Page 75 of Private Lives

Helen returned his gaze, challenging him.

‘What makes you think we talk about you at all, Simon?’ she said, flirting gently with him.

Fiona insisted on introducing Simon to a Cabinet minister, and as they drifted off, Helen saw Graham staring at her through the crowd. She tried to smile back openly, and Graham reciprocated by nodding. She’d be damned if people could see the strains in their marriage tonight. Then again, they weren’t the only ones. She could count a dozen couples in this room tonight who, behind closed doors, slept in separate bedrooms, had affairs, but to the outside world were devoted, successful couples.

‘Why so glum, young lady?’ Helen turned to see a rather stout man in a navy blazer and cravat smiling at her. ‘This is your party, isn’t it? You can’t go around moping at such a splendid bash.’

Helen laughed. Timothy Hartnell was a former banking lawyer on the board of one of the big City investment giants.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘You know how it is, you never enjoy your own parties, always worrying whether everyone’s having a good time.’

‘Look around, dear girl,’ said Timothy, gesturing with his brandy glass. ‘It’s the party of the season, so have a drink and relax.’

Helen saluted him with her champagne and smiled. ‘To relaxing.’

‘Which brings me to dear old Larry,’ said Timothy. ‘How is it without him bellowing in your ear every five minutes?’

‘It’s quieter, I’ll give you that.’ She wanted to add that it was also cheaper; the cigars Larry had couriered to the office from Davidoff in St James’s, the cases of claret he would send out to favoured clients, the mysterious entries for ‘fruit and flowers’ on the company accounts – Helen was sure they would save hundreds of thousands before the end of the year. But of course Timothy had often been a recipient of Larry’s largesse, so she bit her tongue.

Timothy took her elbow and pulled her closer.

‘What I want to know is why you didn’t buy him out,’ he said with a hint of mischief. ‘We all thought the firm would become Pierce’s.’

‘You’re the second person to say that in five minutes.’

It was another painful reminder of her corporate blindsiding earlier in the summer. Of course Larry had given her the opportunity to buy out his shareholding – he had to; it was in the partnership agreement. But the clause had given her just a twenty-one-day window to agree to the deal and come up with the money. With a bumper year in profits, the firm had been valued at twice the amount she had anticipated, and in the current financial climate she hadn’t been able to get her hands on the requisite cash fast enough.

‘I didn’t even know he had a son in the business.’

‘Matthew’s background is family law. He’s very good,’ she said thinly. ‘We want to provide a wrap-around service fo

r our high-net-worth individuals.’

Timothy chuckled and took a sip of his brandy. ‘Save it for the brochure, m’dear.’ He smiled. ‘I can imagine it’s a pain in the bum. After all, you don’t want to cloud your brand, do you?’

Helen frowned. ‘Cloud the brand?’

‘Oh, I’ve seen it happen with other firms,’ said Timothy. ‘They start taking on too many areas of practice and dilute the reason people come to them. Donovan Pierce are a specialist defamation practice, top of the pile in your field. But start adding too many other bits, Johnny Footballer might get confused.’

Helen took a deep breath through her nose, not wanting Timothy to see how furious all this made her. Was that how people were beginning to see Donovan Pierce – as a diluting brand?

‘I don’t think that will happen, Tim,’ she said quickly.

‘Really? People are starting to talk.’

Hartnell’s opinion was one of the few she valued. She’d have fought harder against Matthew’s appointment to the firm, but she had secretly seen the value in growing the business. Her ego wanted the firm to be Pierce’s, but her business smarts told her it was better to have a forty per cent stake in a much bigger pie.

‘Having Larry Donovan head up the firm gave you muscle. But having his lightweight family-law son on board doesn’t bring much to the table, does it?’

Helen was furious at the suggestion that she couldn’t bring enough gravitas to the firm for both of them.

‘Per employee, Donovan Pierce is one of the top-performing law firms in the country.’

‘Then what do you need Donovan for?’ Timothy said sharply. ‘Get rid of him. He’s not growing your business, he’s harming it.’

The thought that one of Europe’s top financial brains thought that about her firm made Helen shiver.

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