Chapter 13

Suzanne fidgeted beside Andrew as they walked into the North British just before 7.30. He had arrived home first but she arrived a few minutes after him. She took his request in her stride and looked lovely in a new dress, not purchased for the occasion but perfect nonetheless. Her nerves only came out as they walked into the lobby and she clasped his hand but otherwise she looked beautiful and had an appearance of calm. The Duke and Duchess had only just arrived themselves and Andrew and Suzanne were shown to their table immediately. After the greetings and pleasantries were dealt with, it was the Duchess who moved the conversation forward.

“There is no agenda tonight. We enjoyed your company at the wedding last year and since we were in town I thought it was an opportunity to enjoy dinner together, and indulge our curiosity.”

She was very good at leading the conversation. It was clear that she did the talking and he did the listening. The Duke was not silent but let his wife broach subjects. It was a little hard work at first but as the wine flowed the conversation became easier.

“I presume that you have never met the rest of the guests at the wedding since then?”

“Other than our table and Julian’s parents that is correct. There was a significant generation gap at the wedding, the two of us were the youngest people there. It was never likely that our paths would cross.”

“Do you not find that people want to talk to you all the time?”

“Never. I am an engineering student at Cambridge University. I study hard and socialise with the same small group of friends.”

“Do you not want your achievements recognised?”

Andrew looked at the Duchess with interest.

“I try to make a difference and am content to do that without any publicity. I have absolutely no desire to be in the public spotlight. Do you not wish there were times that you could have dinner without being stared at?”

“Touché. That is true. But I, we, are in a position of privilege and it is the price that we have to pay.”

“I prefer to live an anonymous life, other than being tall, I am not very remarkable.”

“But you are helping do remarkable things.”

“I fail to see how they are connected. I am a student living in a flat in Edinburgh and driving a Golf. If I bragged about my possessions or the things that I have been involved with, my life would be very different. Do you not go through life wondering about the people you meet, what they want, whether they like you for you? Without being impertinent the son of a Duke who is now the current Duke ended up married to the daughter of a Duke and the sister of the current Duke.”

She looked thoughtful and, Andrew was glad to see, not upset.

“You are these things through birth. I am the son of a teacher and social worker, the grandson of a butler and a bus driver, what I have achieved I have done while hiding behind a veil of anonymity. The thought of that veil being removed fills me with horror. It is not the nature of my personality.”

“It is a remarkably unfashionable position to take. I applaud it, and I hope that you can keep it for as long as possible.”

“Leslie knows that our success will lead to enquiries. She is resigned but not unhappy to being the public face of the Trusts. But this is her life, her passion. For Julian and I life changed the day we invited Leslie over to review our software. None of this would be possible without the three of us together but the business brain, the person that drove Julian and I hard to develop the software was Leslie. And she is the one who is carrying it forward in terms of managing the money that we made. Julian is starting another software company and I still have two years to go in my degree.”

“You say that want to keep making a difference. Have you considered politics?”

“Lord no, not once. Despite knowing a surprising number of politicians I know I am not suited to it, almost entirely unelectable and even if by some miracle I was elected would not be a very good politician.”

“Guy and I wondered if you were considering a career in politics, yet you seem adamantly against it.”

Susan was sitting back watching Andrew squirm.

“By far the biggest issue is that I am not interested in meeting people. Now that sounds positively misanthropic and I suppose there is an element of that in my personality. I would rather know a few people well than be acquainted with lots of people. My friend Helena stood for, and was elected as, Vice-President of the Student Union at Trinity and she is always off chatting to people, introducing herself, listening to their concerns, or as I would see it their whinges. That just is not me. At university there is an idealistic and unrealistic streak to most students. I do not have time for such inanities. I also do not do a good job of hiding my disdain at people which doesn’t help.”

They laughed at Andrew’s accurate description of himself.

“Those are harsh words to say about your fellow students, and yourself.”

“One of the things I say about going from Heriot’s to Cambridge is that I have lived in a bubble. It is only when you get outside that bubble that you gain an understanding of the world, or at least that is what I found.”

Andrew talked about Peggy’s Café, the only gownie that any of the other customers met, he talked about the week at Bassingbourn and the casual brutality of the recruits and of their training, he even talked about meeting Annie and Glenda from working in Cyprus. And most of all he talked about Maggie and Tony

“I have had choices, I still have many choices ahead of me, too many sometimes and I find it hard to choose my path. How do I relate to people that have had no choice? That feel trapped in a situation or a job. How do I empathise with that? I would rather try to change some people’s lives directly, a few at a time, as opposed to being a politician.”

Andrew was beginning to wonder if they had been sent to scope out his interest in standing for office. He thought he had been pretty clear. They moved away from that and Suzanne took her turn in the spotlight, talking about her course, her last two summers with the Forestry Commission. They were more than politely interested in her thoughts on rural development, this was their life. This was also the Duke’s passion and he was much more engaged.

