A French Affair (7 page)

‘About 1950 I would guess, I’m not an expert. Too modern for me.’ He did manage a rueful smile.

‘Nineteen fifty is halfway through the last century,’ said Sally firmly. ‘That’s not modern in the real world.’

‘Probably not,’ Matthew agreed. ‘People have accused me of having an antique mind as well as an antiques centre.’

Gina sighed. ‘I know I said this before, but you really do need a good PR person who’d put you on the map a bit.’

‘We are on the map to people who know about us. We have a good reputation in the trade.’

‘Yes, but what about new customers?’

‘We manage,’ he said firmly.

Gina wanted to shake him. No wonder his accounts
were making him depressed if he was depending on dealers who already knew about the centre and a few odd people wandering in off the street to earn him a living. They’d never get themselves up the steps!

Sally, who’d been sorting through the contents of the suitcase with a slight frown, said, ‘There seem to be a lot of old scent bottles here.’

‘I think that was a new interest of Rainey’s.’ Matthew reached into the case. He picked up what looked to be a china cat. Then he took off its head. ‘Quite sweet. You might get a hundred for this.’

‘Rainey seems to have gone in for animals posing as something useful,’ said Sally. ‘But who’d have thought they would be so valuable?’ She extracted what looked to Gina to be an empty bottle of Chanel No. 5. ‘I think my girls have got something very like this in their toy box. I would never have let them have it to make potions with if I knew it was valuable.’

‘It would need to be an early example to be worth much,’ said Matthew.

‘I’m still getting it back,’ said Sally. ‘They won’t miss it.’ She put both hands in the case, turning over bits and pieces, much more enthusiastic about old things now.

‘Maybe we should get all this priced up,’ said Matthew. He was clearly either bored or busy. ‘There are some price tags over there.’

‘But are you willing to let them go on display here?’ asked Gina. ‘If they’re not old enough?’

He regarded her in a way that revealed nothing of his feelings. She was familiar with his ability to disguise his thoughts by now but it still maddened her.

‘Yes,’ he said eventually. ‘It was what Rainey wanted, obviously. We should respect that.’

Gina didn’t comment but she’d always felt it odd that people respected the wishes of the dead when they were quite likely to have ignored their feelings when they were alive. Still, Matthew might always have respected Aunt Rainey. ‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said.

‘It’s OK,’ he said brusquely.

Sally, who had the best handwriting, wrote the prices and Gina attached them to the pieces Matthew selected. She looked up enquiringly at a tiny blue bottle Gina had found hiding inside something else.

‘Victorian again,’ said Matthew, taking it gently. ‘Somewhere between thirty and fifty. Put forty-eight on it and see how we do.’

‘A lot of this pricing lark seems to be guesswork,’ said Gina.

‘More often than I’d like to admit,’ said Matthew.

They took their items down to Rainey’s section. She had a showcase in one of the smaller rooms.

‘I’m surprised you kept it empty,’ said Gina.

‘To be honest it wasn’t from choice,’ said Matthew. ‘We have a lot of very loyal customers and dealers, but we’re not attracting new ones.’

‘When we know each other better,’ said Gina, ‘I’m going to sort that all out for you.’

Matthew unlocked the case with an air of tired resignation. ‘I doubt it,’ he said.

While Gina was looking at Matthew, wondering why he was so downbeat when she felt sure that with a little energy and enthusiasm his antiques centre could thrive at
least as well as any other centre, Sally was arranging the items in the case.

She seemed to have a knack for it. Instantly Gina felt she wanted to own the bits and pieces she’d faintly despised when they were in the suitcase.

‘That looks nice,’ said Matthew with masterly understatement.

‘But the cabinet looks rather empty,’ said Sally. ‘Shall we get some more things out?’

‘No,’ said Matthew. ‘Too many scent bottles wouldn’t look right. We need a good mixture, or only scent bottles.’ He paused. ‘You need more stock.’

‘Will you buy it for us?’ said Sally instantly. ‘We’ve got the five hundred pounds. You could make sure we had things we could make money on.’

‘I could,’ Matthew agreed, ‘but what would you both learn from that? No, what you need to do is go to a proper antiques fair. Where Gina and I went the other day was tiny – it was a good place to start and local – you really need to go to Newark.’

‘What’s at Newark?’ asked Gina.

