Absolute Truths (63 page)

The door was opened by Dido’s companion, Miss Carp, but almost
before she could draw breath to greet me, Aysgarth himself carte
out of his study.

‘
Charles – I saw you coming up the front path!’ he exclaimed
genially. ‘Why are you dressed as a private detective?’

‘
Am I?’

‘
Well, aren’t you? Nondescript raincoat, plain hat pulled down
low – you look distinctly shady! Come into the study and tell me
what you’re up to!’

This was hardly a promising start to the interview but I kept
calm and stuck to my script. ‘I was actually on my way for a walk along by the river,’ I said, ‘but
as
I passed the Deanery it suddenly
occurred to me that this might be a convenient moment to drop
in for the briefest of words –’

‘
Of course! Have some tea! m halfway through my first cup.’
Uneasily I followed him into his study, a large well-proportioned
room where bookcases stretched from the floor to the ceiling and the mantelshelf was covered with photographs of his numerous
remarkable children. Beyond his desk, beyond the diamond-shaped
panes of the old windows, beyond the gate of the Deanery’s front
garden,
the
Cathedral glowered brutishly beneath a bright
white sky.

‘
Have a seat,’ said Aysgarth, removing three books from the
visitor’s chair in front of his desk.

But I remained standing. ‘Why do you have your desk placed
so that you sit with your back to the Cathedral?’

Aysgarth looked startled, as if the eccentric question, combined
with my eccentric choice of clothes, had led him to wonder if I were unhinged. However, he remained scrupulously affable. ‘I
can’t stand looking at all the scaffolding on the west front,’ he
said. ‘I’ll turn the desk back to face the Cathedral when the repairs
a
re finished.’

Miss Carp chose that moment to appear with an extra cup and
saucer for me. As she withdrew, Aysgarth began to pour the tea
and I began to work out how I could best convey an impression
of mental stability. Obviously the first step was to ask no more
idiotic questions about the positioning of the furniture.

‘
Harriet tells me she showed you my hands last night,’ said
Aysgarth unexpectedly, handing me my tea and gesturing that I
should help myself to milk from the tray. ‘Good, aren’t they?’

‘
Outstanding.’ As I sank slowly down upon the chair he had
cleared for me, I realised I was far from happy that he should
know about my nocturnal visit to Harriet’s studio. ‘No doubt she
told you that her car had broken down and I’d given her a lift
home,’ I said, compelled to make sure he understood the innocent
sequence of events. ‘I suspect that showing me the sculpture was
her way of saying thanks.’

‘
Obviously she felt very benign towards you,’ said Aysgarth,
eyes watching his cup as he refilled it, and before I could offer a
further comment he added abruptly: ‘Did she tell you about the
art auction I’m planning?’

‘She did, yes. A brilliant idea. Congratulations.’

‘
I’m delighted you’re so enthusiastic. Perhaps now you’ll stop
worrying about the state of the Appeal.’

I was well aware by this time that I was allowing him to dictate
the direction of the interview and I decided I had reached the
point where I had to take control. Unable to drink my tea I leaned forward in my chair and said in what I hoped was a friendly voice:
‘In retrospect I can see the full publicity value of the Christie’s
incident, but unfortunately the gossip generated by it shows no
signs of dying down and there’s still considerable speculation about the Appeal’s finances. That was why I thought I’d just drop in for
a quick word – I felt you should know that the rumour of financial
trouble’s still going strong, and I think the time has come when
I have to deliver a very firm rebuttal.’

‘
Good idea!’ said Aysgarth, radiating approval. ‘Nasty things,
rumours.’

‘
Qu
ite. Well ...’ It occurred to m
e that I must be looking much
too tense, sitting as I was on the edge of my chair, so I forced
myself to lean back and fold my hands loosely in my lap. ‘The
truth is,’ I said, ‘that I need a
little
help from you in order to kill
this particular nasty rumour stone dead.’

‘
Delighted to assist you in any way I can. But surely all you
have to do is tell those scandalmongers at the diocesan office that
everything’s fine?’

‘
Nothing would give me greater pleasure, but unfortunately I I feel this rumour can’t now be killed without the aid of concrete
proof. Of course I perfectly understand that you’re under no obli
gation to provide such proof, but I was hoping you might sec
your way to providing it as a friendly gesture.’

‘What sort of proof do you have in mind?’

‘
Well, if you were to show me some interim accounts for the
current financial year –’

‘
I see.’ Aysgarth leaned forward on his desk, clasped his powerful
hands and looked straight at me. It was a very intimidating
sequence of movements. ‘Stripped of your elaborate courtesy,’ he
said, ‘this is a hostile demand. And m supposed to respond with
a "friendly gesture".’

I willed myself to sustain a tranquil appearance. °There’s no
question of hostility, Stephen. I’m on your side in my desire to
end the rumours, and one glance at the accounts would, m sure,
enable me to exonerate you completely.’

‘
What you’re really saying, of course, by demanding to see some
accounts, is that you can’t accept my word that all’s well.’

