be willing to pay at least another $750,000 to obtain Peter Parfitt's two per cent. William was only too aware of the actions Abel Rosnovski could carry out once he was in possession of eight per cent. Even more worrying to William was the fact that the growth rate of Lester's compared unfavourably with that of the Baron Group, which was already catching up its main rivals, the I - Elton and the Sheraton Groups. William began to wonder if it would now be wise to brief his board of directors on this newly obtained information, and even whether he ought not to contact Abel Rosnovski direct. After some sleepless nights, he turned to Kate for advice.
'Do nothing,' was Kate's reaction, 'until you can be absolutely certain that his intentions are as disruptive as you fear. The whole affair may turn out to be a tempest in a teapot.2 'With Henry Osborne as his hatchet man you can be sure that the tempest will pour far beyond the teacup: nothing can be totally innocent. I don't have to sit around and wait to find out what he is planning for me.'
'He might have changed, William. It must be twenty years since you've had any personal dealings with hirrO 'Al Capone might have changed, if he had been allowed to complete his jail sentence. We'll never know for certam, but I would not be willing to put a, bet on it.'
Kate added nothing more, but William let himself be per. suaded.by her and did little except to keep a close eye on Thaddeus Cohen's quarterly reports and hope that Ka&& intuition would turn out to be right.
Chapter 28
The Baron Group profited greatly from the post - war explosion in the American economy. Not since the twenties had it been so easy to make so much money so quickly - and by the early fifties, people were beginning to believe that this time it was going to last. But Abel was not content with financial success alone; as he grew older, he began to worry about Poland's place in the post - war world and to feel that his success did not allow him to be a bystander four thou. sand miles away. What had Pawel Zaleski~ the Polish consul in Turkey said? 'Perhaps in your lifetime you will see Poland rise again.' Abel did everything he could to influence and persuade the United States Congress to take a mom militant attitude towards Russian control of its Eastern European satellites. It seemed to Abe4 as he watched one puppet socialist government after another come into being, that he had risked his life for nothing. He began to lobby Washington politicians, brief journalists and organise din. ners in Chicago and New York and other centres of the Polish - American community, until the Polish cause itself became synonymous with the Chicago Baron, Dr. Teodor Szymanowski, formerly professor of history at the university of Cracow, wrote a glowing editorial about Abel's 'Fight To Be Recognised' in the journal Freedom, which prompted Abel to contact him and see what else he could do to help. The professor was now an old man, and when Abel was ushered into his study, he was surprised by the frailty of his appearance, knowing the vigour of his opinions. He greeted Abel warn - dy and poured him a Danzig vodka. 'Baron Rosnovski,' he said banding him the glass, 'I have long admiredthe way you work on and on for our cause and although we make such little headway, you never seem to lose faith.'
Vhy should I? I have always believed anything is posale in America.'
'But I fear, Baron, the very men you are now trying to influence are the same ones who had allowed these things to take place. They will never do anything positive to free our people.'
'I do not understand what you mean, Professor,' said Abel. Vhy will they not help us?'
The professor leaned his back in his chair. 'You are surely aware, Baron, that the American armies were given specific orders to slow down their advance east to allow the Russians to take as much of central Europe as they could lay their hands on. Patton could have been in Berlin long before the Russians but Eisenhower told him to hold back. It was our leaders in Washington - the same men you are trying to ' persuade to put American guns and troops back into Europe - who gave those orders to Eisenhower!