House of Cards (28 page)

‘I
will
walk
out
of
Downing
Street
and
will
be
able
to
say good
bloody
riddance
-
if
only
I
know
I
still
have
my brother.
I'm
just
terrified,
Charlie,
that
it's
too
late,
that I've
neglected
you
too
much
to
be
able
to
ask
for
your forgiveness,
that
you've
been
alone
too
long
for
you
to
want to
get
better.'

The
tears
of
genuine
anguish
were
flowing
down
his cheeks.
Sarah
was
hugging
him
tightly.

'Charlie,
without
your
forgiveness,
all
this
will
have been
for
nothing.'

There
was
silence
from
the
other
end
of
the
phone.

'Say
something,
Charlie!'
he
said
in
desperation.

‘I
love
you,
big
brother.'

He
let
out
a
sigh
of
release
and
total
joy.

‘I
love
you
too,
old
boy.
I'll
come
and
see
you
tomorrow. We'll
both
have
a
lot
more
time
for
each
other
now,
eh?'

They
were
both
laughing
through
the
tears,
with
Sarah joining
in.
Henry
Collingridge
hadn't
felt
so
whole
for years.

She
was
sipping
a
drink,
admiring
the
night
view
of
London from
his
penthouse
apartment
when
he
came
up
behind her
and
embraced
her
warmly.

Hey,
I
thought
we
came
here
to
discuss
business,'
she said,
not
resisting.

'There
are
some
things
I
don't
have
the
words
for
’
he said,
burying
his
face
in
her
blonde
hair
and
rejoicing
at
its freshness.

She
turned
round
in
his
arms
to
face
him
and
look directly
into
his
eyes.

'You
talk
too
much
’
she
said,
and
kissed
him
passionately.
She
was
glad
he
had
made
the
first
move;
she
was
not competing
tonight,
she
wanted
to
be
free,
uncomplicated, just
a
woman.

She
made
no
sound
of
protest
as
he
slipped
her
silk blouse
over
her
shoulders
and
it
fell
away,
revealing
a smooth
and
unblemished
skin
which
could
have
been
a model's.
Her
breasts
were
immaculate,
small
but
very feminine
and
sensitive.
She
gasped
as
his
fingers
gently
ran over
her
nipples,
which
responded
instantly.
She
undid
her own
belt
and
let
her
trousers
fall
straight
to
the
floor, stepping
out
of
them
and
out
of
her
shoes
in
one
graceful movement.
She
stood
tall
and
unashamed
against
the glittering
lights
of
London
behind
her.

He
marvelled
for
a
moment
at
what
he
saw.
He
couldn't remember
when
he
last
had
felt
like
this,
so
excited
and
so much
a
man.

'Mattie,
you
look
lovely.'

‘I
hope
you
are
not
just
going
to
look,
Johnnie
’
she
said.

He
took
her
to
the
fireplace
where
the
flames
flickered invitingly,
held
her
close
against
him
and
prayed
that
the moment
would
last
for
ever.

When
they
were
spent,
for
some
while
they
lay
silently on
the
rug,
lost
in
their
thoughts
and
each
other's
arms.
It was
Mattie
who
broke
the
spell.

Is
it
all
coincidence,
Johnnie?'

'Let's
try
again
and
see.'

'Not
this,
you
fool,'
she
laughed.
'It's
time
to
talk
now!'

'Oh,
I
wondered
how
long
it
would
take
you
to
get
back to
that,'
he
said
with
an
air
of
resignation.
He
got
them
both blankets
to
wrap
themselves
in.

'We
find
a
plan,
effort,
plot
-
call
it
what
you
will
in
which
our
paper
is
involved,
to
chop
the
legs
off Collingridge.
For
all
we
know
it
has
been
going
on
for months.
Now
Collingridge
resigns.
Is
it
all
part
of
the
same operation?'

'How
can
it
be,
Mattie?
In
the
end
Collingridge
hasn't been
forced
out
by
his
opponents
but
by
his
brother's apparent
fiddling
of
share
purchases.
You're
surely
not suggesting
all
that
was
part
of
the
plan.'

'You
have
to
admit
it's
a
hell
of
a
coincidence,
Johnnie. I've
met
Charles
Collingridge,
spent
several
hours
drinking and
chatting
with
him
at
the
party
conference,
as
it
happens.
He
struck
me
as
being
a
pleasant
and
straightforward drunk,
who
certainly
didn't
seem
as
if
he
had
two
hundred pounds
to
put
together,
let
alone
being
able
to
raise
tens
of thousands
of
pounds
to
start
speculating
in
shares.'

Her
face
was
screwed
up
in
concentration
as
she
grappled with
her
still
confused
thoughts.
It
may
seem
silly,
I
know he's
an
alcoholic
and
they
often
aren't
responsible
for
their actions,
but
I
don't
believe
he
would
have
jeopardised
his brother's
whole
career
for
a
few
thousand
pounds'
profit
on the
Stock
Market.
And
do
you
really
think
it's
likely
that Henry
Collingridge,
the
Prime
Minister
of
this
country, was
feeding
his
drunk
brother
insider
share
tips
to
finance his
boozing?'