Page 70 of The Girl You Left Behind
“You really don’t have to. I—”
“Please? We need to talk.”
There is no time to check her face or brush her hair. She stands, one finger on the door button, hesitating. She depresses it, then moves back, like someone bracing themselves for an explosion.
The lift rattles its way up, and she feels her stomach constrict as the sound grows louder. And then there he is, gazing straight at her through the railings of the lift. He is wearing a soft brown jacket and his eyes are uncharacteristically wary. He looks exhausted.
“Hey.”
He steps out of the lift, and waits in the hallway. She stands, her arms folded defensively.
“Hello.”
“Can I... come in?”
She steps back. “Do you want a drink? I mean... are you stopping?”
He catches the edge in her voice. “That would be great, thank you.”
She walks through the house to the kitchen, her back rigid, and he follows. As she makes two mugs of tea, she is conscious of his eyes on her. When she hands one to him he is rubbing meditatively at his temple. When he catches her eye he seems almost apologetic. “Headache.”
Liv glances up at the little modeling-clay figure on the fridge and flushes with guilt. As she passes she deliberately knocks it down the back of the fridge.
Paul places his mug on the table. “Okay. This is really difficult. I would have come over sooner, but I had my son, and I needed to think what I was going to do. Look, I’m just going to come out and explain the whole thing. But I think maybe you should sit down first.”
She stares at him. “Oh, God. You’re married.”
“I’m not married. That would... almost be simpler. Please, Liv. Just sit.”
She remains standing. He pulls a letter from his jacket and hands it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Just read it. And then I’ll do my best to explain.”
TARP
Suite 6, 115 Grantham Street
London W1
15 October 2006
Dear Mrs. Halston,
We act for an organization called the Trace and Return Partnership, which was created to return works of art to those who suffered losses due to looting or the forced sale of personal artifacts during wartime.
We understand that you are the owner of a painting by the French artist Édouard Lefèvre, entitledThe Girl You Left Behind.We have received written confirmation from descendants of Mr. Lefèvre that this was a work in the personal possession of the artist’s wife and the subject of a forced or coercive sale. The claimants, who are also of French nationality, wish to have the work returned to the artist’s family, and under the Geneva Convention and the terms of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, we wish to inform you that we will be pursuing such a claim on their behalf.
In many cases such works can be restored to their rightful owners with the minimum legal intervention. We therefore invite you to contact us to arrange a meeting between yourselves and representatives of the Lefèvre family in order that we may commence this process.
We appreciate that such notice may come as something of a shock. But we would remind you that there is a strong legal precedent for the return of works of art obtained as the result of wartime transgressions, and I would add that there may also be some discretionary funding to compensate for your loss.
We hope very much that, as with other works of this nature, the satisfaction of knowing a work is finally being returned to its rightful owners will grant those affected some additional satisfaction.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss this further.
Paul McCafferty
