Page 51 of Summer on the French Riviera
‘Has Harriet said anything to you?’
Gabby shook her head. ‘No. But she did blush when I teased her about him.’
‘Fingers crossed then. Now, I’ve got some news about the brush pot.’
‘Good or bad?’
‘Definitely good. My friend says the last seven figure valuation is now too low. At auction today, it would sell for significantly more than that figure.’
Gabby was stunned. ‘Truly? I thought it was already an amazing amount.’
‘The thing is, do you want to sell it?’
Gabby took a deep breath. ‘I’m terrified if it is so valuable that it’s going to get chipped or broken, and since I have lived without it for so long, I think I will sell it. Besides, with that kind of money, I could help a lot of people.’
‘There’s an auction coming up in about ten days that they can squeeze you into. The next one for Chinese artefacts won’t be until next year. I’ll email them today and tell them so they can begin to advertise in the catalogue. If you bring the pot here tomorrow, I’ll pack it up for transporting and courier it to Paris. Okay?’
Gabby nodded. So much about her life had changed in the last year that she hadn’t thought it possible for it to change again. But if the brush pot did fetch the kind of figure it was expected to in the auction, then life would inevitably change again, not only for herself but also for Harriet and Elodie.
* * *
That evening, when everyone was conveniently home at the same time for once, Gabby told them what Colette had said. ‘The value that appears to have been placed on it is staggering.’ She hesitated. ‘If you two are in agreement, I think we should sell it. If we keep it, it will have to stay down in the cave – and what is the point of doing that – because I’d hate for it to get broken.’
‘Mum, it was left to you, you can do whatever you like with it,’ Harriet said.
‘I know that, but it’s also part of your inheritance, so I want to make sure the two of you are in agreement with selling it. Elodie?’
‘I think sell because, like you say, we’d never forgive ourselves if it got broken, right, Harriet?’
Harriet nodded. ‘Yes.’
Gabby breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Good. Come on. I need to go back down into the cave and get it. Colette has offered to pack it up and courier it to the auctioneers in time for the next auction if I get it over to her tomorrow.’
An eager Elodie led the way down into the garage. ‘I’m so excited to finally see this cave.’
Gabby reached up for the piece of stiff wire she’d left on the top shelf of the unit and carefully locating the flower she needed in the pyrography artwork running down the side of the unit, pushed the wire in and heard the satisfying movement of the latch. As she stretched out her arm to reach the left side of the shelf unit, Harriet went to help her and together they pulled the unit towards them and folded it back while Elodie watched in disbelief. ‘That is amazing.’
‘Take care on the steps,’ Gabby said, switching the light on, and they all made their way down into the cave.
Elodie looked around her and moved towards the brush pot on the table. ‘This is the pot? It doesn’t look like much, does it? I mean, it’s obviously very old, but that’s it really. It’s not a real thing of beauty, is it? Love the wine rack. What’s in the boxes?’
‘Haven’t really looked yet,’ Harriet said. ‘We could have a quick look now?’ She glanced at Gabby.
‘Why not,’ Gabby replied. ‘I suspect it’s justvide-grenierstuff, oh and maybe some family mementoes,’ she said, staring down at the box in front of her. ‘This one has photos and what looks like the old family Bible. Shall we take this one upstairs when we go? Take our time going through it?’
‘This one is full of books,’ Harriet said, bending over a wooden crate. ‘They look like French classics – Proust, Balzac and Victor Hugo are on the very top. Do you think they could be first editions? They look very old.’
‘China ornaments in this one,’ Elodie said. ‘And this one definitely looks like boot-sale stuff.’
‘I’ll ask Colette to come and take a proper look in the boxes,’ Gabby said. ‘She might take some of the stuff for the brocante.’
‘Right, I’ll carry the brush pot upstairs carefully, can you manage the box of photos, Harriet? Choose a bottle of wine, Elodie, we can enjoy a glass while we look at the photos.’ Gabby picked up the pot carefully. ‘I want to put this pot safely on the dresser out of harm’s way.’
‘We’ll close the cave up,’ Harriet said, once they’d climbed the steps, putting down the box. Elodie placed the bottle of wine carefully on the top of it and together they pulled the shelf unit back across the cave entrance and pushed it closed with a satisfying click.
Once back up in the garage, Gabby carried on up into the villa and breathed a sigh of relief as she placed the pot safely well back on the dresser. Harriet took the box out to the terrace table, while Elodie fetched three glasses and opened the wine. Outside, Gabby reached into the box and took out several packets of black and white photographs and she went through them slowly before looking up at the others.
‘These are so full of memories for me,’ she said quietly. ‘Look, this one was taken with my maman when we had a day out together in Cannes to see the newly opened Palais des Festivals. We’re standing on the new steps that are famous now all around the world. I think Colette must have taken the photograph because she was with us that day.’ She handed the photograph to Elodie as Harriet had started to lift the heavy family Bible out of the box.
