The House

by A. O'Connor

  The crowd cheered as Kate shook her head and tried to back away but she found herself being pressurised into going up on the stage. She took the microphone and smiled to everyone.

  “I hope you’re enjoying the night?”

  There was a cheer from the audience.

  “It’s been a while since I sang in public, but here goes!”

  She started to sing ‘Summer Wind’.

  As she sang, she saw Nico come into the room and stand staring at her, hurt on his face. She tried not to stare back as she sang.

  She spotted Tony on the other side of the room. She smiled over at him just as Steve Shaw and the four men encircled Tony. It looked like an argument was developing between them and then she saw Tony nodding and following them out of the ballroom. As the song came to an end, she accepted their applause before she quickly got down from the stage and hurried out to the hall.

  She saw Chloe and rushed over to her demanding, “Chloe, did you see Tonyanywhere?”

  “He went into the library with those gatecrashers!” she sniffed.

  Kate swiftly made her way across the hall through the crowd and went into the library. Tony was there sitting behind his desk as Steve Shaw and the other men talked loudly and aggressively.

  “What’sgoing on here?” demanded Kate as she walked across to them.

  “We have things to discuss,” said Steve.

  “And I told you we were not discussing anything tonight. Not with the ball going on.”

  “Oh yes – the ball!” Steve quipped sarcastically. “You’re like Nero fiddling while Rome burns. And how much did this little extravaganza cost you tonight?”

  “That’s nothing to do with you – it’s our private business!” shouted Tony.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Fallon, because you owe us millions since yourempire has just collapsed. We now own you.”

  “We will meet you with our accountants and go through everything with you tomorrow,” said Kate. “Until then I’d like you all to leave my house.”

  “Your house!” snapped Steve with a derisory laugh. “You don’t own this house anymore. You don’t own anything.”

  “Leave now!” demanded Kate.

  Steve approached her. “Your days of giving orders are over, you stupid slut!”

  “Don’t you dare speak to her like that!” shouted Tony, jumping up from his chair.

  “Or what? What can you do? You’ve no power anymore, Tony. You’re finished.”

  Tony suddenly ran from behind the desk, across the room and out the door. Kate hurried after him. In the crowded hallway, she pushed her way through the people, shouting “Tony!” as she saw him run out the front door.

  She managed to get to the front door and raced down the steps.

  Outside Kate saw Tony flee across the forecourt and down the flight of steps to the terraces. She ran after him.

  “Tony – please wait for me!” she begged as she reached the steps.

  She could see him running down the flight of steps to the next level. She chased after him, her hair and gown flowing behind her. She rusheddown the series of steps and terraces until she finally reached the lakeshore. She saw Tony run down the pier and jump into his power-boat and she heard him starting it up. As she ran down the pier she knew it was too late.

  He sped into the night at top speed.

  “Tony!” she shouted after him.

  Suddenly Nico appeared beside her. “What is going on?” he demanded.

  “It’s Tony! He’s beside himself. He’s not thinking straight. He’s –”

  There was suddenly a loud bang, followed by an explosion out in the lake.

  “Tony!” she screamed into the night as the fire from the explosion lit up the lake. She turned and fell into Nico’s arms, sobbing loudly.

  Chapter One Hundred and five

  One Year Later

  AsKate looked around the board table of accountants, bankers and investors, in Eiremerica Bank’s headquarters in Dublin, she steadied herself. The meeting was the latest in a long line of meetings held to try and resolve the tangled web that was Tony’s financial affairs. As she looked at the uneasy and concerned faces all focused on her, she reminded herself she had been through far worse since Tony’s death.As if dealing with the shock and grief hadn’t consumed her enough, she then had to relive it publicly with the coroner’s inquest. Then there had been the headlines and constant press intrusion. And finally the realisation that as Tony’s wife who had signed certain documents she was responsible for the millions in debt he had left behind. And when she had a quiet moment, if she got a quiet moment, she had to deal with her own grief over Tony.

  Steve Shaw had been speaking for a considerable time, outlining to everyone the seriousness of the situation, as if anybody needed reminding.

  “So, Mrs Fallon, what are you going to do to pay back all this money?” demanded Steve.

  Kate’s lawyer Michael Delaney sat beside her. He had been one of the few who had stood by her and shown himself to be a true friend.

  “As you all know,” began Michael. “Kate was not involved in Tony’s business affairs directly and so this has all come as a considerable shock to her.”

  “So what? I saw her being around when business was discussed!” snapped Steve.

  “As you well know I never attended any boardroom meetings, Steve,” said Kate. “I accompanied him when he and colleagues were having dinner or to social occasions to support him. Infact, you used to practically insist I attend them to charm your investors.”

  Steve scowled at her. “Regardless, you were his wife and as his wife you co-signed contracts, leaving you responsible for the debt.”

  “Mrs Fallon is selling all assets at the moment to try and pay back everything,” said Michael. “You’ve taken all business assets including the shopping centres. The house in Dublin is already sold, all jewellery gone. The house in the country is presently on the market. She will be left penniless.”

