‘From the outset, he made his position clear. He had thought about the crisis, and he had decided on what would be done. To this end, he had drawn up four resolutions for the Board to pass. Drastic times called for even more drastic measures—measures that would require radical, sweeping changes—changes that would redraw the very lines of the world. Obviously, any set of actions with such far-reaching consequences needed to be ratified unanimously by the Board, especially since what he proposed included a dissolution of the Board itself in its current form. But the Chairman had thought of everything. He explained each resolution in detail to the Board, and made no bones about it—this was what was going to happen. Now they would vote, and pass the resolutions, and that would be that.

‘Except that was not quite that. Because, for probably the first time in his life, Augustus Bosquanet developed a backbone. He refused to accept the resolutions, and accused his father and the rest of the Board of moral cowardice. It was their responsibility to fix the problem, he said, and to this end he was willing to work night and day with Robert to find a solution. He spoke long and eloquently, and when that didn’t help he voted against the resolutions, rendering the necessary unanimous vote impossible. And when the Chairman tabled them again, he voted against them again, with no regard for the consequences.’

Father blinked—for the first time in a while, Albert realized. The ghost of a smile flickered across the old man’s face. ‘It was undoubtedly Augustus Bosquanet’s finest hour. Indeed, I believe that, for those few short minutes, he became the man he could have been. But of course, it was to no avail. The Chairman was not a man who could be thwarted.’

‘So the resolutions were still passed?’

‘Of course they were passed. Immediately after the second vote, the Chairman simply said that Augustus’ conduct had long proved that he was unfit to bear the name Bosquanet, and that made him unfit for the position he held. Then he moved the rest of the Board to impeach his son and heir, which they did, unanimously. Augustus was escorted out of the building, and that was the end of the dissent. The reconstituted Board passed all the resolutions unanimously.’

‘What happened to him?’

‘He died,’ said Father harshly. Albert saw a dim, faraway look in his eyes. When Father resumed speaking, his voice was back to normal. ‘His was a short and ultimately tragic journey that has long since ended, and there is no further need to dwell on it. I shall now tell you about the resolutions themselves, Albert, so listen carefully.’