She removed herself from the grasping thorns of the border and hoped that the little snag wouldn’t be spotted. It was too late to change now, though, for as she walked back round to the front of the house, she saw Julian’s little MG speeding along the lane. His roof was down and Celeste caught a brief glimpse of his passenger, who was wearing a pale blue headscarf and an enormous pair of sunglasses. Audrey Hepburn in the middle of the Suffolk countryside, Celeste couldn’t help thinking, quickly diving into the house so she could greet her visitor properly and make sure that Frinton was safely behind closed doors.
A few minutes later, Julian knocked on the front door.
‘How wonderful to meet you at last,’ Kammie Colton said after Julian had introduced them to each other. They shook hands, and Celeste couldn’t help but notice the absolutely enormous emerald ring Kammie was wearing. She was engulfed in a cloud of deeply sensuous perfume that had survived the open-top car experience.
‘Come in,’ Celeste said, leading them through to the living room, where she brought the afternoon tea through a moment later. Kammie had removed her headscarf to reveal perfectly coiffed hair in a shade of platinum blonde that Evie had been trying to master over the last few weeks. Celeste guessed her to be in her late forties and noted that she had the kind of ease and sophistication of somebody who was well travelled.
‘This is charming,’ Kammie said, leaning forward to take a china teacup covered in tiny rosebuds. ‘What exquisite cups!’
‘Everything is covered in roses here,’ Julian said. ‘It’s one of the first things I noticed when I came here.’ He caught Celeste’s eye and smiled at her as Kammie chose a perfectly cut sandwich to put on a matching plate.
‘And this room!’ she enthused. ‘How old is this place?’
‘Parts of it date back to the fifteenth century,’ Celeste told her. I’ll show you around later.’
‘I’d love that,’ Kammie said.
True to her word, Celeste gave a guided tour around the house after tea, carefully avoiding the room in which she’d closed Frinton and the one in which Esther Martin now resided. It would be very unwise to disturb either of them.
There then followed a slow walk around the grounds, during which Kammie Colton gave a series of appreciative gasps.
‘You know, in America, this is the kind of place we dream about when we think of England.’
‘We’re very lucky,’ Celeste said.
‘I love it. I love it all. Apart from that hideous north wing, of course,’ Kammie said.
Celeste watched her, wondering whether to comment, and then Kammie laughed.
‘It is a bit of a state,’ Julian said, joining in the laughter.
‘I guess your bad luck is my good fortune,’ Kammie continued with the bluntness of a true American.
‘I guess so,’ Celeste said with a vague smile.
‘Well, what can I say? I love everything. But I especially love the painting, don’t I, Julian?’
‘I certainly hope so,’ Julian said.
‘We’ve already discussed this and I’d really like to get things moving before I get back home.’
‘That won’t be a problem,’ he assured her.
‘Good,’ she said, suddenly sounding very businesslike. ‘I tell you what. I’ll go outside and wait in the car and give you a chance to talk things over with Miss Hamilton, okay?’
‘Of course.’
‘Miss Hamilton? It’s been a real honour to meet you and I can’t thank you enough for showing me around your beautiful home.’
‘It’s been my pleasure,’ Celeste said, shaking the hand offered to her and noticing the enormous emerald ring again.
Celeste and Julian watched as Kammie walked towards the car, fishing in her handbag for her enormous sunglasses.
‘Shall we go to the study?’ he suggested.
Celeste nodded, her heart thudding in anticipation of his news.
Once the study door was closed behind them, Julian began.
‘Well, do you want to hear her offer?’ Julian asked. ‘Perhaps we should sit down first?’ She watched as Julian sat himself down in her chair and, not wanting to sit in her mother’s chair, Celeste perched on the side of the desk next to him.
‘Well? I’ve been on tenterhooks for hours. Are you going to bowl me over?’ Celeste asked.
‘I certainly hope so. She’s willing to pay half a million.’
‘Dollars?’
‘No! Pounds.’
‘Half a million pounds?’ Celeste said, her voice croaky with emotion.
Julian nodded and laughed. ‘It’s a good offer. Paintings of a similar size can go for as little as a couple of hundred thousand, but I think yours is definitely worth more and Kammie doesn’t want to mess around. She’s the sort of woman – well, you’ve seen – who knows what she wants and just wants to get the deal done, so she’s happy to pay perhaps a little bit more than it would go for at auction. It’s worth it to her. What can I say? She loves the painting. She told me she’s been waiting for a good Fantin-Latour for years now and she loves the whole story about you girls and the rose business.’
‘I don’t know what to say,’ Celeste said, shaking her head slowly.
‘If I was you, I’d say yes before she goes shopping in Hatton Garden and spies some jewels she likes more than your painting!’
Celeste suddenly laughed. ‘Yes! Of course I’m going to say yes!’
Julian grinned. ‘I’m really thrilled for you, Celeste.’
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Thank you for getting in touch with her.’
