The Last Word Read Free Page A

Harry’s presence wouldn’t be all bad, he punched his fist into the palm of his other hand, and said, ‘You have the look of an English gentleman cricketer. Did you play for Cambridge?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And you’re not terrible at tennis. You even tested me. I like that. I need it. While you write me, we can be competitors. It will lift our games. We will improve together, side by side. Okay?’
    Mamoon went to shower; Liana took Harry into the garden, sat him down on a bench and patted his knee. Simultaneously, a dark-eyed country girl with tied-back black hair and a tight white blouse began to pad across the infinite lawn with a tray of tea and biscuits. When the girl finally arrived, after what seemed like forty minutes, and began to pour the tea – things in the country appeared to take place in slow motion; the stream petrified between pot and cup – Liana looked Harry over with a mixture of severity and pity, and indicated the surroundings.
    ‘What is your impression?’
    Harry sighed. ‘The peace, the silence, the distance. This place is paradise. Perhaps I’ll get to live like this, when I’m older.’
    ‘Only if you work very hard. I can reveal the truth now, young one. My husband approves of you. He whispered to me while changing that you seem to be among the few decent and bright Englishmen left on this island. “How did they turn out one so decent?” he said. But, Harry, it is my job to ask you what you intend to do with this man I love, admire and worship.’
    Harry said, ‘He is one of the greatest writers of our time. Of any time, I mean. His fictions are stand-out, but he got to know, and has written up, some of the most violent and powerful men in the world. I want to give a true account of his fascinating life.’
    ‘How can you tell it all?’
    Rob had warned Harry that you couldn’t go wrong if you mentioned ‘the facts’. No one could have a beef with ‘the facts’ – they were unarguable, like a punch in the face.
    ‘The facts—’
    But Liana interrupted him. ‘I must tell you that it will not be easy, but Mamoon is compassionate and wise. You will write a gentle book, remembering that all he has, apart from me, is his reputation. Anyone who besmirches that will suffer from nightmares and boils forever. By the way, do you take drugs?’ Harry shook his head. ‘Are you promiscuous?’
    Harry shook his head again. ‘I am almost engaged,’ he said.
    ‘To a woman?’
    ‘Very much so. She is a PA to a clothes designer.’
    ‘And you don’t have a criminal record?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Dear God, with you we are getting everything at once!’
    He was becoming dizzy; Liana stared at him in admiration until he felt uncomfortable and sipped his tea.
    ‘How is it, your tea, sir?’ said the girl, who was still standing there. ‘You like Earl Grey? Rrrr . . . if it’s your favourite and you’re coming to stay, I’ll get you a hundred tea bags.’
    ‘Thank you, I do like it.’
    ‘Digestive?’
    ‘No thanks.’
    ‘Jaffa cake?’
    ‘No thanks.’
    ‘Shall we go in and eat properly?’ said Liana.
    Rob missed lunch, and woke up when the taxi arrived.
    ‘I can see,’ said Liana, as she and Mamoon stood together in the yard with their arms around one another, waving goodbye to Rob and Harry, ‘that it is going to be a lot of fun to have you here, and we will all get along well as Team Mamoon. You will be so welcome here at Prospects House! I can feel already that you will become like a beloved son to us.’
    ‘They’re so happy together,’ said Rob, as the taxi drew away. ‘Makes me spit. Harry, don’t go straight home. I’m not quite as married as I used to be. Let’s go out and rip some rectum, yeah?’
    ‘No, please—’
    ‘I am adamant, friend.’
    That night, since he thought it would be Harry’s last glimpse of civilisation for some months, Rob insisted on taking him and Alice to a smart place in Mayfair frequented by bankers, gangsters and Russian prostitutes.