She replaced the receiver, then felt dreadful. She knew she was taking out her own anxiety on the poor woman-but what she had said to her was true.
Just after three she drove away from the estate to do some shopping.
De Jersey got home at five o’clock. He stashed the wig and mustache in a briefcase and hurried toward the house. He seemed calm and collected, but his adrenaline was still pumping. When Christina returned from her shopping, he had bathed and changed, and was in the kitchen.
“You’re back,” she said.
“I am, my darling. We have a date tonight, don’t we?”
“The girls’ play, yes. I thought, with all your problems, you might have forgotten it.” She walked past him to unpack the groceries.
He turned, surprised at her tone. “You make it sound as if I’m in the doghouse,” he said.
“You are, if you must know.” She joined him at the table. “I might as well tell you, because you’ll find out soon enough.”
“Find out what?”
“I was in your study and broke…” She paused. She looked at him, frowning, then leaned forward and rubbed his sideburns. “You’ve got glue or something stuck to your face.”
He backed away. “It’s shaving lotion. Go on, what have you broken?”
“I haven’t broken anything,” she said petulantly, then faced him angrily. “Please stop treating me like a child. I broke into your desk drawers.”
He hesitated a moment. “Really? And why did you do that?”
Christina chewed her lip, then took a deep breath. “I don’t know-no, I do. I’m sick of your lies. I just wanted to know what was going on.”
“When was this?”
“Does it really matter? Anyway, what I found upset me. I wanted to discuss it with you face-to-face. That’s why I didn’t mention it to you when you called. Why didn’t you tell me, for God’s sake? If you can’t be honest with me after all these years… You’re virtually bankrupt!” Christina said.
De Jersey relaxed a little. “Why don’t we go and sit in the drawing room and you can tell me about it.”
“You go ahead,” she said. “I’ll make some tea.” He nodded and walked out.
She took a deep breath. Her nerves were in shreds, but she was determined not to let him off the hook this time.
De Jersey listened as Christina detailed her discoveries. “I don’t understand why you would need fake passports.”
“I’ve been using aliases off and on for years. It’s been a sort of ploy to allow me to move in and out of the horse auctions without my real name attached.”
“That can’t be the reason,” she said angrily. “You even had passports for me and the girls, all in false names. There are recent stamps in one passport to New York. You never told me you’d been to New York. What’s going on?”
“I didn’t know I’d be going there myself, and I got the passports for you and the girls just in case you accompanied me on one of these undercover buying trips. You know I hate being apart from you. That’s the only reason.”
“So what were you doing in New York?”
De Jersey decided to come partially clean. “I went to see the man who ruined me. I didn’t want it to get out that I had.”
“Why not?”
“He used me, Christina. As you know, he let his company go belly up and consequently did the same to my whole life.”
“So you went to see him?”
“Yes, but I used a different name because I didn’t want to alarm him or forewarn him. Turned out he still had some of my money invested in some properties out there. He was a cheap con man. I caught him just about to skip the country for South America. He got scared I’d get the cops on to him, so he coughed up. Not all of it, just a fraction, really, but enough to keep my head above water for a while.”
“Does Sylvia know?”
“No. If I’d told her I would have had to pay her off, and then the other creditors would be hounding me for their cut too. This way, I got some of my losses back and Moreno took off, I hope never to be seen again.” He shrugged.
“So how are things now, financially?” she asked.
“Well, not good, but they’re a hell of a lot better with Moreno’s cash. At least I’m not forced to sell this place, which I would have been if I hadn’t got to the bastard.”
“Did you have to do it illegally?”
“Of course. I had to carry the money back into England in a suitcase, which is another reason I thanked God I’d used a false name. It was all done to protect us. Legal or not, I did it, but who is Moreno going to cry to? Not the police. He’s the criminal, not me. He committed a massive fraud that bankrupted a lot of people. I know I’ve told you a few lies, but darling, I had to do this on the spur of the moment. I didn’t have any time to waste, and the fewer people who knew of my intentions the better.”
“On the spur of the moment? Do you think I’m stupid? Some of the dates on the passports go back years. And who is this Michael Shaughnessy character?”
“Well, having a fake identity worked once, so I did it a few times. As I said, it was to protect myself. You buy horses in Ireland and it’s all over the Racing News! The fewer people know what I’m doing the better.”
“But I’m your wife!”
“And if I hadn’t pulled it off, you’d have been run through the mill with me. I was only trying to protect you.”
“Treat me like an idiot, more like,” she snapped.
“If that’s what you call protection, then yes. I didn’t want to involve you in case it went wrong. I might have been arrested at Heathrow with the cash. Fortunately I wasn’t, so there was no harm done. I also couldn’t put the cash into a bank because I’d be hauled up for taxes. But we’re not bankrupt yet, my darling, so as I said, no harm done.”
“There is, though.” He frowned at her. “You’ve made me feel inadequate and helpless. You were in trouble when we went to Monaco, but you never discussed it with me and instead bought me expensive gifts as if nothing was wrong, when all the time you were in dire trouble. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“Loved?” He laughed, but she turned away angrily.
“No, foolish. But it is still not making sense to me. For instance, you’ve sold Bandit Queen, and Fleming thinks she’s been bought by this Michael Shaughnessy, which is the name on one of your passports. But that doesn’t make sense because it’s really you, isn’t it? The passport had your photograph in it.”
“Correct. It’s simple. If I went bankrupt, Bandit Queen would have been part and parcel of the debts. This way I still own her.”
“But she was mine! You bought her for me!”
“Well, that’s true, but she still is in a way.” He got up, put his arms around her, and kissed her neck. “You’ve had so much to deal with recently, with your mother’s death. I just didn’t want to worry you. And”-he looked at his watch-“if we don’t get a move on, we’ll both be in the doghouse because we’ll be late for the girls’ production.”
She nodded and kissed him, then touched his face. “That is such a weird smell, like glue. Next you’ll tell me you’re really as bald as a coot and you’re wearing a wig.” He grinned, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her out of the room. The phone rang, and she shrieked, “Don’t answer it! It’ll be Helen Lyons.”
He carried her up the stairs and set her down midway. His knee was throbbing. The phone rang and rang. He wanted to answer it in case it concerned him, but Christina caught his hand.
“She’s called every other day. She’s trying to get me to contact her sister for her.”
“Why?” He looked over the banister rail to the hall table below, where the phone still rang.
“Because when she found out David and Sylvia were having an affair, she said she was never going to speak to her again. She asked me to call her on her behalf. Did you know about it?”