‘All part of the service,’ he said, opening his hands in a gesture that made her smile. ‘I’ll get the paperwork moving. We will, of course, have our commission from the quoted price.’
‘Of course,’ Celeste said, ‘but at least I’ll be able to pay Mr Ludkin something this month.’
‘How’s it going?’
‘Slowly, noisily and expensively,’ she said.
‘Oh, dear,’ he said.
‘But at least things are moving forward now.’
‘Will he be working on this room?’ Julian asked, getting up from her chair and moving around.
‘No, why?’
‘It’s a bit gloomy, isn’t it?’ Julian said.
‘But it’s in a pretty good state of repair compared to the north wing,’ Celeste told him.
Julian nodded. ‘Probably just needs a bit of a rethink. It’s not really you, is it?’ He turned to look at her and she could feel herself blushing under his scrutiny.
‘It’s my mother’s study. She redecorated it after Grandpa retired and it’s not been touched for years.’
‘I thought as much. You really should make it your own,’ he said.
Celeste looked thoroughly shocked by this assertion. ‘But this is my mother’s study,’ she repeated.
‘Not anymore,’ he said. ‘You’re the one working in here now. You’re running the show, so why not do that in a room that says something about you?’
‘I – erm –’
‘I think that would really help you move forward,’ he said. ‘If you don’t mind me saying.’
‘I don’t mind,’ she said.
‘So how have you been getting on since we last talked? You must have had a lot to process.’
‘You mean about the personality disorder?’
Julian nodded. ‘Have you looked into it at all?’
‘I’ve read a bit about it online,’ she admitted.
‘And did it help?’
Celeste took a deep breath. ‘I feel like my mind’s a great big maze of memories at the moment and I’m trying to work my way through them. But, yes, some of the sites I found are helping me realise that there are other people who have gone through this too.’
They looked at each other, their eye
s seeming to share something beyond words, and Celeste realised that this man truly understood what she was going through.
‘Right,’ Julian said at last, clapping his hands down onto his knees before standing up. ‘I’d better get back out to Kammie. I’ve promised to take her to The Swan in Lavenham for dinner after a little jaunt to the coast.’
‘She’ll love that,’ Celeste said, thinking of the beautiful fifteenth-century hotel.
‘She’ll properly try to buy it,’ Julian quipped.
‘Well, I don’t mind if she does. Just make sure she buys our painting first.’
Julian nodded. ‘I’ll have to take you there sometime,’ he said with a smile that made his eyes shine. There was a moment’s pause between them. ‘Listen, I hate to rush off like this. There’s a hundred things I want to talk to you about. I’ll give you a call, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she said, smiling, as she realised she was already looking forward to seeing him again. She followed as he left the study and walked down the hallway towards the front door.
‘Is that your young man?’ Esther Martin said as she traversed the hallway, a cup of tea in her pale hands.
‘No,’ Celeste said.
Esther looked unconvinced, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything else because Celeste returned to the study and shut the door firmly behind her.
Evie had arranged to meet Lukas at the end of the driveway to Little Eleigh Manor at ten o’clock that night because she didn’t want her sisters knowing what she was up to. She also knew that that was the best time to put the plan into action.
‘The ladder’s over there,’ she said as soon as he arrived, pointing to the wall where she had propped it up.
‘And good evening to you, too,’ Lukas said, his lopsided grin managing to wind her up within two seconds flat.
‘There’s no time to have a full-blown conversation,’ Evie told him. ‘Do you want to help me or don’t you?’
‘Of course I want to help you,’ he said, and walked off to fetch the ladder. A moment later, Evie helped him to secure it on top of the van.
‘What exactly are we going to do? You’re not going to rob a house, are you?’
‘You said you’d help me,’ Evie said. ‘You said you’d do anything for me.’
‘I didn’t say I wouldn’t ask any questions.’
‘Well, I’d rather you didn’t.’
Lukas sighed. ‘You can be very trying, Evelyn Hamilton,’ he said.
‘Just get in the car,’ she said.
Evie drove through the dusky landscape. She put the radio on in the hope of avoiding conversation but Lukas just wouldn’t shut up.
‘I walked around the Lake District for a bit and visited Brantwood. Have you been there? It was the home of John Ruskin and they have loads of his paintings there. And you should see the views!’ He whistled, startling Evie. ‘You’d love it, Evie. We should go up there some time.’
She glared at him. ‘I’ve not got any plans to leave Suffolk,’ she said.
‘But you should. Everyone should travel.’
‘I went to Norwich once and didn’t like that very much,’ she said, totally po-faced. ‘Sudbury on a market day is bad enough.’
Lukas laughed.
‘I don’t know why you find it so funny. I’m happy here,’ she said. ‘Suffolk’s my home. It’s where my family have been for three generations. Why should I go anywhere else?’
He nodded. ‘That’s wonderful, and I envy you that. I’ve never really had a home. My parents were always moving around with my dad’s work and I never got a chance to settle anywhere. Whenever I arrange to visit them, I have to ask for their address.’
