Revenge
"I swear by God, one day you'll regret this. Trust me, Campion, one day you'll pay," van Houten said.
A part of me has always expected to hear words like these. An open expression of hate, some vengeful threats. Only I've always believed I would hear them in court from one of the less charming individuals I've helped to put behind bars. And certainly not here, in the refined surroundings of a pleasant little Essex country club.
And not for such a minor reason.
To threaten someone out of the blue just because they have accidentally beaten you at an important stage of a cross country paper chase is not what one would expect from a fellow gentleman, methinks. Particularly not from van Houten, who up to this very evening has always seemed a perfectly fine chap. Polite, restrained, with no more or less sporty ambition than actually befitting the occasion.
The annual Claredon Cross Country Drive is a charity event, for Heaven's sake.
A part of me has always expected to hear words like these. An open expression of hate, some vengeful threats. Only I've always believed I would hear them in court from one of the less charming individuals I've helped to put behind bars. And certainly not here, in the refined surroundings of a pleasant little Essex country club.
And not for such a minor reason.
To threaten someone out of the blue just because they have accidentally beaten you at an important stage of a cross country paper chase is not what one would expect from a fellow gentleman, methinks. Particularly not from van Houten, who up to this very evening has always seemed a perfectly fine chap. Polite, restrained, with no more or less sporty ambition than actually befitting the occasion.
The annual Claredon Cross Country Drive is a charity event, for Heaven's sake.