should never be informed.

I have left instructions that this letter is to be destroyed if you die before Mr. Kane. In those circumstances, he will receive a letter, explaining your total lack of knowledge of his personal generosity.

Whichever one of you receives a letter from me, it was a privilege to have served you both.

As ever, your faithful servant, Curtis Fenton.

Abel picked up the phone by the side of his bed. 'Find George for me,' he said. 'I need to get dressed!

43

William Lowell Kane's funeral was well attended. Richard and Florentyna stood on one side of Kate; Virginia and Lucy were on the other. Grandmother Kane would have approved of the turn-out. Three senators, five congressmen, two bishops, most of the leading banks' chairmen, and the publisher of the Wall Street journal were all there. Jake Thomas and every director of the Lester's board was also present, their heads bowed in prayer to the God in whom William had never really believed.

No one noticed two old men, standing at the back of the gathering, their heads also bowed, looking as if they were not attached to the main party.

They had arrived a few minutes late and left quickly at the end of the service. Florentyna thought she recognised the limp as the shorter old man hurried away. She told Richard. They didn't mention their suspicion to Kate Kane.

A few days later, the taller of the two old men went to see Florentyna in her shop on Fifth Avenue. He had heard she was returning to San Francisco and needed to seek her help before she left. She listened carefully to what he had to say and agreed to his request with joy.

Richard and Florentyna Kane arrived at the Baron Hotel the next afternoon.

George Novak was there to meet and escort them to the forty-second floor.

After ten years, Florentyna hardly recognised her father, now propped up in bed, half-moon glasses on the end of his nose, still no pillows, but smiling defiantly. They talked of happier days and both laughed a little and cried a lot.

'You must forgive us, Richard,' said Abel. 'The Polish are a sentimental race.'

'I know, my children are half Polish,' said Richard.

Later that evening they dined together, magnificent roast veal, appropriate for the return of the prodigal daughter, said Abel.

He talked of the future and how he saw the progress of his group.

'We ought to have a Florentyna's in every hotel,' he said, She laughed and agreed.

He told Richard of his sadness concerning his father, revealing in detail the mistakes he had made for so many years, and how it had never crossed his mind even for a moment that he could have been his benefactor, and how he would have liked one chance to thank him personally, 'He would have understood,' said Richard.

'We met, you know, the day he died,' said Abel.

Florentyna and Richard stared at him in surprise.

'Oh yes,' said Abel. 'We passed each other on Fifth Avenue, he had come to watch the opening of your shop. He raised his hat to me. It was enough, quite enough.'

Abel had only one request of Florentyna. That she and Richard would accompany him on his journey to Warsaw in nine months' time for the opening of the latest Baron.

'Can you imagine,' he said, again excited, his fingers tap ping the side table. The Warsaw Baron. Now there is a hotel that could only be opened by the president of the Baron Group!

During the following months the Kanes visited Abel regularly and Florentyna grew very close to her father again, Abel came to admire Richard and the common sense that tempered all his daughter's ambitions.

He adored his grandson. And little Annabel was - what was that awful modern expression? - she was something else. Abel had rarely been happier in his life and began elaborate plans for his triumphant return to Poland to open the Warsaw Baron.

The president of the Baron Group opened the Warsaw Baron six months later than had been originally scheduled. Building contracts run late in Warsaw just as they do in every other part of the world.

In her first speech, as president of the group, she told her guests that her pride in the magnificent hotel was mingled with a feeling of sadness that her late father could not have been present to open the Warsaw Baron himself.

In his will, Abel left everything to Florentyna, with the single exception of a small bequest. The testament described the gift as a heavy engraved silver bracelet, rare, but of unknown value, and bearing the legend 'Baron Abel Rosnovski.' The beneficiary was his grandson, William Abel Kane.

=======================================================================

小说下载尽在http://bbs.txtnovel.com---书香门第【凌落无声】整理

附：【本作品来自互联网,本人不做任何负责】内容版权归作者所有!

=======================================================================