Be Careful What You Wish For: The Clifton Chronicles 4 by Jeffrey Archer Read Free Book Online Page A

control twenty-two per cent
of the stock.’
    ‘But by then, Martinez might also have acquired twenty-two per cent, or possibly even more, because we know for a fact that he’s still purchasing Barrington’s shares as and
when they come on the market. And I think we can assume, when it comes to chairman, he’ll have another candidate in mind.’

6
    W HEN E MMA walked into the boardroom that Friday morning, she was not surprised to find the majority of her fellow directors were
already present. Only death would have been an acceptable excuse for non-attendance at this particular meeting; what Giles would have called a three-line whip.
    The chairman was chatting to Rear Admiral Summers. Clive Anscott, no surprise, was deep in conversation with his golfing partner, Jim Knowles, who had already informed Emma that they would both
be supporting the chairman when it came to the vote. Emma joined Andy Dobbs and David Dixon, both of whom had made it clear that they would be backing her.
    Philip Webster, the company secretary, and Michael Carrick, the finance director, were studying the naval architect’s plans for the proposed luxury liner, which had been laid out on the
boardroom table alongside something Emma had never seen before, a scale model of the MV
Buckingham
. She had to admit, it looked very seductive, and boys do like toys.
    ‘It’s going to be a close-run thing,’ Andy Dobbs was saying to Emma when the boardroom door opened and the tenth director made his entrance.
    Alex Fisher remained by the door. He looked a little nervous, like a new bug on his first day of term who wonders if any of the other boys will talk to him. The chairman immediately broke away
from his group and crossed the room to greet him. Emma watched as Ross shook hands with the major formally, and not as if he was greeting a respected colleague. When it came to Fisher, they shared
the same opinion of the man.
    When the grandfather clock in the corner of the room began to chime ten, conversations immediately ceased, and the directors took their allocated places around the boardroom table. Fisher, like
a wallflower at a church dance, remained standing until there was only one empty seat left, as if they were playing Musical Chairs. He slipped into the vacant chair opposite Emma, but didn’t
look in her direction.
    ‘Good morning,’ said the chairman once everyone had settled. ‘Can I open this meeting by welcoming back Major Fisher to our ranks as a director?’
    Only one person managed a muffled, ‘Hear, hear,’ but then, he hadn’t been on the board when Fisher had first served as a director.
    ‘This will of course be the major’s second stint on the board, so he will be accustomed to our ways, and to the loyalty we all expect from any board member when representing this
great company.’
    ‘Thank you, Mr Chairman,’ responded Fisher. ‘And I’d like to say how delighted I am to be back on the board. Let me assure you that I will always do what I consider to be
in Barrington’s best interests.’
    ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ said the chairman. ‘However, it is my duty to remind you, as I do every new board member, that it is against the law for a director to buy or sell
any of the company’s shares without first informing the Stock Exchange, as well as the company secretary.’
    If Fisher felt this barbed arrow had been aimed at him, it failed to hit the target, because he simply nodded and smiled, even though Mr Webster assiduously recorded the chairman’s words
in the minutes. Emma was, at least, glad it was on the record this time.
    Once the minutes of the last meeting had been read and approved, the chairman said, ‘Members of the board cannot have failed to notice that there is only one item on the agenda for
today’s meeting. As you all know, I feel the time has come to make a decision that will, and I believe I do not exaggerate, decide the future of Barrington’s, and perhaps the future of
one or two of