Читать книгу Watching - Jeff Edwards - Страница 13

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 be hers, no matter how much over a young working lady’s salary it was.

The next sale at Haskins and Green was due to take place on the following Saturday afternoon, and Jade, accompanied by a reluctant Rani, arrived early at the showroom.

‘I don’t know why you’ve dragged me along here, Jade. I have no interest in auctions, and no time for things like this. I have a lot of study to do.’

‘Be quiet, and relax. You spend far too much time with your head in those books. It’s about time you found out what you’ll be doing with all that money you’ll soon be earning. Take a look around at all the beautiful pieces, and imagine what your house will look like some day, with all these fine antique furnishings.’

‘I’ll be spending the rest of my life paying back all the money I owe you. I doubt if I’ll ever earn enough to get it all paid.’

‘Rubbish, you’re extremely talented, so it will take you no time at all to pay me back. With the girls at the Golden Stag already lining up for your professional help, you’ll have a practice up and running in no time at all. Besides, who said I wanted you to pay me back?’

‘I’ll pay you back no matter how long it takes. I promised you.’

‘Yes, yes,’ said Jade, patting Rani’s hand. ‘See if you can find the suite. I need to know what its catalogue number is. I don’t want to bid, only to find out I’ve bought a commode, instead of a bedroom suite. Ah! There it is over there,’ she said, pointing.

‘All that!’ asked Rani. ‘Where are you going to put it all?’

‘Rani, you must have faith.’

‘Jade, we must have room. Look at the size of that pile of wood!’

Having ascertained that the suite was lot number 453, Jade moved off around the room, showing Rani items for sale that she and Peter had found, and telling stories about them.

The auction began, and Jade took her place, ready to start bidding.

Items large and small were offered, with no hint as to what would be offered next. The catalogue was the only means of keeping track of the goods.

Jade took interest in how Peter’s partner, Doug Green, managed to elicit bids from the audience, cajoling them one minute, joking with them the next; his words blending into a constant stream. The first few items sold in a blur of some foreign language, before Jade was able to keep up with him, finally working out what he was saying, and the figures that he was smoothly throwing around, like some juggler.

Jade continued to watch, absorbing the frantic tempo of the sale.

Several lots later, the Ming vase that Jade had found, was offered, and she decided to practice, by making an offer on it. With one of the floor men holding the jar aloft, Doug Green called out, ‘And what am I offered for this fine Chinese vase of the Ming period?’

‘Two pounds!’ called Jade in great excitement.

There was a titter of laughter throughout the room.

‘Young lady, this is not Woolworths!’ said Doug Green, looking down at her from his rostrum.

Jade blushed red, realising her mistake.

Doug Green looked back up at the room. ‘Now what am I really offered on this beautiful item.’

‘Fifty!’ Came a call from the rear of the room.

Doug Green looked in the direction of the bid. ‘We’ve got a room of bleeding comedians here today! Come on people! Proper bids please.’

‘One hundred!’

‘Finally, a bid of some consequence! Now, do I hear one hundred and fifty?’

The bidding continued, and Jade slunk lower into her seat, totally embarrassed.

A man’s voice behind her said, ‘I see you have an eye for a bargain.’

Feeling as though she wanted to crawl, unseen, out of the room, Jade turned toward the man making the snide comment, and found herself looking into the smiling, blue eyes of Captain Robert Symes.

He leaned forward in his chair. ‘Do you really want the vase?’

Totally embarrassed by her experience, Jade simply nodded.

‘Just wait then. I’ll tell you when to bid.’

The bidding continued, with the offers rising slowly to four hundred pounds.

Doug Green continued, ‘I have four hundred pounds. Are there any more bids?’

The room was silent. ‘Going once. Going twice.’

Jade felt a tap on her shoulder.

Still embarrassed, Jade did not know what to bid and called out, ‘Four hundred and two pounds.’

The hall erupted in laughter.

Doug Green turned toward the latest offer. ‘I see the young lady from Woolworths has graced us with another bid.’

‘Four hundred and ten,’ came a further bid.

Doug Green called out, ‘Four hundred and ten. Going once. Going twice.’

‘Four hundred and twelve,’ came Jade’s bid, as a result of a further tap on her shoulder.

‘We have a further two pound increase from Woolworths.’

