With Love From Cape Town. Joss Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ answered with a smile. ‘My mother is a journalist, and my father was Xhosa. He used to be a lawyer and a political activist. He died just over five years ago.’

      ‘Isn’t that how you started? As a journalist? What made you decide to take up medicine?’

      ‘I was sent to Sudan to cover a refugee camp there,’ she said. Niall saw something shift in his wife’s eyes. ‘The conditions were awful, completely unbearable. There was so little anyone could do. But there was a team of doctors and nurses and other outreach workers who were there, doing a tremendous job. I watched them work for three weeks and realised that medicine was the career for me. I wanted to do something—not just report it.’

      ‘But yet here you are, working as a high-profile TV personality. Not exactly front line medicine, is it?’

      Ouch, Niall thought. He’d suspected all along that Richard hadn’t brought Robina onto the show for a cosy chat. He felt his fingers curl into fists.

      ‘No.’

      Niall sighed with relief when Robina refused to let the presenter rattle her.

      ‘But one thing I did realise, after working as a doctor in a similar scenario when I finished my training, was that what really makes a difference is education and information. Doctors do what they can in these situations, but really it’s just like sticking plaster on a wound. Without going to the source of the problem, we will never reach a long-lasting solution.’

      ‘So tell me how all this relates to your work here in the UK.’

      Richard’s smile made him look like a shark. Niall would have given anything to wipe the supercilious grin off his face.

      ‘It doesn’t,’ Robina admitted. ‘But what I do is provide information to as many people as I can. Take my book on infertility, for example. If it helps even one person understand what the process involves, or points them in the right direction to find help, it can only be good. And as for the clip we have just seen, autistic spectrum disorder affects far more of the general population than most people realise. There was so much incorrect information given out about the MMR vaccine and its association with ASD that people stopped immunising their children, with a resultant increase in measles. The clip you have just seen is an attempt to share the challenges of living with an autistic child as well as debunking some of the myths that have sprung up around this condition.’

      ‘Apart from making you a substantial amount of money,’ Richard said snidely.

      ‘Most of which I put into programmes that provide immunisations and clean water to the people in war-torn countries such as Sudan,’ Robina replied without missing a beat.

      Niall was taken aback. She had never told him that. It was hardly surprising since they barely spoke let alone discussed their individual bank accounts. He was beginning to realise that there was a lot more to his wife than he had suspected.

      Her answer obviously took Richard by surprise too. For a moment the smile faltered, but then it was back. ‘That’s not public knowledge,’ Richard said.

      ‘No reason it should be.’ Robina smiled sweetly, but Niall could see a hint of iron in her eyes. ‘What I choose to do with my money is private.’

      Niall was beginning to enjoy himself. ‘Way to go, Robina!’ he called out, only to find Ella looking at him with bafflement.

      ‘Way to go, Mummy,’ she chimed in anyway, making Niall laugh. God, he loved his daughter.

      ‘Let’s discuss your latest project,’ Richard continued. ‘I understand you are doing a documentary following women undergoing IVF treatment?’

      ‘That’s right. It will be airing in the autumn.’

      ‘Don’t you think it’s a little invasive? After all, these women are going through a particularly difficult time in their lives.’

      ‘I couldn’t agree more. That’s why only those women who wish to take part are filmed. We make it clear they can withdraw their consent at any time. But most of them want others to know what it’s like to undergo treatment. A book can’t really show the reality. It can be a terribly difficult and unpleasant experience for women and as my documentary will show, women are only prepared to put themselves through it because their need for a child is so overwhelming.’

      ‘Do you think IVF is good use of scarce resources?’ Once again the shark-like glint was back in Richard’s eyes. ‘After all, as you have so eloquently pointed out, there are so many other places where funding is needed.’

      ‘Do you have children of your own, Richard?’ There was a dangerous sparkle in Robina’s eyes.

      He nodded.

      ‘When you watch my documentary, one of the things that will become clear is how much these women want children. If they can be helped, why deny them?’

      ‘Especially when it helps make your husband richer. I understand he works in the private sector as well as the NHS. I’m sure the publicity of your film will do his business no harm. Quite the contrary, it’s bound to generate quite a bit of income for him, wouldn’t you say?’ This time there was no mistaking the look in Richard’s eyes—he had pinned his prey, now he was going to finish her off. Niall groaned aloud. He’d had a bad feeling about this appearance all along. He should have listened to his gut and tried to talk her out of it.

      But it seemed once more he had underestimated his wife. She smiled. ‘Yes, I can see why you might think there is a conflict of interests. But I can assure you, my husband makes no personal profit from his private work. He uses any income from fee-paying patients to subsidise those who can’t afford it and who aren’t eligible for treatment on the NHS. Any funding left over goes to research. I’m sure you know that he is a world leader in this area? His research has involved looking at taking ovarian tissue from teenage girls with cancer prior to treatment. This may be the only way these young women will be able to have children. Before, it was an impossibility, now there is hope. His research also involves polycystic ovary syndrome, one of the main causes of infertility but also a factor in significantly increasing morbidity in this group of women.’

      Niall sat bolt upright. How did she know all this? Not about his reputation, that was why she had sought him out back when they had met, but about him not taking any profit from the business? Just as she hadn’t shared her finances with him, neither had he felt the need to share his with her. She must have winkled the information out of Lucinda, he guessed. Part of her journalistic training. That would teach him to underestimate his wife.

      ‘I should also tell you that my husband takes none of the profit from any new treatments his research generates. He believes that new discoveries in science shouldn’t belong to an individual but to society as a whole.’

      Could he be hearing right? Niall thought, growing more surprised by the minute. But was that pride he heard in her voice?

      Applause broke out from the audience. Robina had clearly disconcerted Richard. Her response not what the presenter had expected.

      ‘Oh? But you live an affluent lifestyle, don’t you? A large house in one of the more expensive parts of Edinburgh, a couple of flash cars, holidays abroad.’

      ‘I have explained my finances as far as I’m prepared to,’ Robina replied coolly. ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to ask you publicly about yours.’ She arched an eyebrow at СКАЧАТЬ