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Authors: Evelyn Anthony
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lover in the wings onto the stage. Easy to follow the habit of seven years and leave the initiative to a man. But this time she wasnât going to do it.
Nothing shamed her more than the realization of what she had allowed Logan to do with their child. The fussy, elderly mother-substitute with her rigid routine, the spotless nursery and the regimented toys. The deliberate exclusion of the mother from real contact with her child.
All that was over. James had said she had guts and she was glad to find that he was right. The guts to face life on her own and to fight Logan for the custody of Lucy.
She finished her coffee and went upstairs to the second-floor bedroom. Logan insisted on a king-size bed. He had given her a magnificent Poussin landscape two years before. She wondered whether he had given Janet Armstrong pictures or jewellery. More likely share options. She would appreciate them more. She got into bed and within minutes she fell asleep. It was just eleven oâclock.
In a cheap Indian restaurant, less than a mile away off Victoria Street, Madeleine, Resnais and Peters sat round a table, planning the kidnapping of Lucy Field.
For five years Colonel Ali Ardalan had been the head of the Iranian Secret Police â Sazemane Attalat Va Amniyate Keshvar â the dreaded SAVAK. He had begun his military career in Army Intelligence, where he distinguished himself against the Kurdish tribesmen who were fighting a guerilla war for self-rule on the Iraqi border. His father had been in the same regiment as the Shahâs father, the army sergeant who had deposed the last Qajar emperor and taken possession of the Peacock Throne. Ardalan belonged to one of what were known as the thousand families, the old Persian aristocracy; it had taken a generation before they felt comfortable serving the upstart Reza family. Ali had no such reservations. He admired the Shah for his courage, his fervent nationalism and his ability to weld the people together in personal loyalty to him.
The Colonel had spent some months in England on a course at the Military Academy; he had liked Sandhurst and admired the English. He was an open-minded man, keenly intelligent and ready to learn anything which he felt could be used to Iranâs advantage. He was a soldier and a patriot. He believed that the safety of his country and the personal safety of the Shah were above all other considerations. Since his appointment as head of SAVAK he had perfected a system of espionage and counter-terrorism which was the admiration of similar services throughout the East. His enemies described him as a monster of cruelty and repression; his torture chambers were places from which few suspects came out alive.
He knew everything about everyone in public life; his shadow fell upon Ministers and civil servants, on the armed forces, the diplomatic service, the universities. The intellectuals and the moderates shuddered when the name Ardalan was mentioned. He was a close friend and adviser of the Shah and the only man who could have access to him at any time, night or day. He was married, with a second wife and three young children. They lived together in a large, well-guarded house on the outskirts of Tehran. In private life, he was a quiet man, modest in his personal needs. He had gathered together all the available information about Logan Field; this was a routine precaution before anyone was allowed an audience with the Shah and Ardalan insisted upon it, regardless of who was involved. He knew that Fieldâs wife had gone back to England, because all European-owned houses were under supervision and Jamesâs houseboy was in police pay. He also knew that Field was having trouble with the Minister Khorvan. The Colonel did not trust either of them. The Englishman was trying to exploit Iranâs huge natural oil resources and the Minister was indulging his left-wing tendencies by impeding the negotiations. Ardalan knew all about the demand for a refinery
Nothing shamed her more than the realization of what she had allowed Logan to do with their child. The fussy, elderly mother-substitute with her rigid routine, the spotless nursery and the regimented toys. The deliberate exclusion of the mother from real contact with her child.
All that was over. James had said she had guts and she was glad to find that he was right. The guts to face life on her own and to fight Logan for the custody of Lucy.
She finished her coffee and went upstairs to the second-floor bedroom. Logan insisted on a king-size bed. He had given her a magnificent Poussin landscape two years before. She wondered whether he had given Janet Armstrong pictures or jewellery. More likely share options. She would appreciate them more. She got into bed and within minutes she fell asleep. It was just eleven oâclock.
In a cheap Indian restaurant, less than a mile away off Victoria Street, Madeleine, Resnais and Peters sat round a table, planning the kidnapping of Lucy Field.
For five years Colonel Ali Ardalan had been the head of the Iranian Secret Police â Sazemane Attalat Va Amniyate Keshvar â the dreaded SAVAK. He had begun his military career in Army Intelligence, where he distinguished himself against the Kurdish tribesmen who were fighting a guerilla war for self-rule on the Iraqi border. His father had been in the same regiment as the Shahâs father, the army sergeant who had deposed the last Qajar emperor and taken possession of the Peacock Throne. Ardalan belonged to one of what were known as the thousand families, the old Persian aristocracy; it had taken a generation before they felt comfortable serving the upstart Reza family. Ali had no such reservations. He admired the Shah for his courage, his fervent nationalism and his ability to weld the people together in personal loyalty to him.
The Colonel had spent some months in England on a course at the Military Academy; he had liked Sandhurst and admired the English. He was an open-minded man, keenly intelligent and ready to learn anything which he felt could be used to Iranâs advantage. He was a soldier and a patriot. He believed that the safety of his country and the personal safety of the Shah were above all other considerations. Since his appointment as head of SAVAK he had perfected a system of espionage and counter-terrorism which was the admiration of similar services throughout the East. His enemies described him as a monster of cruelty and repression; his torture chambers were places from which few suspects came out alive.
He knew everything about everyone in public life; his shadow fell upon Ministers and civil servants, on the armed forces, the diplomatic service, the universities. The intellectuals and the moderates shuddered when the name Ardalan was mentioned. He was a close friend and adviser of the Shah and the only man who could have access to him at any time, night or day. He was married, with a second wife and three young children. They lived together in a large, well-guarded house on the outskirts of Tehran. In private life, he was a quiet man, modest in his personal needs. He had gathered together all the available information about Logan Field; this was a routine precaution before anyone was allowed an audience with the Shah and Ardalan insisted upon it, regardless of who was involved. He knew that Fieldâs wife had gone back to England, because all European-owned houses were under supervision and Jamesâs houseboy was in police pay. He also knew that Field was having trouble with the Minister Khorvan. The Colonel did not trust either of them. The Englishman was trying to exploit Iranâs huge natural oil resources and the Minister was indulging his left-wing tendencies by impeding the negotiations. Ardalan knew all about the demand for a refinery
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