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‘I’ll have to call my boss,’ said Willia as he gives his blessing, I could fly over tomorrow afternoon’

‘No later than that,’ said Christina, ‘because once I’ve finished packing, all sixty-nine crates will be loaded onto Miles’ yacht’

‘Will you also be on board?’

‘No, that’s not part of my plan Once the Christina – named in happier ti back to Heathrow I’ll then be driven to Limpton Hall to wrap up some more of my presents, which have to be ready in tithem to Southampton, where they’ll also be placed on board the Christina It’s all in the ti’

‘Dare I ask what happens after that?’

‘All will be revealed when I see you in Monte Carlo toht you’re on, and I’ll send a car to pick you up’

‘I’ll phone you back once I’ve spoken to the commander Goodbye, Christina, and happy Christ room How much he wanted to tell theht be in possession of the Rembrandt He sat down next to his fiancée, to find an empty plate in front of him

‘You missed the main course,left over’

‘Ignore him,’ said hisus what she’s been up to in Arthur’s absence’

William smiled at Beth’s mother, as he helped himself to some brussel sprouts

‘When Arthur first went to prison,’ said Joanna, ‘we all assumed that the company would be wound up But we quickly discovered that Hamish was made of sterner stuff when he continued to run the office as if Arthur was still out on the road

‘Meanwhile Arthur set up office in his cell at Pentonville, while I sat at his desk in Marylebone I wrote to hi him up to date’

‘But what happened when someone made an appointment to see the chairman, only to find that he was in prison?’ asked Grace

‘After a while I took his place and even began to travel around the country visiting the company’s clients I was pleasantly surprised by ho of them deserted us’

‘Reputation is the shield of the righteous in difficult times,’ said Sir Julian