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suggesting that we should do all that and still leave you with a controlling interest?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Athina, ‘I am. Without us there will be no House of Farrell for Mrs Bailey to, er, develop.’
    Walter Pemberton cleared his throat; it was clear this was the moment he had been waiting for. ‘Our position on majority shareholding is non-negotiable. Absolutely non-negotiable.’
    Bianca sat in silence as the negotiations went on, enjoying the rhythm, the exchanges of power, realising which victories were important, which window dressing, waiting for the kill. It was half past eight now and she marvelled at Lady Farrell, who appeared as fresh and as razor-brained as she had been seven hours earlier. Caro too had stayed the course, although she had contributed little; Florence had remained alert, but said even less. Bertie was clearly, within the family, the least important member: never consulted, his mildest opinion brusquely swept away by Lady Farrell. But she noticed something else too; a couple of arguments, one on the location of the factory, another on the advisability or otherwise of relocating the offices, were shrewd. He was undervalued, she realised, not to be written off lightly.
    ‘Right,’ said Mike Russell, after a lengthy discussion and a part-victory over company reconstruction, ‘I think we’re getting somewhere. But we do still have to solve this problem of the shareholdings. Lady Farrell – you’re still adamant?’
    ‘Absolutely. This is our company, and our company it will remain.’
    ‘Perhaps you would excuse us for a moment,’ said Mike. ‘Hugh . . .’
    They left the room and Bianca, left with the Farrells, smiled at them.
    ‘Lovely room,’ she said, looking round at the tall windows, the shutters, the fine Edwardian fireplace, the polished floor. ‘I wish all boardrooms were as pleasant.’
    ‘We pride ourselves on our buildings,’ said Athina. ‘My husband set up the House of Farrell in this very room. I don’t suppose you’ve been to our shop in the Berkeley Arcade. That too is very special.’
    ‘I have indeed been,’ said Bianca, ‘but only to look in from the outside. It’s lovely. Quite charming.’
    ‘And it has a value to the brand that is inestimable,’ said Athina, ‘in terms of image, and customer loyalty. A journalist once wrote in Vogue that it was the heartbeat of Farrell’s. I wonder if you would agree with that?’ Her tone was defensive.
    ‘Lady Farrell, it would be impertinent of me either to agree or disagree,’ said Bianca, smiling at her. ‘I simply don’t know enough of Farrell’s at this stage to comment in any detail on anything. But I thought it was a delightful place.’ She smiled at Florence. ‘I believe it is your headquarters. How nice that must be for you.’
    ‘It is indeed.’
    Mike and Hugh returned.
    ‘Right,’ said Mike, ‘this is what we propose in broad outline and by way of a compromise. You will keep your fifty-one per cent of the shares, we will take forty per cent and Bianca and the new finance director we will be appointing will have nine per cent between them.’
    ‘Mrs Bailey will have shares in the company?’ Lady Farrell’s tone implied this was tantamount to handing over the entire control of the British government to the Monster Raving Loony party. ‘Why on earth should she be given shares? I understood she was to be an employee.’
    ‘Lady Farrell, I do assure you there would be no question of Bianca coming on board at all without her having shares. That is always one of the bases of these deals.’
    ‘But – why?’
    ‘Because she is ultimately the person who will be responsible for making the company profitable once more. Saving it, indeed. I do not use that word lightly. No salary could reflect the contribution she will be making, nor indeed the risk involved.’
    ‘Well, I’m not sure that we could agree to that. Allowing you a share is reasonable, of course. And I suppose the finance