‘The biggest antiques fair in Europe. I owe it to Rainey’s memory to train you properly and you’ll really get a crash course there.’

‘Oh my God! That sounds like so much fun,’ said Sally.

‘Don’t forget it will all be old things,’ said Gina.

‘You know what?’ said Sally, aware she was being teased. ‘I’ve kind of come round to old things.’

‘So when is this fair? I might have to rearrange work things if I’m going.’

‘Next week, as it happens,’ said Matthew. ‘You’ve come
into the business at just about the right time – from a buying point of view anyway,’ he added.

‘That’s terribly short notice,’ said Gina. ‘We’re not ready.’

An unexpected spark flared in Matthew’s eyes. ‘Rainey would say you’re being a coward,’ he said. ‘And I don’t think you are. I think you’re up for a challenge.’

‘I am – we both are,’ said Gina. ‘It’s just so soon—’

‘Newark is on when it’s on. The next one isn’t until after Christmas.’

‘OK then,’ said Gina before she could change her mind or question Matthew’s reasons for helping them. Was it just in Rainey’s memory or was he throwing them in the deep end to prove a point – that they weren’t cut out for this? ‘We’ll do it.’

MATTHEW PICKED GINA
up from her cottage in the early afternoon. They had agreed he would drive them up and they would spend the night at the B. and B. Rainey and he used to stay at. Sally had, at the last moment, been unable to leave the twins so was going to join them at the fair the following morning. Matthew seemed more relaxed than usual, even a little excited.

‘We’ll take as much as possible away with us but we can get anything big sent home. It’ll be good to have Sally’s car too.’

Having locked her front door, Gina followed him down the path. She was wearing trainers and, following instructions, had brought a huge bag with her, filled with plastic carriers. She was also carrying an overnight bag. ‘No Oscar again, I see,’ she said. She could feel herself picking up on his excitement, and realised that in spite of her anxiety about being able to make a go of the whole business, she was raring to go.

‘We’re not joined at the hip, you know. Although he’d quite enjoy it. He’s very sociable when he wants to be. I should have a smaller dog really, that I could take about
more easily. Or a van,’ he added, putting her bag in the boot and getting in beside her.

Gina chuckled, and then asked, ‘Aren’t you taking any pieces to sell?’

‘No, this is a buying trip. I rarely take a stall at these things.’

He switched on the radio. ‘You can choose the channel. Anything except Radio One. I’m too old-fashioned for that.’

‘Don’t you like to chat while you’re driving?’

‘Gina, the journey will take roughly three hours. If we try to make polite conversation for that long we’ll both be exhausted long before we get there. And Newark is quite exhausting enough.’

Gina nodded. ‘Fair enough.’

Matthew put the car into gear and they set off.

Three hours later, they drew up in front of an enchanting old farmhouse. Gina stretched her legs while Matthew retrieved their bags from the boot.

‘The owner, Clare, is a lovely woman,’ he said. ‘She’s been hosting antiques dealers for the big fairs for years.’

‘Oh?’ Gina took her bag out of Matthew’s hand. ‘Isn’t it just Newark that’s near here?’

‘No, there are a few and they tend to be close together so people can go to all of them over a few days.’

‘That sounds hard work.’

‘It makes sense. If you come from London or the South and you’ve hired a van you want to fill it.’

As she followed Matthew through to the back door Gina thought being an antiques dealer was a tough way to earn a living. You had to travel miles to find your stock
with no guarantee of making a profit on any of the pieces. And you still had to pay all your overheads. You’d have to be lucky and get some bargains if you were going to survive at all.

‘Hello, we’re here,’ Matthew called out as they entered the house. The door wasn’t locked and he obviously felt comfortable just walking straight in. A woman who could have been any age from fifty to sixty-five, with laughing eyes and a lot of necklaces, beamed at them from the centre of the large farmhouse kitchen. A delicious smell of cooking pervaded the air. It was all very homely and welcoming.

‘Clare, this is Gina Makepiece. She’s Rainey’s niece – one of two who are taking over her space in the centre. Gina, this is Professor Clare Elwell, who’s been landlady to antiques dealers for ages in her spare time.’

Clare Elwell gave Matthew a hug and then took Gina’s hand briefly and smiled. ‘Welcome, welcome. You must be exhausted. You will both eat with me, won’t you? I’ve got a lovely stew if you don’t want to eat out?’

