Charles Cumming - The Hidden Man

Ben knew that it was not a good idea for a man of thirty-two to walkout of a crowded London pub after telling his older brother to fuckoff. Not in Kensington and Chelsea, at any rate. And not in front of half a dozen of his wifes colleagues, most of whom would now be on their mobile phones telling anyone from the Standard not fortunate enough to have been there in person just exactly what happened in the lounge bar of the Scarsdale at 8.28 p.m.

Mark had followed him outside, and Ben had heard Alice calling his name as he turned on to Kensington High Street, but they had both decided to let him go and were probably still waiting backin the pub. There was no sense, after all, in going after Ben when the red mist descended. They both would have known that from long experience.

He walked in the direction of Hyde Park, turning backon himself at the gates to Kensington Palace and returning along the opposite side of the street. Alice tried calling him on his mobile phone but he switched it off. It took about ten minutes for Ben to calm down and another five for embarrassment to set in. So much of his anger, he knew, was just a pose, a melodramatized statement of his long-term refusal to change. Whatever arrangement, whatever trap had been set by Alice and Mark, angered him only because he had been kept out of the loop, treated like a child by his wife and brother, and finally cornered in a place from which there was no realistic escape. It had occurred to him many times that he was clinging to old ideas simply because they shielded him from facing harder choices; in a very dangerous sense, Ben was defined by an attitude towards his father which he had formed as a teenager. To abandon that principled stand would mean the dismantling of an entire way of thinking. How would people react to him? How would he square it with what had happened to Mum? Ben wished to honour her memory, and yet that was the easy position. Far more difficult, surely, to do what Mark had done, to let bygones be bygones and to open himself up to chance.

He was heading backto the pub via a street at the western end of Edwardes Square when he heard a voice behind him.

Ben?

He turned and saw that Mark was following him. He looked shattered. With the club opening in Moscow, he was probably only sleeping five hours a night and this was the last thing he needed.

Look, Im sorry. Its my fault. Dont blame Alice. I asked her to help me out and she was just being loyal.

Ben said nothing.

Im sorry if I tookyou by surprise. Im sorry if I embarrassed you. We just Mark stalled on the words. He had obviously rehearsed something and was determined to get it right. All I was trying to say was this. More and more Ive been thinking about the future, you know? Where are we gonna be ten years down the line? You and Alice have kids, Dads their grandfather, but because of all this shit thats thirty years in the past his name cant be mentioned at the dinner table. Mean while he and I are getting on better than ever, but were still having to creep around behind your back. How longs it gonna last?

So you want me to meet him just so that you can have a better time of it when youre fifty-five?

Ben regretted saying that, but for the sake of fraternal pride did not want to concede too early.

Im just saying that you should think about giving him a chance. Not tonight. Tonight is fucked into a hat. But soon, Ben, soon. Otherwise hes just going to be this barrier between us, a bridge we cant cross.

Ben smirked and looked up at the night sky.

I knew this was going to happen, he said. Something like tonight.

It was inevitable, Mark said.

Yes it was. And you know why? Because hes talked you into it. Youre too soft on him, brother. You always want to do whats right so that no one gets upset. Well, Im upset. I got very upset in there. I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed you and I embarrassed my wife in front of everybody she works for. How does that feel?

Mark did not respond. It looked as if he wanted to, but was holding backfor fear of making things worse.

You want my truthful opinion? Ben was not surprised to feel that there was still resentment inside him. Most of it was a desire not to lose face, and he knew that he was prepared to make a later concession. I thinkthe relationship Dad has with you gives him what he wants an opportunity to absolve himself of guilt. From his jacket pocket he took out a packet of cigarettes and watched his brothers face for a register of annoyance. Now he wants to complete that process, supposedly to convince me of his worth as a father. But thats not motivated by a genuine concern for my welfare, or Alices, or anyone else. Its just a selfish desire to convince himself of his blamelessness in respect of the past. Hes a spy, for Christs sake. All his relationships are games, little intrigues and power struggles. Lookhow hes manipulated you. For most of his adult life Christopher Keen has been making a living out of an ability to convince people that he is something other than the person he appears to be. Think about it, Mark. If he could do it to Mum when they were married, if he could to it to us when we were kids, whats to stop him doing it now?

Thanks, Mark said, his face tightening. You think Im that much of a mug?

Ben didnt answer. He started walking towards the metal fence that ran along the western edge of the square. He had to move between parked cars.

Youve got him all wrong, Mark said, following behind. Hes not some puppet-master pulling the strings. Dont you think people change? Dont you thinkits possible that he might want to say sorry?

Ben stopped and turned.

Has he said sorry to you?

Mark could not give the answer he needed to without lying.

Thats not his style, he said, fudging it. They were now standing together on the pavement. Dad just wants to make his peace. Its that simple.

Well, maybe he does, Ben conceded. Maybe he does. And he can make it somewhere else.

There were lights on in several of the houses on Edwardes Square, oil paintings and chintz and Peter Sissons reading the news. Ben saw a man enter a yellow-wallpapered drawing room wearing bottle-green corduroy trousers and a bright red sweater. The man was carrying a tray of food and talking to someone in another room.

You dont believe that, Mark said.

Dont I? Ben stared hard into his eyes. Hes doing what I always thought hed do. Crawling back, mid-life crisis, wanting us both to pat him on the head and tell him everythings OK. Well, its not OK. He doesnt meet me, he doesnt meet Alice. End of story.

Is that how she feels?

Why dont you askher? Ben turned again. You two seem to be very close.

I dont need to askher. Mark was angry now. He couldnt keep it in. She knows what I know. She knows what you should know if you werent so fucking pig-headed. She knows that youre fascinated by Dad. She knows that you cant wait to meet him.

Until that moment, Ben had thought that he was in control, bending Mark to his will. But this last remark caught him off guard. He ran through every one of his recent conversations with Alice, every argument, every lie, every quiet chat in the house, but he could not recall even hinting at what Mark had just suggested.

Is that what she told you? he asked.

She doesnt need to tell me.

Ben frowned.

Look, Mark said. Dont you even want to know what he looks like? How his character is different from yours? Dont you want to know if hes boring or vain or funny or rich? Doesnt any of that interest you? Dont you wonder what sort of a person he is, the hidden man?

We have nothing in common, Ben said, but the statement lacked conviction. He blew a column of smoke at the railings. Anyway, Im not interested in any of that at all.