Page 114 of The Gathering Storm

‘I thought you were managing it,’ Samuel said. He sounded tired.

‘Of course I’ll manage the overall scheme, but we’ll need someone on site to manage the day-to-day work. There will be sub-contractors to keep an eye on.’

‘Sub-contractors?’

‘It’s a big project, and firms up here are small. He’ll need to have others involved to get the capacity needed.’

Samuel stuck his chin down into his collar, a gesture of escape. ‘I feel as though I’m biting off more than I can chew. You got me all excited about Nevinson’s Holiday Village, but I never realised it would be so complicated.’

‘It’s not complicated,’ Richard said cheerfully. ‘It just has to be organised, and I’m more than happy to do that. Honestly, you can leave it all to me, and be no more involved than you want to be. I’m not feeling at all daunted.’

Samuel eyed him. ‘You look as though you’re thriving on it.’

‘I am,’ Richard said, and then, tactfully, ‘that and marriage. I’m afraid my wife is feeding me too well – I’m putting on weight.’

Samuel laughed, and some of the strain left his face. ‘I thought you looked as if you’d been on good grazing. Cynthia learned from the best – Hannah is a wonderful cook.’

‘I know, sir. And Cynthia is taking after her.’

‘How are things at home, now she’s come back to work? Have you got the servant problem sorted out?’

‘We’ve got just the one girl, but she can manage, with all those wonderful gadgets you gave us. Electric carpet-sweeper, electric iron and so on. Oh, and the electric refrigerator is a marvel. I’d never seen one before.’

Samuel looked pleased. ‘It’s an economy in the long run, because it cuts down spoilage. I wanted to get one for Hannah, but she prefers the old ways. I think she’s a little bit afraid of electricity, if truth be known,’ he added confidingly.

‘Well, Cynthia loves it,’ Richard said, glad to have got his father-in-law on to a happier topic. ‘She made a jelly for supper the other day and it set in no time in the refrigerator.’

Samuel was not to be distracted by jelly. ‘You’ve gone over all the figures, haven’t you?’ he said, after a brief pause. ‘And you’re convinced you can make this work?’

‘Yes. I think it could be the start of something big. I envisage an empire of holiday villages – with you as the emperor.’

‘Not me, my grandson,’ Samuel said. ‘Who I hope I’ll be holding in my arms before too long.’

Cynthia had obviously not shared her fears with her parents. Richard accepted the amendment without comment, and Samuel seemed happy not to probe further.

In the train on the return journey, however, he was quiet and thoughtful, and when finally he leaned forward and said, ‘I’ve something serious to talk to you about,’ Richard feared he might be about to be put on the spot about his failure to provide an heir.

Still, there was no help for it. ‘Yes, sir?’

Samuel took a moment in which he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Finally he said, ‘I want to be sure that if anything happens to me, you’ll take care of Cynthia.’

‘Of course I will,’ Richard said, puzzled.

‘And Hannah.’

‘Of course. I take my family responsibilities very seriously.’

‘Don’t take offence,’ Samuel said. ‘You’ve had other things on your mind lately, and you might not have realised how bad things are abroad.’

‘In Germany, you mean?’

‘It starts there, but it won’t finish there. I’m an old man, and my heart isn’t good these days. If I’m not still here when things go bad, I want to be sure you’ll take care of my Hannah and my Cynthia.’

‘This isn’t Germany. Things won’t go bad here,’ Richard said.

‘They went bad in Austria! Do you know the first thing they did in Vienna after Hitler marched in? They rounded up seventy thousand Jews, and marched them off to a concentration camp.’

‘I didn’t know,’ Richard said humbly.