This Was A Man by Jeffrey Archer Page B

Archie, after the door had closed, ‘but Freddie doesn’t seem to realize that other people just might have a life of their
own.’
    ‘Does he live here with you?’ asked Giles.
    ‘Only during the holidays, which I’m afraid isn’t ideal, because now my girls have grown up and left home he’s rather short of company. The nearest house is a couple of
miles away, and they don’t have any children. But despite Virginia abandoning the poor boy, he’s no financial burden, because my father left Freddie the Glen Fenwick Distillery, which
produces an annual income of just under a hundred thousand pounds, which he’ll inherit on his twenty-fifth birthday. In fact, that’s what you’re drinking,’ said Archie as he
topped Giles’s glass up, before adding, ‘But I’ve recently been warned by our lawyers that Virginia has her eyes on the distillery, and is taking advice on whether she can break
the terms of my father’s will.’
    ‘It wouldn’t be the first time she’s tried to do that,’ said Giles.

9
    ‘A RE YOU NERVOUS ?’
    ‘You bet I am,’ admitted Emma. ‘It reminds me of my first day at school,’ she added, as she adjusted her long red robe.
    ‘There’s nothing to be nervous about,’ said Giles. ‘Just think of yourself as a Christian who’s about to enter the Colosseum at the time of Diocletian, with several
hundred starving lions waiting impatiently for their first meal in weeks.’
    ‘That hardly fills me with confidence,’ said Emma, as two doormen in court dress pulled open the west doors to allow the three peers to enter the chamber.
    The Baroness Clifton of Chew Magna, in the county of Somerset, entered the chamber for the first time. On her right, also wearing a long red gown and carrying a tricorn hat, was Lord Belstead,
the leader of the House of Lords. On her left, Lord Barrington of Bristol Docklands, a former leader of the House. The first time in the long history of the Lords that a new member had been
supported by the leaders of the two main political parties.
    As Emma walked on to the floor of the House, a thousand eyes stared at her, from both sides of the chamber. The three of them doffed their tricorn hats and bowed to their peers. They then
continued past the cross benches, packed with members who bore no allegiance to any political party, often referred to as the great and the good. They could be the deciding factor on any
contentious issue once they decided which lobby to cast their vote in, Giles had told her.
    They proceeded along the government front bench until Lord Belstead reached the despatch box. The table clerk gave the new peer a warm smile, and handed her a card on which was printed the oath
of allegiance to the Crown.
    Emma stared at the words she had already rehearsed in the bath that morning, during breakfast, in the car on the way to the Palace of Westminster and finally as she was being ‘fitted
up’ in the robing room. But suddenly it was no longer a rehearsal.
    ‘I, Emma Elizabeth Clifton, swear by Almighty God, that I will be faithful, and bear allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs and successors, according to the law, so help me
God.’
    The table clerk turned the page of a large parchment manuscript so the new member could add her name to the test roll. He offered her a pen which she politely declined in favour of one that had
been given to her by her grandfather, Lord Harvey, at her christening almost sixty years ago.
    Once Emma had signed the test roll, she glanced up at the Distinguished Strangers’ Gallery, to see Harry, Karin, Sebastian, Samantha, Grace and Jessica smiling down at her with
unmistakable pride. She smiled back, and when she lowered her eyes, saw a lady from the Commons standing at the bar of the House. The Prime Minister gave her a slight bow, and Emma returned the
compliment.
    The Baroness Clifton followed her brother along the front bench, past the Woolsack on which sat the law lords, until she reached