Evie didn’t say anything but couldn’t help thinking about her beloved bedroom at the manor, which she’d had since she was born. It must be strange and disorientating not to have a home – a real home – to come back to, she thought. Even when she’d gone to college, she’d always come back home each night. She couldn’t imagine being away from it and that was one of the reasons she was so terrified now that Celeste had started talking about selling the manor.
Turning in to a village, Evie slowed the van down and turned into the driveway of Oak House.
‘What are we doing here, then?’ Lukas asked, as Evie switched the engine off and they sat in the darkness.
‘My dad and his wife are out this evening,’ she said.
‘So I’m guessing you didn’t want to see them?’
‘Not exactly,’ she said.
‘Okay,’ Lukas said, taking a deep breath. ‘You’re beginning to scare me.’
‘There’s nothing to be scared about,’ Evie said as she got out of the car. ‘It’s a well-detached house.’
Lukas joined her at the back of the car. ‘Evie – tell me what’s going on.’
‘Grab that ladder.’
‘Not until you tell me what you’re doing,’ he said firmly, his face half-lit by the light from a street lamp.
Evie looked annoyed but realised that she’d have to tell him sooner or later. ‘I need to get into one of the rooms upstairs,’ she said, strapping a large rucksack onto her back.
‘Why?’
‘Because there’s something in there that belongs to our house. Something my dad’s wife stole from us.’
‘Why can’t you talk this through with your dad?’
‘Because he won’t believe me – he’ll take Simone’s side. You don’t know her – she’s sly. She manipulates people, and I’m going to get that painting back. Dad always leaves his bedroom window open. I’ll be in and out in no time with the painting.’
‘Are you crazy? You can’t do that!’
‘Why not? It’s our painting.’
‘But what if your dad rings the police or something when he finds it’s gone?’
‘He won’t even know it’s gone, and Simone wouldn’t dare ring. She’ll know what’s happened and she won’t make a scene.’
Lukas shook his head. ‘This is just wrong, Evie. You can see that, can’t you?’
‘It’s not wrong. I’m undoing a wrong, and if you don’t want to help me, I’ll do it alone,’ she said, reaching for the ladder.
‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ Lukas said, spurred into action. ‘Let me do it.’
He undid the ladder and Evie marched across the driveway towards the back of the house where the bedroom window was. The garden wasn’t overlooked by neighbours and was in total darkness apart from a tiny pool of light cast from a lamp that had been left on in one of the downstairs rooms.
‘See – the window’s open,’ Evie said as Lukas leaned the ladder against the wall.
‘It’s too risky,’ he said. ‘I think you should forget this whole thing.’
‘No way,’ Evie said. ‘That painting is going to be hanging in our living room before midnight.’
Lukas ran a hand over his jaw and then scanned the garden as if he expected a policeman to step out of the shadows.
‘Well, let me do it if you really mean to go through with it.’
Evie shook her head. ‘No, I want to. It’s my idea. I should do it. Just keep this ladder steady.’ She dug into her pocket and brought out a little black beanie hat. ‘I’m too blonde to be a burglar,’ she said as she squashed it over her hair. Her hand then returned to her pocket again and brought out a torch which she switched on and handed to Lukas.
‘Are you all right with heights?’ he asked.
‘I’m fine with heights,’ she told him, scurrying up the ladder like a pro.
Once she’d reached the window, she popped her hand through and pushed it open. She was lucky it was a large modern one, which made it easy to enter, but she hadn’t remembered the dressing table next to it and crashed into it a moment later.
‘Are you okay?’ Lukas cried from outside.
‘I�
��m fine!’ Evie whispered back, her head out of the window. She turned back into the room and switched a lamp on, then crossed to where the painting hung. ‘You are coming home with me,’ she said, taking it off the wall and wrapping it in a hessian bag she’d brought with her, before placing it in her rucksack and returning to the window. She heaved the bag onto her back and switched the lamp off.
‘Have you got it?’ Lukas whispered from the ground.
‘Yes – now hold this ladder still,’ Evie said as she worked her way out of the window, careful not to knock the dressing table.
It was when she looked down the length of the ladder that the trouble began.
‘Oh!’ she cried.
‘Evie?’
‘I . . . feel . . . dizzy . . .’
‘Hold on!’ Lukas said as he dropped the torch, and she heard the sound of his feet on the steps as he climbed towards her.
‘I don’t feel great,’ she said.
‘It’s okay. I’ve got you,’ he said a moment later and she felt his arms around her. ‘Can you move?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she said honestly.
‘Let’s just try things slowly. I’ve got you safe. Don’t worry.’
They moved at the slowest pace imaginable, the sound of Evie’s nervous breathing audible in the silent night.
‘We’re nearly there,’ Lukas said a moment later as he felt the safety of the ground beneath his feet and helped Evie off the ladder. ‘You okay?’
The Rose Girls Page 20