  “There are still millions owing on personal guarantees,” said Steve.

  “I know!” Kate raised her voice. “You’ve said it enough times! I’m starting my acting career again. I’ve met with all my contacts and I hope to be earning money to start paying this debt off.”

  “Well, let’s just hope you are still a popular enough actress with the public to start earning big money!”

  Kate hoped so too.

  Kate and Michael walked out of the Eiremerica headquarters.

  “When I think how they used to fawn over Tony!” said Kate, in despair at how she was being treated.

  “People are false,” said Michael. “Will you be able to get big-paying roles in films at this stage?”

  Kate pulled a doubtful face. “I have to believe I can, otherwise I’m finished. I have to go down today to the house in the country and close it up before the auctioneers take it over. Then I fly to New York to try and start working.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for all your help.”

  He watched her walk over to a taxi rank and get intoa cab. She waved to him as the taxi drove away.

  Kate put the last of her clothes into her suitcase and closed it. She picked up the suitcase and walked out of the bedroom, along the corridor and down the stairs.

  As she reached the hall, the front doorbell rang. Putting down the suitcase,she went over and opened the door.

  Nico was standing there.

  “Hi – how are you?” He stepped inside and hugged her.

  “Just finished packing,” she said, hugging him back.

  They walked intothe drawing room.

  “I see Dolans Auctioneers have already put the ‘For Sale’ sign up at the gateway,” said Nico.

  “Have they? They must have done it this morning. They don’t hang around, do they? In fact, one thing I’ve learned over the past few months is that nobody hangs around, regardless of what has happened.”

  He held her hand tightly.

  “When are you leaving for New Yor
k?” he asked.

  “My flight is tomorrow evening. All the meetings with the accountants, auditors, banks are over. At least I don’t have to go through that anymore.”

  “What’s the outcome?”

  “Well, as I feared. Not only have I nothing left, but I am responsible for a multi-million-euro debt as Tony’s wife. I signed documents during our marriage that hold me responsible in the, quote, ‘untimely demise’ of Tony. Let’s face it, it was very untimely.” She crossed over to the window and looked out at the lake.

  Nico had been wanting to ask Kate a question for a long time but hadn’t wanted to upset her. He decided to ask it now.

  “Do you think he meant to do it?”

  “You read the coroner’s report like everyone else: death by misadventure. It’s kind of apt that they used that word – Tony lived life so adventurously, it’s little wonder a misadventure did him in.”

  “And you believe the report?”

  “I don’t know what I believe, Nico. I don’t think he meant to kill himself. But he wasn’t himself that night with everything going on. I don’t know what was going on in his mind. I don’t know if he saw the rocks in the lake, if he could have avoided them. Or if he was travelling so fast he couldn’t stop when he did see them.Misadventure sounds as good an explanation as any.”

  “So what will you do now, once you get back to New York?”

  “I have to figure out a way to pay back these debts I’m saddled with. I’ve been in contact with all my old friends from the film industry to see if I can start acting again. But in all honesty, I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to pay this money back. It will be hanging over me forever, stopping me from moving ahead with my life.”

  “Can I do anything to help?”

  “I think you’ve been enough help already, Nico.” She smiled at him as she thought back to how he had given her so much support. How she wouldn’t have been able to get through Tony’s funeral or the months after without him.

  “There is one thing you can do for me, I’d arranged to meet Janet from Dolans Auctioneers to give her the keys to the house today. I don’t feel like waiting around to meet her. Will you give them to her?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks, I’ll text her to say to drop intoyou atHunter’s Farm then.” She paused, gazing at the floor. “I should have known in the months leading up to Tony’s death that he was in trouble. His life was falling down around him. I should have known, I should have seen something was wrong. Too busy with this house, with daydreams from the past – with you even.”

  “How were you to know?”

  “I should have.I’d better get going.” She walked out intothe hall.

  Nico picked up her suitcase and they walked to the front door and opened it. Kate took a final look around before walking out with Nico and locking the door behind them.

  They walked to her car and he put her suitcase inside. She looked up at the house.

  “You’d think this placewould have bad memories for me after what happened with Tony. But it doesn’t. I just think this was where we spent our last time together. And it’s been my refuge from the world over the past year. I could close that door and just not care about the rest of the world. Now I have to face it.”

  She hugged him tightly and got into the car. Looking up at the house, she started the engine and drove off down the avenue as Nico stood there looking after her.

  Nico answered the door at Hunter’s Farmand Janet Dolan stood there.

  “Hello again,” she said brightly.

  “Hi, Janet,” he said, gesturing to her to come in.

  “Well, I never expected to be back here selling that house again,” she said, following him intothe lounge. “Especially under such tragic circumstances.”

  “I can imagine,” said Nico, handing over the keys.

  “Awful business, and they were such nice people, Kate and Tony.”

  “Yes, they were.”

  “Well, when you fly too close to the flame you can get burned,” she said in a jaded seen-it-all-before way. “They were just living the high life too much.”