“It is interesting that you are seeing this through a Geography degree and summer experience. Some of the challenges almost need an engineering solution to complete the geographical or environmental considerations.”

Suzanne and Andrew looked at each other for several seconds.

“That is incredible. Andrew and I have talked about this on and off for more than a year but we never put it together like that. Some of the issues do need an engineering solution.”

Suzanne giggled.

“If only Andrew was not so obsessed with blowing things up and concentrated on building them instead.”

Talk about a line guaranteed to incite a follow up question. So he quickly explained about his interest in structural strength and blast proofing. Things got nice and messy for a few minutes as the Duke spoke to Suzanne regarding some of the buildings or projects that she had seen while up north and the Duchess asked him some follow ups about his interest in structures and their strength.

The dinner was interesting, it never quite got to enjoyable, there was still a sense of theatre to it, but the evening did not drag. It was disconcerting to realise that they were on friendly terms with them, not friends but more than acquaintances. Sometimes you just had to shake your head. When he and Suzanne got back to the flat there was a collective sigh of relief. They undressed and spooned together in bed. Neither one of them initiated anything and they crashed minutes after getting comfortable.

Rather than shower after swimming they ran across to the flat and jumped straight back into bed. The sense of compatibility, the falling back into a routine of endless ball-draining sex, that morning just reinforced all those things. The pace was not as frantic as earlier in the week and they even discussed the previous evening as Suzanne lay recovering on him.

“Do you think they find us interesting? It was an odd evening, and there didn’t appear to be a reason for the dinner other than just to catch up. I am sure the peerage doesn’t ‘catch up’, but you know what I mean. Do you think they were fishing to see if you were interested in a career in politics?”

“I thought that too but Edith Rifkind knows what I am like, she and I spoke for a long time at Leslie’s engagement party. Her husband is an MP and a minister, they would have been the obvious pair. There are political societies at most of the Colleges and a lot of politicians were active members of the Union. I never go near any of that stuff. What did strike me was their surprise at not making a fuss about everything we have done. Are people so self-promoting these days and I just missed it? Even the modelling which I will be the first to admit is hardly shy and retiring, I still hide behind a pseudonym and a company that exists on paper only.”

He briefly explained about Andrew Bressay and Shetland Models.

“Only you would be happy showing your arse to the world and yet be shy and reserved about it.”

40 minutes later than usual Andrew wandered into the offices waved hello to Morag, Leslie and Julian but carried on to see Creighton. After the discussion about the distillery he wanted to talk to him. Creighton listened as Andrew went through all the maths from the day before, then took over.

“Each share in total will cost £125,000 and maybe as high as £150,000 over the remaining eight years and everyone has paid £75,000 so far. You, Julian and Leslie together own four shares. Other than this building it is the only thing that you all own together. It is a not a significant portion of your net wealth, but you still have to fund £100,000 each over the next eight years. But you are earning a lot of money from various sources so you could afford it. Getting to the point in eight years where there is whisky to sell is achievable, what I don’t know is whether there will be a market for the whisky. If the whisky sells well then this is a hugely profitable business but I have my concerns. Mhairi and I have talked about this and we are committed to staying the course with our one share but we are not going to invest further.”

“How big a discount should I offer to the guys who want out?”

“£25,000 so you would pay no more than £50,000 for each share. They will scream bloody murder at first but will come back when it is time to pay this year’s subscription.”

“I will talk to Leslie and Julian and see what they say. I will let you know if we are adding to our combined position or I am buying this personally.”

As Creighton said, the three of them could afford it. The stock market was booming and his wealth kept increasing, substantially. Other than occasional presents he really didn’t spend any money and had no expensive vices, being slutty was remarkably cheap. Of the £40m they received, round sums, the Medical Research Trust got £25m and each of them made £5m which after tax meant they had £2.5m. Then they gave away a further £1m each to start the Endowment Trust. And after all the purchases, spending, houses, cars, everything, they each still had substantially more than £2.0m two and a half years later. The dictum of having money to make money was absolutely true. The royalty income was the largest part of that. Even after paying 50% tax Andrew had still received more than £150,000 in royalties from Siemens and ComputerCom.

As for the distillery, in the end they bought four additional shares. Two they got at a significant discount as the guys wanted out and the other two were more complicated. They bought out two more guys but then the final guy who was wavering sold each of them a third of his share back to them so that the three of them combined owned one share. They all wanted to stay in but were worried about the cost. So they had eight of sixteen shares in a distillery, a cash drain for eight more years with no idea at the end of it if they would ever make any money. They used to joke that all their friends would be getting whisky as birthday and Christmas presents for evermore if they couldn’t sell it. But that was the last of the drama with the investors. The costs did rise mildly and after ten years each share had paid in just over £140,000, £2.25m altogether.

