“I’m not that dull,” Natalia teased. “I’ve only read it once before. It’s a slog, but an important work that can’t be ignored. Sit down and tell me what I can do for you. You’ve got a pinched look.”
Gwen sat. Actually, she and Natalia did have something in common. They were both women who had been precluded from leadership at the bank from the moment they drew their first breath of air.
“Do you know about Mrs. Carnegie?”
Natalia stiffened. It was barely noticeable other than the way her fingers curled around the rim of the book. “Louise Carnegie? Owner of a seven-percent stake in the Blackstone Bank?”
“You knew about it?”
Natalia nodded. “Andrew Carnegie has a gentleman’s agreement with Grandfather. The operating agreement precluding women from the vote is ironclad, but Louise is allowed to assign her votes to whatever partner she chooses to vote on her behalf. So far, she’s always given them to my father.”
Which meant if Louise could be persuaded to assign them to Liam, they’d be seven percent closer to the magic number to save the college or grant Liam’s dearest wish of preventing the creation of U.S. Steel.
“Is there any hope of persuading Mrs. Carnegie to vote against the steel merger?”
Natalia rolled her eyes. “Forget it. The steel merger is her idea.”
That was a surprise. Gwen listened as Natalia filled her in on the gossip behind the Carnegie marriage. Andrew Carnegie was much older than his wife, who nagged him incessantly to retire so they could enjoy his remaining years together in Scotland. That couldn’t happen unless Andrew cut ties with Carnegie Steel, which was why Louise was so adamant that the company be sold.
But Gwen knew Mrs. Carnegie was an advocate for female education, so she might be persuaded to assign Liam her votes to support the college. If that happened, Gwen still needed to find an additional three percent.
“What can you tell me about a Russian count who owns four percent?” she asked Natalia.
“Count Sokolov. He’s completely insane.” Natalia said it with a hint of amused frustration, and Gwen suspected she might be teasing again. Strange. She’d never thought of Natalia as someone with a sense of humor.
“Genuinely insane?” she asked.
“More or less. He’s irrational and impossible to deal with. He lives somewhere in Siberia, and I’ve never met him. I think the rural isolation has done him in.”
“How does he learn about the issues that are being voted on at the bank?”
“He generally votes as I suggest.” She winked at Gwen. “It’s almost as though I’ve got a four-percent stake myself.”
“And could you be persuaded to use your influence with the Russian count to vote in favor of continued funding for the college?”
Natalia shook her head. “It’s hopeless. My father is ready to stop funding the college after next year, and you’ll never be able to gather enough votes to override him.”
Gwen glanced pointedly at Liam, who stood on the far side of the deck playing shuffleboard with some of the other men, then back at Natalia.
Natalia set down her book, her face painfully sad. “So Liam is already breaking ranks and voting with Frederick. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“I agree,” Gwen agreed. “The only way you or I can influence the bank is to lean on the men to vote the way we want. I would like your help getting the Russian count to vote in favor of extending the funding for the college. Blackstone College admits women. From the day it opened, we never had antiquated rules that kept women in the kitchen or told them they had no place in a boardroom. Natalia, we need your help keeping the college alive.”
Natalia’s eyes darkened as she stared at the men on the far side of the yacht. She looked fierce, angry, and determined.
“I think I can get you four percent from the Russian count,” she said, and Gwen’s heart soared.
Against all odds, she suddenly saw a path to win permanent funding for the college.
31
Long after the others had returned to the house for dinner, Gwen huddled with Patrick, Liam, and Natalia in the boathouse. It was the only place they were guaranteed not to be overheard by the rest of the family.
“It’s nine o’clock here, which means it’s the crack of dawn in Siberia,” Natalia said. “We can contact him right now. Unless we can get his vote, there’s no point in trying to recruit Mrs. Carnegie to our side.”
“But you think we can really get his vote?” Gwen asked, a world of hope beginning to bloom inside.
Natalia snapped her watch shut. “I told you. He is completely insane, so we can’t take anything for granted, and negotiations with him usually drag on for hours. We’d better get moving.”
