Mr Cromwell went on. ‘I shall now continue in Mr Lester’s own words: “I have always considered that a bank and its reputation are only as good as the people who serve it. It was well known that I had hoped my son Matthew would succeed me as chairman of Lester’s, but his tragic and untimely death sadly intervened. Until now, I have never divulged my choice of a successor. I therefore wish it be known that I desire William Lowell Kane, son of one of my dearest friends, the late Richard Lowell Kane, and at present the deputy chairman of Kane and Cabot, to be appointed chairman of Lester’s Bank and Trust Company following the next full board meeting.” ‘
There was an immediate uproar. Everyone looked around the room in search of the mysterious William Lowell Kane, of whom few but the immediate Lester family had ever heard.
‘I have not yet finished,’ said Arthur Cromwell quietly.
Silence fell once more. Some of the would-be beneficiaries were now looking apprehensive.
The lawyer continued: ‘All the above grants and divisions of stock in Lester and Company are expressly conditional upon the beneficiaries voting for Mr Kane at the next annual general meeting, and continuing to do so for at least the following five years, unless Mr Kane himself indicates that he does not wish to accept the chairmanship.’
Uproar again replaced the quiet murmurings. William wished he were a million miles away, not sure whether to be deliriously happy or to concede that he was the most detested person in the room.
‘That concludes the Last Will and Testament of the late Charles Lester,’ said Mr Cromwell, but only the front row heard his words. William looked up to see Susan Lester walking towards him. The puppy fat had disappeared, but the attractive freckles remained. He smiled, but she walked straight past him without acknowledging his presence.
As William made his way to the door, a tall, grey-haired man wearing a pin-striped suit and a silver tie caught up with him.
‘You are William Kane, are you not, sir?’
‘Yes, I am,’ said William nervously.
‘My name is Peter Parfitt,’ said the stranger.
‘One of the bank’s vice chairmen,’ said William.
‘Correct, sir. I do not know you, but I know something of your reputation, and I count myself lucky to have been acquainted with your distinguished father. If Charles Lester thought you were the right man to be chairman of his bank, that’s good enough for me.’
William had never been so relieved in his life.
‘Where are you staying in New York?’ asked Parfitt.
‘At the Harvard Club.’
‘Splendid. May I ask if you are free for dinner tonight, by any chance?’
‘I had intended to return to Boston this evening,’ said William, ‘but now I expect I’ll have to stay in New York for a few more days.’
‘Good. Why don’t you join me and my wife for dinner at my home, say eight o’clock?’
The banker handed William his card, with an address embossed in copperplate script. ‘I shall enjoy the opportunity of chatting with you in more convivial surroundings, and learning what plans you might have for the future of the bank.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ said William, pocketing the card as other people crowded around him. Some stared at him with hostility; others wanted to offer their congratulations.
When William eventually managed to make his escape and return to the Harvard Club, the first thing he did was to phone Kate to tell her the news.
She said very quietly, ‘How happy Matthew would be for you, darling.’
William didn’t respond, aware that Matthew should have been the next chairman.
‘When are you coming home?’
‘Heaven knows. I’m dining tonight with a Mr Peter Parfitt, a vice chairman of Lester’s. He’s welcomed my appointment, which could make life much easier. I’ll spend the night here at the club and call you sometime tomorrow to let you know how things are panning out.’
‘All right, darling.’
‘All quiet on the Eastern Seaboard?’
‘Well, Virginia has cut a tooth and seems to think she deserves special attention, Richard was sent to bed early last night for being rude to Nanny, and we all miss you.’
William laughed. ‘Makes my problems look fairly mundane. I’ll call you tomorrow, my darling.’
‘Yes, please do. By the way, many congratulations. I approve of Charles Lester’s judgement, even if we are going to have to move to New York.’
William arrived at Peter Parfitt’s home on East Sixty-Fourth Street just after eight o’clock that evening, and was taken by surprise to find that his host had dressed for dinner. William felt slightly ill at ease in his dark banker’s suit, and explained to his hostess that he had originally intended to return to Boston that evening. Diana Parfitt, who turned out to be Peter’s second wife, could not have been more charming, and seemed as delighted as her husband that William was to be the next chairman of Lester’s. During an excellent dinner, William could not resist asking Parfitt how he thought the rest of the board would react to Charles Lester’s bombshell.
