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challenge and hope ringing in their ears. Lunchtime found him in Gateshead at a
shopping mall, visiting merchants and customers, and posing for pictures with shop
assistants and food court diners. Then it was on to Middlesbrough for tea and
sandwiches at a retirement home and an early supper backstage with the cast and
chorus of the English National Opera touring company in Durham. He ended his
hectic day in Glasgow at a night shelter for the homeless, where he spoke at length
on his vision for a Britain where all such shelters would close, not for lack of
funding, but for lack of need.
Waring watched all this with a dull, burning hatred that mounted almost hour by
hour, as the relentless, tireless press reported the King s every move throughout the
day. He watched as slowly, gradually, the charismatic new monarch began to turn
public opinion. He watched as the King s popularity waxed, and his own wanted in
almost direct proportion. The ex-Prime Minister watched with the growing
desperation of a man who feels the deck tilting dangerously beneath him and knows
there is nothing he can do to bring the ship around.
On Thursday, the King returned to London for the funeral of his friend and
supporter, Donald Rothes, and Waring breathed a sigh of relief. At least, attending
the funeral would slow the media juggernaut somewhat, and for once the blasted
King would not be the center of attention. As a parliamentary colleague of the former
MP, Waring would also attend the service. In light of the opportunity provided, he
intended to make the most of the situation; he had his press secretary prepare a
speech ripe with juicy sound bites guaranteed to tempt the media back into his camp.
Given only the slightest chance, he would be well on his way to restoring the
shambles of his collapsed government.
Donald Rothes funeral service was held in St. Margaret s the gray stone church
that huddles in the shadow of mighty Westminster Abbey. As a sitting Member of
Parliament, he was accorded as much pomp and ceremony as precedent allowed. All
of his Commons colleagues attended. The former Prime Minister and his cabinet
cronies, and Huw Griffith and the rest of the Opposition party leaders were given
choice seats in the choir; the rest of the backbenchers and junior members filled in
behind according to their own peculiar pecking order much as they did in the
chamber. Add to this number several score friends and numerous relations, and the
church was quickly crammed to standing-room-only capacity. The media
newshounds, who were not allowed inside the church, joined the throng crowding
the entrance and square, impeding the flow of traffic through and around the abbey
precinct.
Caroline and Isobel, grim and dour in their black mourning hats and veils, sat on the
front row of chairs lined up on either side of the coffin. With them were some of the
Rotheses close friends and relations his younger brother, Alexander, and a few
of Donald s business associates and neighbors. Jennifer and Calum sat four rows
behind the family and friends; Embries, Rhys, and Gavin stood at the wall behind the
mourners. As a speaker, James sat on the dais beside the Archbishop of Canterbury,
who had volunteered to deliver a sermon. At Caroline s request, James had prepared
a simple eulogy, and the vicar of Donald s local parish had been asked to lead the
service itself.
It was a morning service, following which the casket would make its way up to the
family estate at Glenrothes in Scotland, where Donald would be buried in the family
plot. The day was suitably subdued, the sky crowded with heavy low clouds
allowing only rare bursts of sunlight. Outside the church, the funeral cortège of black
limousines sat waiting to begin the long trip north.
From where James sat, he could observe those in the front rows quite easily. He
noticed that although most of the congregation appeared dutifully solemn and pious,
Waring looked distinctly haggard and ill at ease. Was it, James wondered, anything
to do with the fact that two of the nation s most highly respected newspapers had
come out in support of the Royal Reform Party on the day of Donald s funeral?
The service started promptly at ten. The hymn Amazing Grace was played, and
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