Polls Apart by Clare Stephen-Johnston Read Free Book Online

had been some real lows before that as he had been forced to get to grips with the enormity of her past.
    They had been getting ready for a charity dinner when Henry had called Richard on his mobile to deliver the news about the story that would shortly hit the streets. Anna had watched her husband’s face turn ashen white with a mixture of panic and anger as he absorbed the full implications of what he was being told. Henry had advised them to stay in the house and not answer the door or telephone until he got there. With those words he effectively sentenced the two of them to spend the next hour caged with each other while the British press set up stall outside. Richard had been too afraid to shout in case they heard him so instead he paced the floor, ranting quietly to himself over and over. “That’s it,” he kept saying. “Everything I’ve worked for – my and my family’s lifelong dream – gone. Just gone and there’s not a thing I can do about it.”
    Anna’s feelings lurched from overwhelming guilt about her past to uncontrollable anger at the fact Richard was being so insensitive to her. And as he paced in front of her for what must have been the hundredth time, she finally snapped.
    “Some social conscience you’ve got, Richard. You preach about helping those in need, about us all being equal, but not in your own home. Poverty forced me to take that job, remember. We weren’t all born middle class, Richard. Some of us have had to sell ourselves just to get out of the shit into which we were landed.”
    She had cried then, long and hard. She had been humiliated and degraded in front of her husband and the whole country. But worst of all, she had been reminded. Richard had looked on anxiously for a while, before eventually kneeling in front of her and taking her head into his hands. “It’s not your fault, Anna. And I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. I know your life was hell. I just wish we could make people understand.”
    “Why can’t we?” Anna had asked. “Why don’t we just tell the truth about everything that happened? Then people would understand why I had to take a job like that.”
    Richard’s face had taken a stony turn. “We can’t do that,” he’d replied, shaking his head. “That’s just way too risky.”
    “So we just stay quiet and let the world think I’m a tart?” Her eyes explored his, urging him to see her position.
    “Henry will think of something,” was all he could muster in response.
    Sitting in her armchair staring at the rabble outside, Anna knew Richard had a choice. He could stand by her and use her plight to demonstrate just why the SDP had to win, or he could cut her off and put personal gain over just cause. She thought of the man she’d fallen for at the theatre awards ceremony seven years ago where Richard had presented Anna with her “Best Actress” trophy. It had not been the first time they’d met, but the difference that night was they were both single and looking for a new partner. She had been attracted by his sharp mind and sense of social justice, and he – so he had told her – had been instantly hooked on the sound of her laughter, her ease within her own skin, and the way she managed to turn the head of every other man in the room without seeming to notice. Anna had thought they made the perfect pair. They had talked of being an indestructible force in politics.
    Sitting in her armchair, waiting for her husband to make his announcement on the steps of Bristol College, she felt sure he would remember all they’d set out to conquer together. They would get through this, she knew they would.
    Henry glanced nervously at his watch as he waited for Richard to finish his meet and greet with the college staff and students. He needed to get clear of them within the next two minutes if they were to start the announcement by five-past one which would mean they’d get a live slot right at the top of the lunchtime news programmes. As Richard