‘
If I’d attended your public school you’d never dream of ques
tioning my word! But just because in your
eyes
m not a gentleman –’

‘
Stephen, let’s not demean ourselves by sinking into some futile
discussion of the class system when all that matters is that we
should be working together for the good of the Church. Surely
you can see that I’m in an awkward position? If the rumours at
the diocesan office get picked up by the press –’

‘
[f that Archdeacon of yours has been screaming that I’m an
embezzler it’s your job to muzzle him, not mine!’

‘I assure you that no one’s been making slanderous accusations –’

‘
Rubbish, you’ve obviously been inundated with them! What
else can these so-called "rumours" be? And if you didn’t suspect me
of financial mismanagement you wouldn’t be making this request
which is nothing less than a slur on my integrity – and which in
my opinion ill becomes a bishop who’s supposed to regard his
flock with charity!’

I was aware that a metaphorical dagger was being brandished.
My worst fears had been realised, the benign tone of the conver
sation had been murdered, and once more the killer in debate was
on the loose.

‘
I’m
sorry you should take such exception to my effort to solve
this problem,’ I said, trying to defuse the mounting tension by
keeping my voice flawlessly polite. ‘Perhaps you’re unaware that
the rumours weren’t generated just by your manoeuvres at Chris-
tie’s. They also stem from the fact that you’re running the Appeal
im a
highly unconventional manner. The Chapter –’

T
he Chapter are useless in the matter of fund-raising. The only thing Tommy can raise is a
fuss.
Paul’s no good at concentrating on anything except where his next wife’s coming from, and Gerry’s
idea
of raising money is to stand on street corners rattling a box!
And what’s more, they know they’re useless here, they admitted
as
much when they begged me – yes,
begged
me – to
manage the
Appeal on my own. Yet now, it seems, I’m being accused of gross
mismanagement just because I’ve gone along with the wishes of the Chapter and slaved my guts out to save the Cathedral single
handed for posterity! I must say I deeply resent the implication that I’m a dictator riding roughshod over my colleagues instead
of a
dean working as
primus inter parrs with
his canons in accord
ance
with
the Cathedral statutes!’

‘
Of course you resent it,’ I said, doing my best to wrest the
metaphorical dagger from him before I was disembowelled, ‘but there’s a very simple way to silence all these unjust criticisms. If
you were to produce some accounts –’

‘
Why should I?’ demanded Aysgarth, whipping the dagger out
of my reach. ‘Why should I submit to the bullying of the diocesan office? Why should I open up private files so that you can appease
your obstreperous Archdeacon who’s currently browbeating you
into taking up this most undignified and unedifying stance? If I were to give in to this request Pd be setting the most dangerous
precedent, and I assure you that the Canons will back me to the
hilt in asserting the Dean and Chapter’s right to withstand any
interference from the Archdeacon in the ordering of the Cathedral’s affairs!’

I waited a moment before saying: ‘I understand your anger. I see your point of view. But Stephen, I do beg you to listen most carefully to what m about to say: I myself don’t suspect you of
any deliberate wrong-doing, but it’s a fact that anyone, even some
one
as financially
adroit as you, can make a mistake which proves
expensive. If there has indeed been a mistake made somewhere
along the line, please tell me now so that I can give you my full
support in sorting out the consequent.-s. I quite see that there
might be circumstances which you wouldn’t want to discuss with
the Canons, but I’d be failing you
as
your bishop if I didn’t at
least give you the chance to confide in me.’

‘
How extremely kind of you,’ said Aysgarth, ‘but I’m in no need
of a confessor.’ And by swivelling his chair he turned his back on
me to stare out of the window at the scarred west front.

My fists clenched but I still managed to keep my voice level. ‘I
feel I must warn you,’ I said, ‘that if you persist in your refusal to
cooperate with me I shall be obliged to make a visitation.’

‘
Then make it!’ said Aysgarth, swivelling back to face me. ‘And
I hope you enjoy the moment when I present you with immaculate
accounts!’

‘
That’s a very irresponsible attitude for a senior churchman to
adopt!’ I exclaimed as anger finally loosened my grip on my self-
control. ‘Shouldn’t you be thinking of doing your best to avoid
unfortunate publicity for the Church?’

‘
Shouldn’t you? Isn’t this lust to play the Grand Inquisitor in
the Chapter House more than a
little
distasteful? You’re supposed to be running around being everyone’s father-in-God, not prying
into the Cathedral’s affairs like a fraud squad detective! Let me
repeat: everything’s fine; I’m in control of the situation; the
Appeal’s on course. Now, why don’t you get on with the job of
playing the good bishop and leave me in peace to play the good
dean?’

‘
Because I know from past experience,’ I said, suddenly finding
the metaphorical dagger planted snugly in my hand, ‘that the role
of the good dean is one which you sometimes have great trouble
sustaining.’

I heard his sharp intake of breath. I saw the muscles tighten
around his mouth. ‘How dare you,’ he said, and his voice was
shaking with rage, ‘how
dare
you —’

‘
Since you insist on calling a spade a spade, I hardly think you’re
im a position to complain when I follow your example. Now,
Stephen, let’s get a grip on ourselves and try to discuss this in a
calm, civilised and — dare I say it? — Christian manner. I’ll start by
offering you some information which is true and which I hope
you’ll accept as a peace-offering, signifying my good intentions.
It’s this: I don’t want to make a visitation. I think it would be
infinitely better for the Church if —’