In High Places

'Allow me to give you some sound advice.' Senator Deveraux had finished the small portion of breakfast he had received. Now, pushing his plate away, he leaned forward across the table. 'In this life never sell yourself cheaply. In professional services some of the highest fees – law, medicine, everything else – are commanded by sheer audacity. Have audacity, my boy! It will carry you a long way.'

'Besides,' Sharon said, 'in Granddaddy's case it comes off taxes.'

Alan grinned. 'Thank you, sir. When you put it like that,

I'll take your advice.'

'Then there is the second subject.' The Senator took a cigar from the pocket of his suit coat and clipped the end. When it was lighted he continued, 'Culliner, Bryant, etcetera now handle most of my business affairs requiring legal attention. Lately, however, the quantity of work has increased and I have considered splitting it. I believe it might prove satisfactory if you and your Mr Lewis took over Deveraux Forestry Limited. It is a substantial account and should form a solid basis for your legal practice.' He added, 'We can discuss a retaining fee later.'

'I don't know what to say,' Alan said. 'Except that this seems to be my morning.' He had a sense of wanting to cheer aloud; he must get to a telephone quickly and share the joyous news with Tom.

Sharon was smiling.

'I hoped you'd be pleased, my boy. Now there is one further matter I would like to speak of. But perhaps, while we are doing it' – he glanced at Sharon – 'you would be good enough to prepare a cheque for two thousand dollars for me to sign.' He considered, then added: 'On the Consolidated Fund, I think.'

When you had money, Alan thought amusedly, it must be a problem knowing which account to draw it from.

'All right,' Sharon said brightly. She rose, taking her coffee cup with her. '

When the door had closed, the Senator faced his guest across the table. 'If I may inquire,' he said directly, 'what are your feelings about Sharon?'

'We haven't talked about it,' Alan answered quietly. 'But sometime soon I shall ask her to marry me.'

The Senator nodded. He put down the cigar. 'I suspected something of the kind. You realize, I suppose, that Sharon will be wealthy – in her own right.'

'I'd assumed that,' Alan said.

'Do you believe that that difference between you would impede a happy marriage?'

'No, I don't,' Alan affirmed. 'I intend to work hard and build my own career. If we love one another, it would be silly to let something like that stand in the way.'

Senator Deveraux sighed. 'You are a remarkably sane and competent young man.' His hands were clasped in front of him; his eyes went down to them. He said slowly, 'I find myself wishing that my own son – Sharon's father – had been more like you. Unfortunately, he is an authority on fast motor boats, women of the same kind, and nothing more.'

There was nothing to say, Alan thought; nothing at all. He sat, silently.

At length the Senator raised his eyes. 'What is between you and Sharon will remain between you. Sharon will make her own decision, as she always has. But I may tell you that if it were in your favour I, for one, would not stand in your way.'

'Thank you,' Alan said. He felt grateful – and dazed. So much was happening in so short a time. He would ask Sharon soon; perhaps today.

'As a culmination to all that we have talked of,' the older man said, 'I have one request.'

Alan answered, 'If it's something I can do, sir, I will.'

'Tell me: do you expect to win your case in court today?'

Surprised, Alan answered, 'Yes, I'm sure I can.'

'Is there a possibility that you might lose?'

'There's always that possibility,' Alan admitted. 'The Immigration Department won't give in without a struggle, and I shall have to counter their arguments. But we've a strong case; much stronger than before.'

'Suppose, just suppose, you were slightly lax in countering the arguments. Could you lose… without it being obvious… lose deliberately…?'

Alan flushed. 'Yes, but-'

'I want you to lose,' Senator Deveraux said softly. 'I want you to lose and Henri Duval to be deported. That is my request.'

It took a long, full minute for the implication to sink in.

Incredulously, his voice strained, Alan protested. 'Have you any idea what you are asking?'

'Yes, my boy,' the Senator replied carefully, 'I believe I have. I'm aware of asking a great deal because I know how much this case has meant to you. But I'm also appealing to you to believe that there are good and valid reasons for my request.'

'Tell me,' Alan demanded. 'Tell me what they are.'

'You understand,' the Senator intoned slowly, 'that what we are saying now is between the two of us, within the confines of this room. If you agree, as I hope you will, no one, not even Sharon, need ever know what has taken place.'

'The reasons,' Alan insisted softly. 'Give me the reasons.'

'There are two,' the Senator answered, 'and I will name the least important first. Your stowaway will better serve our cause – and the cause of others like him – if he is expelled, despite the efforts made on his behalf. Some men among us achieve their greatest heights in martyrdom. He is one.'

Alan said quietly, 'What you really mean is that politically it would make Howden's party look worse – because they threw Duval out – and your own party better because you tried to save him, or at least appeared to.'

The Senator gave the slightest of shrugs. 'You have your words, my boy. I choose mine.'

'And the second reason?'

'I have an old and reliable nose,' Senator Deveraux said, 'for political trouble. I smell it now.'

'Trouble?'

'It is possible that sometime soon the reins of government will be transferred. The star of James Howden is dimming, our own ascending.'

'Your own,' Alan reminded him. 'Not mine.'

'Frankly, I had hoped it might soon become yours also. But for the time being let us say that the fortunes of the party of which I have the honour to be chairman are on the mend.'

'You said trouble,' Alan insisted. 'What kind of trouble?'

The Senator met Alan's eyes directly. 'Your stowaway – if he is allowed to remain here – could become a source of acute embarrassment to his sponsors. His kind never fits. I speak from long experience; there have been other incidents like this before. If that happened, if he went wrong, the matter could become an harassment to our own party – a perpetual thorn -just as we have made it one to the Government now.'

'What makes you so sure,' Alan asked, 'that – as you put it -he'll go wrong?'

Senator Deveraux said firmly, 'Because it is inevitable he should. With his background… in our North American society…'

'I disagree,' Alan said heatedly. 'I disagree just about as much as anyone could.'

'Your law partner, Mr Lewis, doesn't.' The Senator said softly, 'I understand his words were to the effect that there is a flaw in the man – "a crack down the middle" – and that if you got him ashore he would, to quote your partner, "come apart in pieces".'

Alan thought bitterly: so Sharon had reported their conversation the day of the chambers hearing. He wondered if she had any idea it would be used against him in this way. Perhaps so; he found himself beginning to doubt the motives of everyone around him.

'It's a pity,' he said bleakly, 'that you didn't think of this before the case was started.'

'I give you my word, my boy, that if I had known it would lead to this moment I would never have begun.' There was genuineness in the older man's voice. He went on, 'I confess I underrated you. I never dreamed you would succeed as remarkably as you have.'