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“Since I spoke to you yesterday evening,” said Mellor, “one or two of ues have pointed out that the company’s statutes allow a boardfor office Reluctantly, I allowed them to convince me that I should do so”

“But you gave me your word”

“I did call you at ho, chairman, but the line was always busy”

Not so Emma was able to contradict She sank back into her chair

Mr Webster carefully double-checked the list, but Emma already knew the result and its consequences

“By a vote of five to four, Mr Mellor is elected deputy chairman”

Some people around the table smiled and said, “Hear, hear” Others remained silent

Seb had been right She should have voted against Mellor in the first place, and then she could have defeated hi vote But where was Seb, whose vote would have made that unnecessary? How could he have let her dohen shethe chair a mother Was it possible her son had been involved in another dreadful accident? Eain She’d far rather lose the vote than …

“Item number two,” said the company secretary “To select a launch date for the MV Bal period for her e to New York”

“Before wefrom his place to deliver a speech that had also been well prepared, “I consider it nothing less than my duty to remind the board that Mrs Clifton is about to face a most unpleasant trial that has already attracted considerable media attention Of course, we all hope, and expect, that our chairainst her However, should Lady Virginia Fenwick succeed in proving her case, obviously Mrs Clifton would have to consider her position With that in ht be prudent for her to temporarily, and I stress the word temporarily, step down as chairman until the trial is over” He paused for a moment and looked at each of his fellow directors in turn before adding, “I hope it won’t be necessary to call a vote on this occasion”

Emma could sense that if it was put to a vote, the board were, with one or two exceptions, broadly in agreeathered up her things and quietly left the room

Mellor was about to move into her chair when Admiral Summers rose from his place, and fixed him with a stare as if he were a Ger, “This is not the board I joined twenty years ago, and I no longer care to be a member of it”

As he left the rooham and David Dixon joined him

When the door closed behind them, Mellor turned to Knowles and said, “That’s a bonus I hadn’t anticipated”

SEBASTIAN CLIFTON