"What - what's going on here?" Elizabeth asked.
A tall, bearded young man making notes in front of a cage explained, "We're testing a new tranquilizer."
"I hope it works," Elizabeth said weakly. "I think I could use it." And she walked out of the room before she could become sick.
Rhys was at her side in the corridor. "Are you all right?"
She took a deep breath. "I - I'm fine. Is all that really necessary?"
Rhys looked at her and replied. "Those experiments save a lot of lives. More than one third of the people born since nineteen fifty are alive only because of modern drugs. Think about that."
Elizabeth thought about it.
It took six full days to tour the key buildings, and when Elizabeth had finished, she was exhausted, her head spinning with the vastness of it. And she realized she was seeing just one Roffe plant. There were dozens of others scattered around the world.
The facts and figures were stunning. "It takes between five and ten years to market a new drug, and out of every two thousand compounds tested, we'll average only three products...."
And "...Roffe and Sons has three hundred people working here in quality control alone."
And "...Worldwide, Roffe and Sons is responsible for over half a million employees..."
And "...our gross income last year was..."
Elizabeth listened, trying to digest the incredible figures that Rhys was throwing at her. She had known that the company was large, but "large" was such an anonymous word. Having it actually translated into terms of people and money was staggering.
That night as Elizabeth lay in bed, recalling all the things she had seen and heard, she was filled with an overpowering feeling of inadequacy.
Ivo: Believe me, cara, it is much better to leave all this to us. You don't understand these things.
ALEC: I think you should sell but I have an ax to grind.
WALTHER: Why bother yourself with this? You can go off anywhere you like and enjoy your money.
They were right, all of them, Elizabeth thought. I'm going to get out and let them do what they like with the company. I do not belong in this position.
The moment she made the decision, she felt a deep sense of relief. She fell asleep almost immediately.
The following day, Friday, was the beginning of a holiday weekend. When Elizabeth arrived at the office, she sent for Rhys to announce her decision.
"Mr. Williams had to fly to Nairobi last night," Kate Erling informed her. "He said to tell you he would be back on Tuesday. Can anyone else help you?"
Elizabeth hesitated. "Put in a call to Sir Alec, please."
"Yes, Miss Roffe." Kate added, a note of hesitation in her voice, "A package for you was delivered this morning by the police department. It contains the personal belongings your father had with him at Chamonix."
The mention of Sam brought back that sharp sense of loss, of grief.
"The police apologized because they could not give it to your messenger. It was already on its way to you."
Elizabeth frowned. "My messenger?"
"The man you sent to Chamonix to pick it up."
"I didn't send anyone to Chamonix." It was obviously some bureaucratic mix-up. "Where is it?"
"I put it in your closet."
There was a Vuitton suitcase, containing Sam's clothes, and a locked attache case with a key taped to it. Probably company reports. She would let Rhys handle them. Then she remembered that he was away. Well, she decided, she would go away for the weekend too. She looked at the attache case and thought, Perhaps there's something personal belonging to Sam. I'd better look at it first.
Kate Erling buzzed. "I'm sorry, Miss Roffe. Sir Alec's out of the office."
"Leave a message for him to call me, please. I'll be at the villa in Sardinia. Leave the same message for Mr. Palazzi, Mr. Gassner and Mr. Martel."
She would tell them all that she was leaving, that they could sell the stock, do as they pleased with the company.
She was looking forward to the long weekend. The villa was a retreat, a soothing cocoon, where she could be alone to think about herself and her future. Events had been flung at her so rapidly that she had had no chance to put things into any kind of perspective. Sam's accident - Elizabeth's mind tripped over the word "death"; inheriting the controlling stock of Roffe and Sons; the urgent pressure from the family to let the company go public. And the company itself. The awesome heartbeat of a behemoth whose power spanned the world. It was too much to cope with all at once.
When she flew to Sardinia late that afternoon, Elizabeth had the attache case with her.
Chapter 18
She took a taxi from the airport. There was no one at the villa because it had been closed, and Elizabeth had not told anyone she was coming. She let herself in and walked slowly through the large familiar rooms and it was as if she had never been away. She had not realized how much she had missed this place. It seemed to Elizabeth that the few happy memories of her childhood had been here. It felt strange to be alone in this labyrinth where there had always been half a dozen servants bustling around, cooking, cleaning, polishing. Now there was only herself. And the echoes of the past.
She left Sam's attache case in the downstairs hallway and carried her suitcase upstairs. With the habit of long years, she started to head for her bedroom in the center of the hallway, then stopped. Her father's room was at the far end. Elizabeth turned and walked toward it She opened the door slowly, because while her mind understood the reality, some deep, atavistic instinct made her half expect to see Sam there, to hear the sound of his voice.