The crowd laughed.

‘Four hundred and fifty.’

Doug Green turned to Jade. ‘Do I hear four hundred and fifty-two?’

Jade nodded. Blushing.

‘I’ve got four hundred and fifty-two from Woolworths.’

‘Five hundred!’

‘And two!’ called Jade, getting into the spirit of the game.

There was silence, as the other bidder tried to make up his mind. The girl seemed to be determined, and he had a budget to stick to. He decided to try once more. ‘Five hundred and twenty.’

‘Five twenty-two!’ piped up Jade.

The other bidder looked at Doug Green, and nodded in the negative. He had already overbid his budget by twenty pounds, and had no intention of entering a potentially disastrous bidding war. He was a professional, and there would always be another vase.

Doug Green raised his gavel. ‘I have five hundred and twenty-two. Going once. Going twice. Sold to the lady from Woolworths.’ The gavel was brought down.

Jade could hear her heart had been beating loudly, and she realised that she hadn’t taken a breath for some time. She slumped in her chair in relief.

She looked at Robert Symes. ‘Thank you, but what do I do now?’

Robert laughed. ‘I suggest you call to the cashiers, and pay the price, or start running.’

‘I’m so exhausted; I don’t think I can stand. Could you go to the cashier for me?’ she asked Rani.

‘I’ll go. Besides, I’m sure that you have plenty of things to discuss with your new friend,’ she said with a cheeky smile.

Jade handed her a wad of notes, which Rani slipped quickly into her purse.

Standing, she turned to Captain Symes. ‘Would you be good enough to look after my seat until I return?’

‘It will be my pleasure,’ smiled Robert Symes, as he took Rani’s place beside Jade.

The auction continued around them as further lots were offered, and snapped up by willing bidders.

‘You could have gotten the vase a lot cheaper, you know.’

‘How?’

‘I find that if you make a substantial bid to start off, it scares away a lot of the amateurs, and the professionals won’t bid more than they’ve allowed for. They don’t want to buy something they can’t resell for a profit.’

‘Thank you. I’ll remember that. What are you looking for?’

‘I drop in whenever I can. There are a couple of items that interest me, but I will see how the bidding goes before I decide whether to enter the fray. There’s nothing here that I can’t do without.’

Rani returned, and Robert Symes returned to his seat.

‘They’ll pack the vase for us to pick up after the auction,’ advised Rani, ‘How soon before the bed comes up?’

‘It might be a while. We’re only up to lot 356.’

‘Well, I’ve had enough of all this excitement. I’m going home to dive back into my books.’

‘Are you sure? I was hoping to go to the Golden Stag later.’

‘I might see you down there later. Perhaps your new friend might be interested in jazz.’

‘You never know. Perhaps I’ll ask him after the auction,’ grinned Jade.

As soon as Rani left, Robert Symes moved to the seat beside Jade, where the pair engaged in polite small talk, while the lots continued to pass under the hammer.

Robert broke off their conversation long enough to bid on a pair of matched shotguns, which attracted a lot of attention around the room. He stopped bidding at five hundred pounds, and the lot was finally knocked down at six hundred and fifty.

‘Overpriced,’ was Robert’s only comment on missing out.

He was successful in his attempt to secure lot 395, a bamboo fishing rod, with reel and wicker creel. ‘A steal at the price,’ he commented. ‘By the way, what are you hoping to bid on? I thought the vase would be sufficient.’

‘Actually, I only bought it on a whim. I came here for something else entirely.’

‘That was a very expensive whim you had.’

‘It will be a good investment for the future.’

They returned to their discussions until, finally, lot 453 was announced.

Doug Green announced, ‘Lot 453 is a graphically carved bedroom suite, consisting of four poster bed, dressing table, and wardrobe. All parts are currently disassembled, and ready for transport to its new home. This is a truly remarkable suite of furniture, and would suit the most lavish of residences. What am I bid?’

‘Rubbish if you ask me,’ whispered Robert to Jade. ‘No one here owns a palace large enough to take it.’

Jade was waiting for someone else to make the first bid, trying to gauge what the suite was worth, and if she were prepared to bid sufficient to secure it.

No one else in the room seemed prepared to bid either.

