Princes Gate Read Online Free PDF

no time to waste.”
    “It’s about the arrangements, sir.”
    “What arrangements?”
    “You know. With the girls. Those arrangements. I need…”
    A loud bang sounded from nearby and Norton jumped.
    “Only a car exhaust, sir.”
    “Look, I can’t talk now. Let’s have a word tomorrow.”
    “When?”
    “I’ll meet you in that pub just around the corner from the embassy – no, then again, let’s meet a little further afield. St. James’s Park, at the entrance nearest The Ritz. Say at about midday. You can get away then, can’t you? With the Ambassador away you can’t have much to do at the moment.”
    “Yes, sir. I’ll get away somehow.”
    “Very well. So, good night.”
    “There’s one thing that can’t wait.”
    “What, Goddamit?”
    “The money, sir.”
    “We can discuss that tomorrow.”
    “No, sir. I need some now. I want what’s due. You know the amount.” Morgan’s voice now had a steely edge.
    Norton paused for a second before reaching into his trouser pocket. “Lucky for you I’m carrying some cash.”
    “I knew a fine gentleman like yourself would be carrying cash on a night out on the town, sir. Better watch out for ruffians, though. Plenty of them about in the blackout.”
    Norton handed over some notes then hurried away towards Berkeley Square, while Morgan turned into The Running Footman to check that he hadn’t been short-changed.
    Norton’s destination was an imposing house at the end of a side-street behind Claridges. It was a large Georgian property fronted by a fountain, in which various pop-eyed sea-creatures spouted water over a gang of winged cherubs. A uniformed flunkey let him in to a brightly-lit marbled hall, where a pretty woman with a coquettish smile broke off from her conversation with a very tall but stooped elderly man.
    “Lady Pelham. A pleasure to see you again. Thank you for having me.”
    “The pleasure is all ours, Mr Norton. Reginald, say hello to Mr Norton, you remember, from the American Embassy.”
    “Welcome, welcome. Jolly nice to see you again.” Lord Pelham inclined his shining cranium, which was completely bald save for a fringe of white hairs that stuck out untidily over the back of his neck. Norton guessed that he had a good thirty years on his wife, a striking woman with film-star looks, whose clinging pale-blue evening dress stunningly highlighted the shapely contours which lay beneath. Norton eyed his hostess’ diamond-bedecked décolletage appreciatively and wondered whether his lordship was able to take full advantage of his luck in having such an engaging partner.
    Reginald Pelham had been a Cabinet Minister long ago. One of his ancestors had been a side-kick of the warrior Duke of Marlborough and had secured rich pickings from this relationship. His lordship had a fabulous stately pile in Oxfordshire, where Norton had recently been a guest at a most enjoyable weekend party. Pelham had only recently married, after many years as a bachelor. An ambitious as well as an attractive woman, Diana Pelham, making good use of her husband’s wealth and position and her own not insignificant connections, had embarked on a campaign to establish herself as a leading society hostess.
    “Come, Mr Norton. Won’t you join the rest of our party? We are a small gathering tonight but I believe you will find the company stimulating.” Lord Pelham nodded in the direction of a door just behind him. Norton followed his hosts into a large wood-panelled room, where he was immediately offered a champagne cocktail by a waiter. “Let me introduce you to our other guests.”
    Glancing quickly around the room he recognised some faces from his Oxfordshire weekend. Lady Pelham guided him towards two men standing by the fireplace. “I believe you know Major St. John…”
    “Norton, hello, hello. And how’s that fine Ambassador of yours keeping?” Major Edward St. John was a stocky, white-haired man, whose bright red nose bore testament to his close affinity