The Possessions of a Lady (43 page)

'BJ.S.'s impatient, Lovejoy.' Derry swung his great head from side
to side like a bear zooed up in a cage too small for sanity.

'Look, Bonch.' I got into my imploring posture. He raised a hand
for silence.

'That wooden thing's yours, Lovejoy. She bought it back. It's
bonded with Gumbo, the Antiques Centre.'

'She has?' What was Bonch on about? She who, exactly?

'But she messed John about. It won't do,' he added. Derry growled,
did his distressed-bear head swing. I felt my own head begin to move in time,
desperate to agree with whatever they were on about.

'No, no,' I said. 'It won't, will it?'

'And you didn't help, racing across the kingdom. Though that
mostly wasn't your fault, Lovejoy.'

I rose to mid-grovel. Was there a silver lining to this cloud? I
still hadn't a clue, but any approval was better than a bollocking.

'So John's decided that you run the Aureole Halcyonic C-2-D
Agency, that chain-dating thing

Aureole! He meant Aureole! I'd forgotten. Big John had refereed
the Berkley Horse, and Aureole had defaulted in a temper. I came erect, nodded
gravely, a gentleman accepting an honourable settlement.

'. . . for six months. Course, you pay Mr. Sheehan the profits,
keeping a third. She gets no income, delivers that wooden thing to you before
Sunday.'

Derry murmured aggression. I agreed, nodding. How the hell did you
run a chain-dating agency? But ignorance of Sheehan's wish is no excuse.

'Thank you, lads,' I said fervently. 'Could you please thank Mr.
Sheehan? I'll do anything he . . .'

'He says you'll get his sister's daughter-in-law into a decent
firm of auctioneers, to start next June, Lovejoy. He'll send her to you
Thursday.' Bonch didn't pause. 'You'll do it free of charge.'

'Right, right, lads. Please say ta . . .' Gone.

'Lovejoy?' Aureole was standing on the corner of the great
crescent, 1930s architecture.

'Wotcher, Aureole.' She looked scared. I strolled across. 'It
seems we're partners for a while. Me boss, you Jane.'

'Thanks, Lovejoy.' She shivered. 'I'd no idea.'

'Aye, well.' Her only experience of the antiques game had been
trinketry in a small East Anglian town. Sheehan's experience was like mine. Let
one chink show in armour, arrows and other missiles home in. 'You weren't to
know.'

'I've hired a car, Lovejoy, to take you home.'

She sounded so timid. 'Ta, love. I have to call in at the town
hospital. A stone's throw. There's a lady I must visit, make a few promises to.
There's also a couple of people I'd better avoid as we travel south. Okay?'

'Yes, Lovejoy. I was becoming so frightened.' She held my hand. I
felt close. She pressed my hand to her. I felt closer.

We walked to her motor. 'With me, love, you're sate as houses.'

She hugged my arm. It gave me a lovely feeling, one I'd missed for
days. I realised how bonny she looked now that relief had cheered her.

'How will we manage the chain-dating agency, sweetheart?' she
asked. 'I'll still operate it under the guise of an antiques firm, won't I?'

'We'll head for some motel. I'm starving. I'll explain it all to
you over nosh. Er, got any money?'

'Yes,' she said eagerly, delving in her handbag.

'Not in the street, silly cow,' I said. 'Later.'

'Sorry, darling,' she said. We got in. 'I can't tell you how
relieved I am, Lovejoy. I was frightened they would . . .'

'Not while I'm around.' I made my lips a hero's, tight and grim.
She pressed her mouth on mine. I broke away quickly. Wanda was lurking nearby,
and where Wanda went her team was never far behind.

If Wanda caught me up in East Anglia, I'd go to earth somewhere.
Possibly, I thought, spirits lifting, with Lizbet among her sweetpeas. I had a
brief mental image of fields, that beautiful fragrant blossom. I tried to invent
a new title for Aureole's re-fashioned agency.
Possessions of a Lady
, maybe?

That was how I'd started Briony's—or was it Amy's, Wanda's, or
Thekla's?—auction. I had a hunger, thirst, a love-starved headache. 'Get going,
love, or we'll be here all night.'

'Sorry, Lovejoy,' she said breathlessly.

A sports car's sudden deep-throated start nearby made me think of
possible pursuers as we moved off.

'Head for Rotherham,' I said quickly, looking over my shoulder. 'They've
got the world's best collection of Rockingham china. Their museum's security
might be naff.' Also, Wanda would assume I'd zoom south.

'You can't mean you're going to
steal
?

'Me? Course not.' I glanced anxiously back one more time. Not me.
But I couldn't help remembering that she was a quick learner.