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Angels and Demons by TalesofSpike
 
Chapter 5.20
 
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Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 5 - LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

He raised his son in the English way
And he taught him respect, he taught him how to pray
He sent him off to boarding school
Where he learned how to live by someone else's rules...

... It must be something much deeper than fear or pain
Another child learns the pattern, he won't break the chain

Fear of God and the feel of the rod will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod will raise a good boy
The fear of God and the feel of the rod will raise the next boy


(Rick Springfield Album - Living in Oz)




Chapter 5.20
Sunday, June 16th, 2002


Roger barely waited until Quentin was out of earshot and Penelope had closed them both in the confined space of her tiny windowless room, before he turned on his wife and berated her. "How can you justify such a display of poor manners when Quentin has been the perfect host?"

"In much the same way as you justify belittling our only son in front of his de facto employer when he isn't even in the room to defend himself. And Quentin is no more the perfect host than he's Mr Universe. He's a manipulative old goat, who just happens to be one of your cronies." Penelope refused to be cowed, even though in the tight quarters she had to crane her neck to look her husband in the eye and his sheer bulk made it near impossible to maintain her own personal space. "Really, Roger, we both know that I don't respond well to your bullying, so why don't you take a seat, curb your self-righteous bluster and listen to your options?"

Roger continued to glower down at her. "My options?" he asked. "What exactly is that meant to mean?"

"It means if you don't sit down, shut up and hear me out that you might as well cut up every piece of plastic you have in that wallet of yours and use them for confetti."

Roger's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. "You? You took all the money out of our account?"

Penelope gave the stunned watcher a gentle push in the centre of his chest and he finally dropped to sit on the edge of the tiny bed. No longer having to look up, Penny leaned casually against the room door. "Our account, your accounts... all of them. You crossed a line, Roger, and now you have to deal with the consequences."

"Now, look here," Roger blustered. "You had no right to touch that money-."

"But, darling, of course I did. Don't you remember? You signed all the papers... Power of attorney... and I hate to sound childish, but you started this. I believe you planned to liquidate two hundred thousand dollars from our investment portfolio without consulting me-."

"Now, Penny, it wasn't like that..." Roger tried to interrupt.

"Didn't you hear the part about staying quiet and listening?" Penny's piercing blue eyes glittered like ice chips. "I obviously let you get away with far too much over the years, but you seem to forget that if it wasn't for the money from my family, that country manor you're so proud of would either be running to wrack and ruin or you'd be living in the gate-house instead of the gardener, and the family pile would be so many yuppie apartments.

If you choose to continue interfering in Wesley's life, then I'll make sure that's exactly what happens."

"I was just trying to convince him to do what's best."

"Rot. Have you even spoken to the girl? Made any sort of effort to get to know her? Of course not. Well, let me tell you, the girl is intelligent, friendly, loyal to those she cares about... and, yes, that applies to her late husband's family as well as to our son-."

"Husband? Is that what he told you? She was no more married to him than she is to Wesley."

"Don't be such a bigot. If you had taken a few hours to speak to the pair of them in a civilised manner, rather than swigging brandy with Quentin and hatching ridiculous plots to disinherit our son in favour of that twit you call a nephew, then you would know that her relationship with Rosa's father was more committed than many that come with the bit of paper that you seem to find so important. He gave her a wedding ring. They made the same promises to each other as any married couple. It's not their fault Church and State weren't prepared to acknowledge it. As far as I'm concerned, to all intents and purposes, they were married, and much the same as I won't stand for you insulting Wesley behind his back, I don't want to hear you making any more remarks about Marie."

Roger snorted. "Even if you do say she was married to this demon, then she can hardly have taken much persuading to fall into Wesley's bed so soon after he returned to town."

It was Penny's turn to snort. "You haven't even looked at him properly, have you? If he wanted, Wesley could have a different woman in his bed every night with very little persuasion at all. Instead, he's building a relationship with someone who cares about him and someone he cares about, and as for that word you used to describe her earlier, wouldn't that be the term to describe someone who took the money you offered her? I happen to think that both of them have excellent taste and before you say anything else, in this instance you will listen to my opinion.

You betrayed my trust when you offered Marie money that wasn't yours to give, and you insulted both him and me when you tried to blackmail our son with something that is already his by right and when you threatened to overlook him in favour of that moron.

This is what is going to happen. You are going to be on the first flight out of LA tomorrow morning. You are going to keep your nose out of Wesley's career and his love life from now on and, perhaps, when you're safely back in England, I'll release enough funds into the joint account to keep you in the style to which you're accustomed until I get back home, after I spend some time getting to know Marie and her family."

"That's preposterous! You can't get away with that!"

"But I can. You see, right now, I have control of all the readily convertible assets we own between us. True, if you don't see reason, then, in order to safeguard Wesley's inheritance, I might need to institute divorce proceedings and eventually you might get some of the liquid assets, but possession is nine tenths of the law and it could take a very long time to sort it all out. A long time where you won't have any income to live on. I'm willing to gamble that you won't let it come to that because, if you do, then, considering all the renovations to the house were funded by the money my parents left me, there's a good chance that either I'd get ownership by paying you some portion of its value, or you'd end up having to sell it to settle up. Whatever happens, you would end up with significantly less than half of what we own collectively. Now, at that point, it would be entirely up to you if you wanted to leave whatever you might get to Geoffrey, but everything that's awarded to me, and, believe me, that will be most of it, will go to Wesley, directly to Wesley, if I should happen to die before you."

Roger gave a grunt of disgust. "I should have known he'd go running to his mother. He always was a mummy's boy."

"Actually, it was Marie who called me. Like I said, she's a bright girl. I believe that Wesley simply planned to tell you to keep any money that came with strings attached. I've brought him up to speed, however, so don't expect him to sign anything that might be used against him. By the way, since you appear to think we no longer need the town house, it would be efficient tax-wise if we were to deed it to Wesley when I get back to England. Then, I suppose, he can either sell it and use the money to buy something over here, or put it in the hands of a letting agent and get some income from it."

"I can't believe that after nearly forty years of marriage you suddenly start talking about divorce."

"I can't believe the way you've treated our own flesh and blood. When you used to rant on, I always told Wes 'Sticks and stones', that it was just the way you were and that he shouldn't take what you said to heart, but this isn't just one of your lectures that he can let wash over him. This amounts to calculatedly and maliciously trying to destroy your own son's happiness, and quite apart from divorce being the best way to formalise my control over certain assets, I don't think I would want to remain married to someone who did such a thing. Now, why don't you go off and find Quentin so you can finish with the denial, get through the anger and work your way round toward acceptance via whatever all those other stages are?"

Roger's eyes narrowed and he looked appraisingly at Penelope, almost as if she were a stranger. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "You never used to be this slow on the uptake. Do you really think that I would bluff about something like this?"

Roger rose to his feet and strode over to where Penelope stood, forcing her to look up at him once more. "Don't think this is the last you're going to hear about this. I'll have Quentin get his lawyers to check this out."

Penny sidestepped away from Roger and opened the room door. Roger immediately stepped into the doorway. "I suspect by the time you get downstairs you'll have reconsidered on that... unless, of course, you want the entire council to know how you were outsmarted by your wife." She slowly but deliberately closed the door, Roger shifting just in time to avoid it hitting him on the ass on his way out.
 
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