Doug Green was having a hard time on the rostrum. ‘Come on ladies and gentlemen. Surly there is someone amongst you that is willing to start. Can someone help me out with a bid of one thousand pounds?’

Not a bid could be heard.

‘Come on, ladies and gentlemen. Surely there’s a bid of a thousand for this fine article.’

Still nothing was heard.

‘My instructions are that the lot must be sold. I’m announcing that there is no reserve. I will accept a starting bid of eight hundred. Who’ll start me at eight hundred?’

Jade looked around the room. No one seemed to be interested. She wondered if she should commence the bidding.

Doug Green was getting worried. ‘Five hundred, ladies and gentlemen. Who’ll start us at five hundred. No one? Come on, ladies and gentlemen, we have to start somewhere. Give me a bid. Any bid.’

‘Two pounds,’ called out Jade.

The room erupted. A gale of laughter broke out, as all heads turned in her direction.

Doug Green went bright red.

‘For God’s sake, ladies and gentlemen, this is a serious auction. Who’ll give me a reasonable bid?’

‘You said there was no reserve on the lot,’ called a man at the back of the hall. ‘You have to accept the bid.’

A series of calls in agreement came from various parts of the hall, as the audience settled in to enjoy the discomfort of the auctioneer.

Doug Green took a drink of water, trying to delay, while he considered his options. He realised that his reputation was now at stake. He had to be as good as his word or lose customers. A loss on this one lot would be hard to take, but in the overall scheme of things, he had to accept the inevitable. As an experienced auctioneer, he knew that the public would like nothing better than to make him look silly, but, if he could get just one other person to bid, then the spell would be broken, and the bidding would proceed.

Holding on to his dignity as best he could, he said, ‘I’m a man of my word, ladies and gentlemen. We have a bid of two pounds from our young lady from Woolworths. Do I have any advance on two pounds?’

One of the men in the front row was in the act of raising his arm, when he was savagely elbowed in the side by the man seated beside him. He collapsed with a grunt, as he grabbed at his injured ribs.

‘I have a bid of two pounds. Will anyone offer me three pounds?’ pleaded Doug Green. ‘Anyone at all?’

Laughter from the audience was the only response.

‘Please, ladies and gentlemen, three pounds.’

‘Knock it down, Dougey,’ came a cry from the middle of the hall.

Realising that he would get no help, Doug raised his gavel. He was now relying on the innate greed within each person in the hall. He just needed someone to make another bid — anyone. ‘For the first time, do I have any advances on two pounds?’ he said slowly. ‘Going at two pounds for the second time.’ Very slowly, he raised his gavel high, keeping it there, and praying for one more bid. Finally, he could delay no longer, and brought his hammer crashing down. ‘Sold. To the young lady who thinks this is Woolworths.’

Loud hooting and cheering broke out, as people gathered around Jade, congratulating her. She looked at Robert, who was bent over laughing, tears streaming down his cheeks.

It took some time for Doug Green to regain order, and to move on to the next lot, consisting of a pair of ceramic dogs. He tried manfully to continue, but finally turned the rostrum over to his assistant, retiring to his small office where he slumped behind his desk, withdrew a bottle from his bottom drawer, and pouring himself a large whiskey.

Assisted by Robert, Jade made her way to the cashiers, where she paid the princely sum of two pounds for her purchase. Added to that, delivery costs, and incidentals eventually totalled nearly five times the amount of her purchase.

Collecting her now packaged vase, Jade turned to Robert. ‘I seem to have picked up some bargains today. I had intended to pay somewhat more for the bedroom suite. Perhaps I can interest you in a nice supper with the funds I have left over?’

‘A young lady does not ask a gentleman out. She waits to be asked.’

Jade grinned. ‘But if I waited, then I might miss an opportunity. And I need a gentleman at present. It appears that I am now the owner of a very large bedroom suite in numerous pieces, so I require the services of a handyman to assist me in its assembly.’

‘What makes you so sure that I would be able to assist you?’

‘I’m not. That’s why I want to take you to supper. To see if you’ll measure up as a handyman.’ Jade smiled.

Robert regarded the young lady before him. She was not like most of the other women of his acquaintance. Her forthrightness intrigued him, and, if there was one thing that Robert was good at, it was intrigue.

‘Well that sounds like an offer I can’t refuse,’ he said, taking her arm, and leading her from the auction room.