‘They’ll all fall in line,’ said Parfitt. ‘I’ve spoken to most of them already. There’s a full board meeting on Monday morning to confirm your appointment, and I can only see one small cloud on the horizon.’
‘What’s that?’ asked William, trying not to sound anxious.
Well, between you and me, the other vice chairman, Ted Leach, was rather expecting to be appointed chairman himself. In fact, I think I would go as far as saying he assumed he was the natural successor. We’d all been informed that no nominations could be considered until after the will had been read, but Charles’s wishes must have come as rather a shock to Ted.’
‘Will he put up a fight?’ asked William.
‘I’m afraid he might, but there’s nothing for you to worry about.’
‘I don’t mind admitting,’ said Diana Parfitt as she studied the rather flat souffle in front of her, ‘that Ted Leach has never been my favourite man.’
‘Now, dear,’ said Parfitt reprovingly, ‘we mustn’t say anything behind Ted’s back before William has had a chance to judge for himself. There’s no doubt in my mind that the board will confirm William’s appointment at the meeting on Monday, and there’s even the possibility that Ted will resign.’
‘I don’t want anyone to feel he has to resign because of me,’ said William.
‘A very creditable attitude,’ said Parfitt. ‘But don’t bother yourself about a puff of wind. I’m confident that the whole matter is well under control. You return to Boston, and I’ll keep you informed on the lie of the land.’
‘Perhaps it might be wise if I dropped in to the bank tomorrow. Wouldn’t your colleagues find it a little curious if I make no attempt to meet any of them?’
‘No, I don’t think that would be advisable given the circumstances. In fact, it might be wiser for you to stay out of the way until the board has confirmed your appointment. They won’t want to seem any less independent than they can help, and some of them may already feel like glorified rubber stamps. Take my advice, Bill, you go back to Boston. I’ll call you with the good news around noon on Monday.’
William reluctantly agreed, and went on to spend a pleasant evening discussing with the Parfitts where he and Kate might stay in New York while they were looking for a permanent home. He was somewhat surprised that Peter Parfitt seemed to have no desire to discuss his own views on the direction the bank should be taking, but assumed it was because his wife was present. The evening ended with a little too much brandy, and William did not arrive back at the Harvard Club until after one o’clock.
The first thing he did on returning to Boston was to let Tony Simmons know what had transpired in New York; he did not want him to hear about the appointment from anyone else. Simmons turned out to be apprehensive when he heard the news.
‘I’m sorry that you’ll be leaving us, William. Lester’s may well be two or three times the size of Kane and Cabot, but it will be very hard to replace you. I hope you’ll consider very carefully before accepting the offer.’
William was surprised by Tony’s response.
‘Frankly, Tony, I would have thought you’d be only too happy to see the back of me.’
‘William, when will you accept that my first interest has always been the bank? There has never been any doubt in my mind that you are one of the shrewdest investment advisors in America today. If you leave Kane and Cabot now, many of the bank’s most important clients will want to follow you.’
‘I wouldn’t even transfer my own trust funds to Lester’s,’ said William, ‘let alone expect any of the bank’s clients to move their accounts because I’d left.’
‘Of course you wouldn’t solicit them to join you, William, that’s not your style, but some of them will want you to continue managing their portfolios. Like your father and Charles Lester, they believe quite rightly that banking is about people and reputations.’
William and Kate spent a tense weekend awaiting a call from Peter Parfitt following the result of the board meeting in New York. William sat nervously in his office the whole of Monday morning, answering every telephone call personally, but he had still heard nothing as the morning dragged into the afternoon. He didn’t even leave the office for lunch. Parfitt finally called a little after five.
‘I’m afraid there’s been an unexpected development, Bill,’ were his opening words.
William’s heart sank.
‘Nothing for you to worry about, but the board wants the right to oppose your nomination and put up their own candidate. One of them has produced legal opinions suggesting that the relevant clause in the will has no validity. I’ve been given the unpleasant task of asking if you would be willing to fight an election against the board’s candidate.’
‘Who would be the board’s candidate?’ asked William.
‘No names have been mentioned yet, but I imagine it will be Ted Leach. No one else has shown any interest in running against you.’
‘I’d like a little time to think about it,’ William replied. ‘When will the next board meeting be?’
‘A week from today. But don’t go and get yourself all worked up about Ted Leach; I’m still confident you’ll win easily. I’ll keep you informed of any further developments.’
‘Do you want me to come down to New York, Peter?’
‘No, not for the moment. I don’t think that would help matters.’