  “I thought you liked all that flash behaviour,” he said irritably.

  “Well, I don’t know about that. It’s all very excessive looking back on it, isn’t it?” she tutted. “I don’t know who I’m going to get to buy the house now since the receiver appointed me. “I explained to them the country-house market is all but dead at the moment. We’ve had to diversify into becoming an auction house for antiques as well as property to survive even.” She surveyed the antiques in the sitting room. “Anything good you want to sell?”

  She spotted the painting of Clara and went up to examine it.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “It’s mine. It’s been in the family for years. It’s of my grandfather’s first wife, Clara.”

  Janet peered closely at the painting, examining it intently. “But this is a Jonathan Seymour!”

  “That’s correct, he knew Clara.”

  Janet turned around excitedly. “But Nico, do you know how much Seymour paintings are going for? They’ve shot through the roof. Especially now everyone is worried where to put their money safely! They are investing in fine art.”

  “Really?” said Nico, coming closer and staring at the painting.

  Kate answered the phone in her hotel room in Dublin.

  “Kate, it’s Michael Delaney here,” said the voice on the other end.

  Kate fretted at hearing her solicitor’s voice, hoping another issue hadn’t arisen.

  “Hi, Michael.”

  “Kate, I was wondering if you could come intothe office to meet me today?”

  “Today! Oh Michael, I’m flying to New York this evening and don’t really have the time.”

  “It is very important.”

  “But what is it about?”

  “I’ll explain when I see you.”

  She sighed. “Oh all right, I’ll see you at two.” She hung up the phone.

  “Thanks for seeing me at such short notice,” said Michael, opening up a file as Kate sat down opposite him. He studied her. “Kate, you got married to Tony in a Las Vegas ceremony.”

  Kate nodded. “Yes, we made the decision to get married quite quickly and just went and did it. You know how impulsive Tony could be.”

  “Indeed.” Michael looked rueful. “Kate, going through Tony’s papers I found one on your marriage, and. . . I don’t know how to say this, but it’s appears you were never actually married, in the legal sense anyway.”

  “What?But that’s ridiculous!”

  “I’m afraid it’s not ridiculous. After you got married and returned to Ireland, Tony was informed that the establishment you got married in did not have the correct licence to officiate a marriage ceremony.”

  “But why didn’t he tell me?” Kate was amazed.

  “According to the file, he didn’t want to upset you – and,” Michael looked a bit embarrassed, “well, you did get married in such haste, after knowing each other such a short space of time, and he wanted to make sure the marriage was successful before recommitting. As it stood, it wasn’t a valid wedding – well, you know Tony – he always liked to have a hidden clause in any contract –”

  “– to let him get out of it if he so wished,” Kate finished the much-repeated expression of Tony’s for him. “Including our marriage, seemingly!”

  “Oh, I’m sure Tony meant to fix the situation when he got round to doing it. He left everything to you in his will . . .that was when he had anything to leave.”

  “But what does this mean? Other than the fact our marriage was a lie.”

  “Your marriage might have been, but your relationship wasn’t. But this means that you are not responsible for all that debt. Anything you signed as his spouse is invalid as you were not his wife.”

  “But will they not accuse me of fraud?”

  “How can they? You were an innocent party. Oh, I’m sure they will try and fight it,
but I’m confident they won’t get anywhere. The signatures are for Kate Fallon, and as we’ve just discovered Kate Fallon does not exist, legally anyway. You’ve always still been Kate Donovan.You’re free, Kate.”

  “Maybe that’s why he didn’t get around to marrying me again for real,” said Kate as she started to cry. “He couldn’t get himself a hidden clause to get out of the debt, but he managed to get me one. Oh Tony!” She looked up to the ceiling and started to laugh through her tears. “You clever – stupid – brilliant man.”

  Chapter One Hundred and six

  The auction rooms at Dolans was packed as Nico hovered at the back. The portrait of Clara was positioned at the top of the room beside Janet who stood at the auctioneer’s podium. Nico was still stunned after Janet’s revelation that the painting was very valuable, and she seemed confident she could acquire several hundred thousand euros for it. He hardly dared believe it.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” began Janet causing a hush to fall across the room, “Dolan auctioneers are delighted to bring a Jonathan Seymour painting to the market today. The portrait is of Clara, Lady Armstrong. The portrait has remained in the Armstrong family since it was painted. The renowned artist Seymour has acquired international acclaim . . .”

  Nico drifted off as Janet continued to sing the portrait’s merits. This was different from when he was forced to sell the house. This sale would have no liabilities waiting to snare the money. Janet started the bidding, and the offers came fast and furiously until he heard Janet shout “Sold!” The painting was sold to a London art gallery for seven hundred and fifty thousand euros and Nico was glad it was going to be exhibited as opposed to being held in a private collection.

  As everyone departed the auction room Nico went up to Janet and the portrait.

  “It got even more than I was expecting!” said Janet delighted.

  “Or I! Thank you, Janet. I didn’t think there would be that much demand with the economy the way it is.”