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