Gina glanced at Matthew. She hadn’t thought about eating.

Matthew, who was making himself at home, putting his bag on a chair and stroking the cat, nodded in the direction of the Aga and raised an eyebrow.

Gina took it as her cue. ‘If we wouldn’t be imposing on you, I think it would be lovely to eat here,’ she said.

‘Rainey and I always ate with Clare,’ Matthew said. He smiled a little shyly. ‘It’s nice to have you instead, Gina, it will stop Clare and me getting drunk and sentimental reminiscing about Rainey.’

‘She and I shared a flat in London in the late sixties,’
explained Clare. ‘She was trying to be a rock journalist and I was studying. Now, Matthew, you open the wine for us like a darling, you know where it is, and I’ll show Gina her room.

‘Just come down when you’re ready,’ said Clare as they climbed a staircase lined with photographs and paintings. ‘And let me know if there’s anything else you need.’ She opened the door to a very pretty double bedroom.

Gina glanced round the room, noting a radio by the head of the bed, bottles of water, biscuits, magazines and a selection of books as well as the usual tea-and coffee-making facilities. ‘It’s perfect. Everything I could possibly want.’

‘We’ll see you downstairs. No rush, Matthew and I will be very happy catching up and supper won’t be for a while yet.’

After Clare had gone Gina couldn’t help remembering the last time she’d stayed somewhere like this. It had been with Egan, before she had discovered that he had been taking money out of her account with her cash card and using it to woo other women. She forced the memory out of her head. He had admitted the theft when she challenged him and promised to pay her back. He’d even convinced her not to prosecute. For some reason she found herself wondering what it would be like to come here with Matthew as a boyfriend and banished that thought even more quickly. She needed a man like a hole in the head.

It wasn’t like a bed and breakfast, Gina thought, as she investigated the toiletries in the bathroom, it was more like staying with friends who had really comfortable guest accommodation.

She took Clare’s advice and made herself a cup of tea while she washed and gave her hair a quick brush and then went back to the kitchen.

She looked around it happily. It was large, warm and just messy enough to be comfortable but not so messy you worried about hygiene. There was an open bottle of red wine on the table. Matthew was nursing a glass while Clare was stirring a large Le Creuset pot.

‘Here.’ He got up. ‘Have a drink.’ He was obviously very at home in Clare’s house.

Gina sat down at the table and accepted the glass of wine.

‘So you’re new to this antiques lark?’ asked Clare, peering into the Aga and then removing some baked potatoes.

‘Yes. And I wouldn’t be involved at all if it wasn’t for Aunt Rainey.’

Clare laughed. ‘So you called her that? Not Auntie Doris?’

Gina shook her head. ‘Only if we wanted to annoy her. It’s funny, Doris is coming back as a name but she obviously didn’t like it much.’

‘Well, when we lived together we spent a lot of time trying to give her a more hip name. I used to call her Rainey Rainbow anyway so we went with that eventually.’

‘You don’t happen to know why she never married, do you? Dad never knew but you probably knew her far better than her family.’

‘She had loads of boyfriends, but they never led to anything until she went to France.’

‘We knew she lived in France for quite a long time.’ Gina leaned forward. ‘Do tell.’

‘I don’t know much except that she had a wonderful lover,’ said Clare. ‘She used to come back and sleep on my sofa when she had work on. She’d never talk about him. Said it had to be a secret.’ Clare smiled, full of reminiscence. ‘She did say it was the best thing in her life, though.’

‘Was she a rock journalist or antiques dealer then?’ asked Gina.

‘Rock journo.’ Clare sat down at the table and Matthew filled her glass.

‘She was quite successful for a while, wasn’t she?’ said Gina. ‘I remember Dad saying.’

‘She was for a bit but the work sort of fell away. As it does,’ said Clare ruefully.

‘Which was how she found herself doing what a lot of unemployable people do, dealing in antiques.’ Matthew laughed. ‘That’s what she always told me.’

Gina couldn’t help noticing how much more relaxed Matthew seemed. She had to admit he really was quite attractive, especially when he stopped being so taciturn – not to say grumpy. ‘Was she successful?’

‘She was. She didn’t make a fortune but she earned a living,’ said Matthew.

‘I’d love to hear more about her,’ said Gina, taking a crisp from the offered bowl. ‘I have a feeling there was more to her than her family really knew.’