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Cornelius stared at the portrait, which he hadn’t seen since the auction ‘Yes, back in its rightful place,’ he said, before taking thes you both to The Willows on a Saturday ?’ he asked as he filled the kettle

‘It’s about the Louis XIV table,’ said Elizabeth diffidently

‘Yes, I shall esture on your part, Hugh,’ he added

‘A fine gesture’ repeated Hugh

‘Yes I assuto Elizabeth, he said, ‘How I ’

Elizabeth and Hugh just stared at each other, then both began speaking at once

‘But we didn’t’ said Hugh

‘We were rather hoping’ said Elizabeth Then they both fell silent

‘Tell hih firmly

‘Oh?’ said Cornelius ‘Have I ?’

‘Yes, I’ colour draining from her cheeks ‘You see, the truth of the ot out of control, and I carried on bidding for longer than I should have done’ She paused ‘I’d never been to an auction before, and when I failed to get the grandfather clock, and then saw Margaret pick up the Turner so cheaply, I’m afraid I made a bit of a fool of myself’

‘Well, you can always put it back up for sale,’ said Cornelius with mock sadness ‘It’s a fine piece, and sure to retain its value’

‘We’ve already looked into that,’ said Elizabeth ‘But Mr Botts says there won’t be another furniture auction for at least three months, and the terue: settlement within seven days’

‘But I’m sure that if you were to leave the piece with him’

‘Yes, he suggested that,’ said Hugh ‘But we didn’t realise that the auctioneers