Best Kept Secret

to turn passenger ships into floating dinosaurs. Why would any sane person take five days crossing the Atlantic
Ocean, when they can do the same journey in eighteen hours by plane?’
    ‘More relaxing? Fear of flying? You’ll arrive in better shape?’ suggested Emma, recalling Sir William’s words at the AGM.
    ‘Out of touch and out of date, young lady,’ said Feldman. ‘You’ll have to come up with something better than that if you’re going to convince me. No, the truth is
that the modern businessman, and even the more adventurous tourist, wants to cut down on the time it takes to reach their destination, which in a very few years will sink, and I mean sink, the
passenger liner business.’
    ‘And in the long term?’
    ‘You haven’t got that long.’
    ‘So what do you recommend we do?’
    ‘Invest any spare cash you have in building more cargo vessels. Planes will never be able to carry large or heavy items like motor cars, plant machinery or even food.’
    ‘How do I convince Sir William of that?’
    ‘Make your position clear at the next board meeting,’ said Feldman, his fist once again banging on the seat.
    ‘But I’m not on the board.’
    ‘You’re not on the board?’
    ‘No, and I can’t see Barrington’s ever appointing a woman director.’
    ‘They don’t have any choice,’ said Feldman, his voice rising. ‘Your mother owns twenty-two per cent of the company’s stock. You can demand a place on the
board.’
    ‘But I’m not qualified, and a two-hour train journey to London, even if it is with a Pulitzer Prize-winner, isn’t going to solve that problem.’
    ‘Then it’s time to get qualified.’
    ‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Emma. ‘Because there isn’t a university in England that I’m aware of that has a business degree on its curriculum.’
    ‘Then you’ll have to take three years off and join me at Stanford.’
    ‘I don’t think my husband or my young son would think much of that idea,’ replied Emma, breaking her cover.
    This silenced the professor, and it was some time before he said, ‘Can you afford a ten-cent stamp?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Emma tentatively, not sure what she was letting herself in for.
    ‘Then I’ll be happy to enrol you as an undergraduate at Stanford in the fall.’
    ‘But as I explained—’
    ‘You stated, without reservation, that you could afford a ten-cent stamp.’
    Emma nodded.
    ‘Well, Congress has just passed a bill that will allow American military who are serving overseas to sign up for a business degree without actually having to attend classes in
person.’
    ‘But I’m not an American, and I’m certainly not serving overseas.’
    ‘True,’ said Feldman, ‘but hidden in the bill’s small print you’ll find, under special exemptions, the word “Allies”, which I’m pretty sure we can
take advantage of. That is, assuming you’re serious about the long-term future of your family’s company.’
    ‘Yes, I am,’ said Emma. ‘But what will you expect of me?’
    ‘Once I’ve registered you as an undergraduate at Stanford, I’ll send you a course reading list for your freshman year, along with tape-recordings of every lecture I give. On
top of that, I’ll set you an essay to write each week, and return it to you once I’ve marked it. And if you can afford more than ten cents, we could even talk on the phone from time to
time.’
    ‘When do I start?’
    ‘This fall, but be warned, there are assessment tests every quarter that decide if you should be allowed to continue on the course,’ he was saying as the train pulled into Paddington
station. ‘If you’re not up to it, you’ll be dropped.’
    ‘You’re willing to do all that because of one meeting with my grandfather?’
    ‘Well, I confess I was rather hoping you might join me for dinner at the Savoy tonight so we can talk about the future of the shipbuilding industry in greater detail.’
    ‘What a nice idea,’ said Emma, giving him a kiss on his cheek. ‘But I’m afraid I bought a return ticket, and I’ll be going home to my husband tonight.’

    Even if Harry still couldn’t work out how to turn on the radio, at least he’d mastered the hot and cold taps in the shower. Once he was dry, he selected a freshly ironed shirt, a silk tie Emma had given him for his birthday, and a suit his mother would have described as Sunday best. A glance in the mirror, and he had
to admit he wouldn’t have been considered in vogue on either side