William thanked him and put the phone down, then packed his old leather briefcase and left the office, feeling more than a little depressed. Tony Simmons, lugging a suitcase, caught up with him in the directors’ parking lot.
‘I didn’t know you were going out of town, Tony.’
‘It’s only one of those monthly bankers’ dinners in New York. I’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon. I think I can safely leave Kane and Cabot for twenty-four hours in the capable hands of the next chairman of Lester’s.’
William laughed. ‘I may already be the ex-chairman,’ he said, and explained the latest development. Once again he was surprised by Simmons’s reaction.
‘It’s true that Ted Leach has always hoped to be the next chairman of Lester’s,’ he said. ‘That’s common knowledge in financial circles. But he’s a loyal servant of the bank, and I can’t believe he would oppose Charles Lester’s express wishes.’
‘I didn’t realize you knew him,’ said William.
‘I don’t know him all that well,’ said Tony. ‘He was a class ahead of me at Yale, and I occasionally come across him at these infernal dinners, which you’ll have to attend once you’re a chairman. He’s bound to be there tonight. I’ll have a word with him if you like.’
‘Yes, please do, but do be careful, won’t you?’ said William.
‘My dear William, you’ve spent the past ten years of your life telling me I’m far too careful.’
‘I’m sorry, Tony. Funny how one’s judgement is influenced when facing a personal problem, however sound it might be considered when dealing with other people’s. I’ll put myself in your hands, and do whatever you advise.’
‘Good. Leave it to me. I’ll see what Leach has to say for himself, and call you first thing in the morning.’
Tony Simmons called from New York a few minutes after midnight, waking William from a fitful sleep.
‘Have I woken you, William?’
‘Yes, but it doesn’t matter, Tony.’
William switched on the light by the bed and looked at his alarm clock. ‘Well, you did say you’d call first thing in the morning.’
Simmons laughed. ‘I’m afraid what I have to tell you won’t seem quite as amusing. The man opposing you for the chairmanship of Lester’s is Peter Parfitt.’
‘What?’ said William, suddenly wide awake.
‘He’s been trying to steamroller the board into supporting him behind your back. Ted Leach, as I expected, is in favour of your appointment as chairman. However, the board is split down the middle.’
‘Damn. First, thank you, Tony, and second, what the hell do I do?’
‘If you want to be the next chairman of Lester’s, you’d better get yourself down here pretty fast. Some of the members of the board are asking why you’ve been hiding away in Boston.’
‘Hiding away?’
‘That’s what Parfitt’s been telling them for the past few days.’
‘The bastard.’
‘Now that you mention the subject, I’m unable to vouch for his parentage,’ said Simmons.
William laughed.
‘Come and stay at the Yale Club. We can talk the whole thing over first thing in the morning.’
‘I’ll get there as quickly as I can.’
He put the phone down and looked across at the sleeping Kate, blissfully unaware of his latest problem. How he wished he could manage that. A curtain only had to flutter in the breeze and he would wake up. She would probably sleep through the Second Coming. He scribbled a few lines of explanation and put the note on her bedside table; then he dressed, packed - this time including a dinner jacket - and set off for New York.
The roads were clear at one in the morning, and the run in the Daimler seemed the quickest he had ever managed. He arrived in New York accompanied by cleaners, mailmen, newsboys and the morning sun, and checked in at the Yale Club as the hall clock chimed once. It was six-fifteen. He unpacked and decided to rest for an hour before waking Tony Simmons, but the next thing he heard was an insistent tapping on his door. Sleepily, he got up to open it, to find Simmons standing in the corridor.
‘Nice dressing gown, William,’ he said, grinning.
‘I must have fallen asleep. If you can wait a minute I’ll be right with you,’ said William.
‘No, no, I have to catch a train back to Boston. Someone has to run the office. You take a shower and get dressed while we talk.’
William went into the bathroom and left the door open.
‘Now your main problem—’ started Simmons.
William put his head around the bathroom door. ‘I can’t hear you while the water’s running.’
Simmons waited for it to stop. ‘Peter Parfitt is your main problem. He assumed he was going to be the next chairman, and that his would be the name that was read out in Charles Lester’s will. Since then he’s been playing boardroom politics and trying to turn the directors against you. Ted Leach would like you to join him for lunch today at the Metropolitan Club when he’ll fill you in on the finer points. He may bring two or three other board members with him on whom you can rely. The board, by the way, still seems to be split right down the middle.’