Leslie felt guilty about taking a day off so soon after returning from her honeymoon but Suzanne came down late in the morning and it did not take too much arm twisting for her to agree to skipping the rest of the day with Suzanne. It was not just Andrew that Suzanne was reconnecting with. Andrew went down to the shop and developed the three rolls of film for Elspeth. He put the prints in an album for her before wrapping it up. She and Donnie could have fun opening their present later. He and Tony waited for Maggie before swinging by and collecting Julian for dinner. Suzanne had made a great dinner and it was nice not to eat takeout at the flat for once. It was a night of revelations for Maggie and Tony. They had heard about the wedding but didn’t know the extent of Andrew’s society connections.

“I still can’t get over the fact that the Duke and Duchess had dinner with you, just for no reason. It was almost a social thing.”

“I was sitting in Drummonds’ reception on Tuesday afternoon and she walks out with Drummond himself. I didn’t even notice, I had my head down thinking about something, but she came over and said hello. The whole evening was more casual than a business meeting but less relaxed than this. I really don’t understand it.”

There was 10 minutes of background as to how Andrew knew them.

“Yes, but you called them on it at the dinner table Andrew. It is difficult to get to know people when you worry if they have an agenda. A Duke marries the daughter of another Duke, it is all a bit Regency romance. Andrew called them on it when they were asking why he didn’t shout his achievements from the rooftops.”

“You told them off?”

Leslie was going to be a scary mother.

“No. They were wondering why I didn’t shout from the rooftops about everything we have done and I said I didn’t want to live my life that way, not knowing whether people liked me for who I was rather than how rich or famous I was. It is hardly an uncommon concern. When the Duke could marry anyone he wanted he ended up with the daughter of another one of the, what are there, 20 Dukes, something like that. Statistically that is pretty absurd. I think they understood. My reticence to talk or publicise what we have done just surprised them. They even asked if I wanted to enter politics.”

The difference between people who think they know you and the few that really do? Leslie and Julian, and Maggie and Tony, thought this was the funniest thing ever.

“God, can you imagine? What an idiot idea.”

“Suzanne and I both thought that they might have been sent on a fishing trip, trying to see if I had any interest. I disabused them of that notion.”

It was Julian who changed the tone and direction of the conversation.

“Putting aside you as a politician, you never really talk about politics, we never really talk about it. Is it something that you deliberately steer clear of?”

What is the rule at dinner parties, steer clear of politics and religion. Did he live his life that way all the time? Andrew could see Tony and Maggie looking on with interest.

“One of the things I didn’t say last night was I don’t really respect politicians, he sits with the government in the House of Lords and I didn’t want to offend him. My thoughts on this are all over the place. Sitting in the dark eating cold sandwiches because of power cuts caused by political action was the first time that I asked about politics. I was eight and had no idea why there was no power and we were eating sandwiches by candle light. So although it wasn’t a political moment it was the first time I heard about politics. Then nothing happens for years, until we started making money from computers. Creighton spent a lot of time structuring stuff so that we ‘only’ paid 50% or 60% in tax. God, I am rambling already because there is one thing that is very key in all this. My grandparents were full on poor working class people. Servants, a bus driver and a shop assistant. But my parents got a chance to do more with their lives, they had opportunities. I never heard about politics in the house but given where they came from I am surprised there was not more talk. They sent me to private school which when I stop and think about it is a huge step from how they were educated themselves. But my exposure to politicians only came about personally with Jullesand. I met Rifkind through Brian. It sort of snowballed from there.”

Andrew stopped because he was being incoherent, even for him.

“What we did was entirely self-taught and self-made. We made millions of pounds out of our own abilities. I have paid more than £3m in taxes and have never even had the chance to vote. I see both sides of most issues and am not ideologically adamant about very much. When you are shy and uncomfortable talking about yourself the idea of being a politician is just ridiculous. But we started the Endowment Fund because we wanted to do something. So I am not some heartless capitalist, you see how I am with the investments that we are no longer supporting. But I also have no time for people who have not paid a penny tax in their entire lives stridently yelling at me that we need more tax. Nothing is straightforward and simple. It is in the interest of politicians to make it seem as simple as possible. I think I am a conservative, with a small ‘c’, person who thinks about stuff to much.”

The laughter rang loud.

“I see the value of education, both with my parents, me, and now with the people that we are trying to support in business and through the science initiative that Leslie designed. I invited a Conservative MP and two volunteers at the Foodbank to my party. I just had dinner with a Duke and Duchess but I posed for four ardent and passionate socialists at the Art College in 2^nd year. Most people would call me wishy-washy but I am not adamant about most things. I see other people’s point of view, am okay with people holding that point of view, but I don’t like to be lectured to or harangued. I stay with Jim and Freya who go to church every Sunday but we just don’t talk about it. I have no idea of most people’s politics and don’t care. Live and let live.”

Suzanne got in first.

“That is pretty passive Andrew. You wouldn’t care if Labour got in and tax rates rose?”

“Yes but it doesn’t change who I am. Labour lack a basic understanding of maths and the Conservatives are a bunch of heartless bastards. I am good at maths and have a heart. So why bother getting all worked up about a bunch of overly simplistic half-truths?”