not sweating. He can go on that way because I have no intention of making a move until I'm good and ready.'
'Fine,' said Henry. 'I'll keep you informed if anything comes up at this end that we should worry about.'
'You must get it through your head, Henry, there's nothing for us to worry about. We have your friend, Mr. Kane, by the balls, and I now intend to squeeze them very slowly.'
'I shall enjoy watchLing that,' said Henry, sounding a little happier.
'Sometimes I think you hate Kane more than I do.'
Henry laughed nervously. 'Have a good trip to Europe!
Abel put the phone back on the hook and sat staring into space as he considered his next move, his fingers still tapping noisily on the desk.
His secretary came in.
'Get Mr. Curtis Fenton at the Continental Trust Bank,' he said, without looking at her. His fingers continued to tap. His eyes continued to stare.
A few moments later the phone rang.
'Fenton?'
~Good morning, Mr. Rosnovski, how are you?'
'I want you to close all my accounts with your bank.'
There was no reply from the other end.
Tid you hear me, Fenton?'
'Yes,' said the stupefied banker. 'May I ask why, Mr. Rosnovski?'
'Because Judas never was my favourite apostle, Fenton, that's why. As of this moment, you are no longer on the board of the Baron Group. You will shortly receive written. instructions confirming this conversation and telling you to which bank the accounts should be transferTed.'
'But I don't understand why, Mr. Rosnovski. What have I done ... ?'
Abel hung up as his daughter walked into the offim 'That didn't sound very pleasant, Daddy.'
'It wasn't meant to be pleasant, but it's nothing to concern yourself with, darling,' said Abel, his tone changing immediately. 'Did you manage to find all the clothes you need for Europe?'
'Yes, thank you, Daddy, but I'm not absolutely sure what they're wearing in London and Paris. I can only hope that I've got it right. I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb.'
'You'll stick out all right, my darling, by being the most beautiful thing the British have seen in years. They'll know your clothes didn't come out of a nation book with your natural flair and sense of colour. Those young Europeans will be falling all over themselves to get alongside you, but I'll be there to stop them. Now let's go and have some lunch and discuss what we are going to do while we're in London!
Ten days later, after Florentyna had spent a long weekend with her mother - Abel never enquired after her - the two of them flew from New York's Idlewild Airport to London's Heathrow. The flight in a Boeing 377 took nearly fourteen hours, and although they had private berths, when they ar - rived at Claridges in Brook Street, the only thing they both wanted to do was have another long sleep.
Abel was making the trip to Europe for three reasons : first to confirm building contracts for new Baron hotels in London, Paris and possibly Rome; second, to give Florentyna her first view of Europe before she went to Radcliffe to study modem languages; and third, and most important to him, to revisit his castle in Poland to see if there was even an outside chance of proving his ownership.
London turned out to be a success for both of them.
Abel's advisors had found a site on Hyde Park comer, and he instructed solicitors to proceed immediately with all the negotiations for the land and the permits that would be needed before England's capital could boast a Baron. Florentyna found the austerity of post - war London forbidding after the excess of her own home, but the Londoners seemed to be undaunted by their war' - damaged city, still believing themselves to be a world power. She was invited to lunches, dinners and balls, and her father was proved right about her taste in clothes and the reaction of young European men. She returned each night with sparkling eyes and stories of new conquests made - and forgotten by the following morning. She couldn't make up her mind whether she wanted to marry an Etonian from the Grenadier Guards who saluted her all the time or a member of the House of Lords who was in waiting to the King. She wasn't quite sure what 'in waiting' meant, but he certainly knew exactly how to treat a lady.
In Paris, the pace never slackened and because they both spoke good French, they both managed as