LITMIR.BIZ

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when he finds out that I’ll be leaving the company to go out on my own. I have no intention of sharing the Lloyd-Jones wealth with anyone.’

      ‘You’ve got this worked out already.’

      ‘I certainly have. In fact, I’ve just purchased a small company that is on the brink of bankruptcy, and I’ll be using it as my trading name. You may not have heard of the Briscoe Corporation, but just you wait. I might even let you invest in some shares.’

      ‘So, my darling Walter, this is the end of us.’

      ‘I’m afraid so, as far as this goes. I’ll need all of my energy to keep Millicent pregnant for the next few years, as well as looking after her money.’

      Jade saw that Walter looked very contented. Deep down, she had expected little else from him, and knew that it was time to turn him loose. Regretfully, she rose from the bed, leaving him for the last time as a lover.

      ‘Will I be getting an invitation to the wedding?’

      ‘I don’t think that would be appropriate. Do you?’

      Jade nodded, as she wrapped a dressing gown around her naked body, and made her way to the kitchen for a cup of tea, leaving Walter to dress, and let himself out the front door ...

      

      Rani was surprised at how well Jade took Walter’s departure.

      Later that summer, photos of Walter’s wedding were featured in the society pages of the newspapers, but Jade read them all with barely a grimace.

      Rani studied the bride in her wedding gown. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Walter’s Millicent is already ‘with child’.’

      Jade studied the photo over Rani’s shoulder. ‘It’s hard to tell with such a frumpy woman, but, knowing Walter, I’d say he would definitely be doing his best to keep the in-laws happy.’

      With Jade’s good looks, there was no shortage of eligible young men, willing to take Walter’s place. She accepted several invitations to dinners, and to shows, but had no desire to allow them the liberties that Walter had been afforded.

      From now on, Jade had decided, there would have to be some emotional bond between herself and the person with whom she would share her bed, and, if the bonds were strong enough, she might even consider a proposal of marriage. However, none of the men she met could supply the bond required, either on an emotional or on an intellectual level.

      Therefore, she sought relief in her work, spending long hours in the barn-like warehouse of Haskins and Green, absorbing all the knowledge that Peter Haskins could impart.

      ‘You’re getting to be almost as good as me,’ said a delighted Peter Haskins, as Jade produced an almost translucent Ming vase from among a crate of seemingly utilitarian crockery, purchased as the contents of a country kitchen. ‘I wonder how it ended up in with this lot?’

      ‘From the condition of the inside of the vase, it looks as though they actually used it as a vase. I don’t think they knew what they had here. Imagine it sitting on the kitchen window, with a bunch of posies sitting in it!’

      ‘That happens more often than you know,’ commented Peter, ‘It was probably in the family for generations, and they came to regard it as just another piece of crockery, to be used like the cups, and saucers.’ He regarded it with a critical eye, searching for flaws in its finish. ‘I think that after a very delicate cleaning, this will produce a tidy profit. Peter took the vase, and wrapped it carefully in cloth, before placing it in the safe.

      He watched, as Jade moved on to search other boxes. Truly, she had been the best thing to happen around here in some time, and such a beautiful woman. If only he were unmarried, and twenty years younger ...

      Since she had begun working for him, he had constantly gone back over the boxes, and furniture that she checked, re-examining them to ensure that she had missed nothing of importance. Her first attempts, had been amateurish as Peter well knew they would be. He simply, and quietly, brought to her attention those items that she had missed, explaining why they were important, and what value they might bring, rejecting the items she had selected, that were, in fact, worthless.

      Jade had accepted his criticisms, and learned from the mistakes. A fact that pleased Peter mightily, and now, he was finding that everything she went through and selected was correct, with nothing of any value left behind.

      ‘Peter! What’s this over here?’ called Jade from a distant corner of the warehouse.

      Heading in the direction of her voice, he found that Jade had removed several boxes from a pile of goods, revealing a stack of highly carved timber beneath. Peter studied the pile, and tried to remember where it had come from.

      ‘I think this is a disassembled suite of furniture from one of the bankruptcy estates. I can’t remember which one though, for the life of me.’

      ‘The carving is absolutely beautiful.’

      ‘Yes it is. And it has great age about it as well. What if I arrange for some of the boys to bring it all out, so we can examine it in detail?’

      Peter rang the auction rooms and arranged for some of the porters to come down, and give them a hand.

      ‘Why don’t you have other people down here to help?’ asked Jade.

      ‘We can’t have just anyone doing this,’ explained Peter, ‘the amount of damage caused by the uninitiated can be the difference between a sales item, and one destined for the rubbish bins. I’ve seen the damage your average removalist can do to ordinary household items, without trusting them to move valuable antiques.’

      An hour later, the men, wearing gloves, and taking care not to rub or knock the pieces together, had placed the parts in a cleared area, under lights, where they could be minutely examined.

      ‘You’ve certainly found something worthwhile here,’ said Peter, as he ran his hands over the intricate carvings.

      Jade examined a door, which, she supposed belonged to a wardrobe of truly large proportions. ‘I wouldn’t mind having a wardrobe this size, myself.’

      ‘Oho! What do we have here!’ exclaimed Peter.

      Jade moved to his side, and watched as Peter’s practiced hands moved over the carvings. ‘I felt something move just then,’ he said as he pushed at one of the carved vines that covered the bed head. ‘Aha!’ he said as a portion of the vine slid up, allowing a narrow drawer in the bed head to slide forward. ‘Wonderful craftsmanship! That drawer was almost impossible to see!’ exclaimed Peter, as he examined its contents. ‘Empty! Oh well, let’s keep looking, there have to be more drawers here.’

      Together, they set to the task of discovering the bed’s secrets.

      Having discovered the secret of the vines holding the drawers in place, they were able to locate several drawers of various sizes, but all were empty. They then turned their attention to the other parts of the bedroom suite, but, apart from a couple of tiny drawers located in the four bedposts, also empty, they had no further success.

      ‘Well that was a lot of fun, even if it was unproductive,’ smiled Peter. ‘I’ll get them to take it all up the sales room for the next auction. ‘It looks too big for us to set up, so we’ll have to sell it in its unassembled condition.’

      ‘What sort of price will it bring?’

      ‘It’s hard to say. There’s good quality workmanship here, but its size may go against it.’

      ‘Would I be able to buy it?’

      Peter laughed. ‘I think it may be out of the price range of a young working lady, but anyone is free to make a bid at auction.’

      Jade had decided that she must have the suite, and determined that it would

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