The English Girl: A Novel

reporters she provided her audience with the necessary background to put her story into proper context. Gabriel, a former resident of the United Kingdom, knew much of it already. He knew, for example, that Jeremy Fallon had been educated at University College London and had worked as an advertising copywriter before joining the political unit at Party headquarters. What Fallon discovered was that there was an antiquated campaign organization dedicated to selling a product that no one, least of all the British voting public, wanted to buy. His first priority was to change the way the Party did its polling. Fallon didn’t care which party a particular voter supported; he wanted to know where the voter did his shopping, what programs the voter watched on television, and what hopes the voter had for his children. Most of all, Fallon wanted to know what the voter expected from his government. Quietly, working far from the public spotlight, Fallon set about retooling the Party’s core policies to meet the needs of a modern British electorate. Then he went in search of the perfect pitchman to take his new product to market. He found one in Jonathan Lancaster. With Fallon’s help, Lancaster successfully challenged for Party leader. Then, six months later, he was swept into Downing Street.
    “Jeremy got the dream job as his reward,” Samantha Cooke said. “Jonathan appointed him chief of staff and gave him more power than any other chief of staff in British history. Jeremy is Lancaster’s gatekeeper and enforcer, a deputy prime minister in everything but name. Lancaster once told me it was the biggest mistake he’d ever made.”
    “On the record?”
    “Off ,” she said pointedly. “Way, way, way off.”
    “If Lancaster knew it was a mistake, why did he do it?”
    “Because without Jeremy, the Party would still be wandering in the proverbial political wilderness. And Jonathan Lancaster would still be a lowly opposition backbencher trying to make a name for himself once a week during PMQ. Besides,” she added, “Jeremy is completely loyal to Lancaster. I’m quite confident he would kill for him and then volunteer to mop up the blood.”
    Gabriel wished he could tell her how right she was. Instead, he walked on in silence and waited for her to resume.
    “But there was more to their relationship than just a bond of debt and loyalty. Lancaster needed Jeremy. He truly didn’t believe he could govern the country without him at his side.”
    “So it’s true, then?”
    “What’s that?”
    “That Jeremy Fallon is Lancaster’s brain.”
    “Actually, it’s complete rubbish. But it didn’t take long for that perception to take hold in the public. Even the Party’s own internal polls showed a majority of Britons thought Jeremy was the one who was truly running the government.” She paused thoughtfully. “That’s why I was so surprised when Jeremy was at Lancaster’s side the day he finally called the election.”
    “Surprised?”
    “Not long ago there was a nasty rumor running round Whitehall that Lancaster was planning to push Jeremy out of Downing Street.”
    “Because he had become an electoral liability?”
    Samantha Cooke nodded her head. “And because he was so unpopular within the Party that no one wanted to work for him.”
    “Why didn’t you report it?”
    “I didn’t have the sourcing necessary to take it to print,” she replied. “Some of us do have standards, you know.”
    “Do you think Jeremy Fallon heard the same rumors?”
    “I can’t imagine he didn’t.”
    “Did he and Lancaster ever discuss it?”
    “I was never able to confirm that, which is one of the reasons I didn’t write about it. Thank God I didn’t,” she added. “I would have looked very foolish right about now.”
    They had reached Waterloo Bridge. Gabriel took her by the elbow and guided her toward the Strand.
    “How well do you know him?” he asked.
    “Jeremy?”
    Gabriel nodded.
    “I’m not sure anyone really knows Jeremy Fallon. I know him professionally, which means he tells me things he wants me to put in my newspaper. He’s a manipulative bastard, which is why his performance at Madeline Hart’s funeral was so peculiar. I never would have dreamed Jeremy was even capable of shedding a tear.” She paused, then added, “I suppose it was true after all.”
    “What’s that?”
    “That Jeremy was in love with her.”
    Gabriel stopped and turned to face Samantha Cooke. “Are you saying that