2
I stare at him for a moment, wondering if he’s joking with me. He looks the type that doesn’t take life too seriously.
‘Oh,’ I say carefully, wondering if my initial thoughts were right. ‘I thought I was here to meet with an Alexander Darcy?’
‘Yeah, that’s me,’ he says with a glint in his eye. ‘When I found out your name was Eve, I thought you’d think the house clearance was a wind-up if I said my name was Adam, so I said it was Alexander instead. Same initial in my email address.’
‘Oh, right …’ I’m still a bit confused, and, if I’m honest, a little taken aback too. I just hadn’t expected to be greeted by anyone like Adam today. He’s confident and relaxed. Everything I’m not right now.
But I still don’t quite see why you’d pretend to be someone different?’
‘Adam and Eve? Surely I don’t need to explain that to you, do I?’ He raises his dark eyebrows at me, while a lopsided grin appears on his face. Then he tilts his head to one side awaiting my reply.
I see , so it’s like that, is it? I have a joker on my hands … I have a feeling that how I respond to this could make or break our professional relationship, and as a result, the success of the house clearance.
‘Perhaps you’d prefer it if I referred to you as Mr Darcy instead?’ I say innocently, hoping he’ll respond well to playing him at his own game.
But Adam just blinks steadily back at me.
‘You know, with the age of the house and all,’ I add, hoping I haven’t gone too far. ‘And you appearing to be the lord of the manor?’
Adam doesn’t respond. He simply watches me from the same position, leaning casually up against the door frame of the house.
‘Because this is a Georgian house,’ I hurriedly explain, wishing I never started this. ‘And—’
‘I know who Mr Darcy is,’ he says firmly, breaking his silence. ‘You are, I assume, referring to the Jane Austen character Fitzwilliam Darcy from the novel Pride and Prejudice ?’
Oh, God. Did I go too far? Have I blown this deal before I’ve even set foot inside the house? He doesn’t look too happy …
But then, to my enormous relief, Adam smiles again. ‘Touché,’ he says. ‘I like your style, Eve.’
‘Perhaps we should start again,’ I say, smiling back at him. ‘My name is Eve Sinclair from Rainy Day Antiques, and I’m very pleased to meet you.’ I formally hold out my hand for him to shake.
Adam takes my hand, but he doesn’t shake it. Instead he holds my fingertips and takes a long bow. ‘Adam Darcy at your service, madam. Won’t you please come into my humble abode.’ He gestures behind him into the house.
As I follow Adam into the large entrance hall, I take a quick look at my watch.
I must be back in Clockmaker Court by five; I can’t let the others down when they’ve gone to so much effort for me.
But I have a feeling after our initial conversation that this visit might not be quite as simple as I originally hoped.
‘Adam and Eve, though?’ Adam says, closing the door behind me. ‘I mean, what are the chances of that?’ As he smiles, I notice two dimples appear through the dark stubble that covers his cheeks and his square jaw.
‘I guess it had to happen sometime,’ I reply brightly. I’ve decided the only way to deal with Adam, and to actually get to look around this house properly and get back to the court by five, is to play along with his fun. ‘Are you saying you’ve never met anyone called Eve before?’
He considers this for a moment. ‘Don’t think I have, no.’
‘I’ve met plenty of Adams,’ I say quickly, not actually remembering if I have or not. ‘It’s quite a common name among men of your age.’
Adam tips his head back and laughs loudly. ‘Well, that put me in my place!’ he says, still smiling.
I didn’t mean that as an insult at all and I’m about to apologise when he asks, ‘How old do you think I am?’
Even though Adam is dressed in quite a young, casual way, the lines at the side of his eyes and across his forehead suggest otherwise.
‘Hmm … forty, maybe?’ I know this sort of question never ends well.
‘Very good. I am indeed forty. Forty today, actually.’
‘You’re a leap-year baby,’ I say before I’ve thought it through.
‘I am.’ He looks suspiciously at me. ‘Most people would say happy birthday if I told them it was my birthday today. They wouldn’t immediately think of the leap-year thing unless …’
‘Unless?’ I ask innocently.
‘Unless they were one too … is it your birthday today, by any chance?’
‘It is, actually. But I’m not as old as you.’
Again, Adam grins. Nothing seems to annoy him.
‘Dare I ask just how old you are then, Eve? Do not ask me to guess. You never guess a woman’s age – it’s always asking for trouble.’
‘I’m thirty-six today,’ I tell him.
‘Really? Then many happy returns to you.’
‘And a very happy birthday to you too,’ I reply awkwardly. I glance around me. ‘Should we take a look at the house now?’
‘Of course. I thought you’d never ask. Where would you like to start?’
Over the next half an hour or so, Adam leads me around the large house, which although old-fashioned and traditionally furnished, is immaculately kept.
As we walk, I spy various antiques and valuable items that I know I’ll be able to make a profit with if I play this right, so I hurriedly scribble notes in my book as we go from room to room, which for some reason Adam seems to find amusing.
‘What are you writing about?’ he asks as we pause in the dining room. ‘I mean, I know you’re making note of anything valuable, but what’s all the detail about?’
‘I don’t just deal in values when it comes to an object.
I like to write down what I think its provenance will be – where it might have come from originally,’ I add, noting down a pair of pretty-looking candlesticks carved in wood, likely oak, rather than the usual silver so often seen in this type of property.
‘I know what provenance means.’ Adam doesn’t sound at all irritated. ‘I’m not quite the idiot you think I am.’
‘I don’t think you’re an idiot,’ I say hurriedly, horrified if that’s the impression I’ve given him. ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’
Adam smiles. ‘Nothing … Glad to hear it. So what else do you write about in your little notebook?’ Adam is leaning casually against what’s likely quite an expensive Queen Anne chest of drawers.
Seeing him treating this beautifully crafted piece of furniture in this way while he folds his arms in front of him is irking me greatly.
But I try desperately to put it to the back of my mind and concentrate on the job in hand.
‘After I’ve noted a possible value to a piece, and its likely provenance, I write down what its history might be – which helps me date the item,’ I add, hoping this makes sense.
I actually do a lot more than that, but it doesn’t seem necessary to tell Adam that right now.
He’d probably only find that amusing too.
‘Right, I see,’ he says, nodding. ‘You go into a lot of detail, then?’
‘I like to – yes.’ I can stand it no longer. ‘Can I just say that chest of drawers you’re leaning against could be worth quite a lot of money.’
Adam stands up and looks down at the chest of drawers. ‘Really?’
I nod.
‘Best not lean against it then, had I?’ He winks at me. I quickly turn away to look at a painting hanging over the fireplace and I’m surprised to find my cheeks feel flushed.
‘If it helps you at all, it was only my grandfather who lived here,’ Adam says while I continue examining the painting. ‘He passed away at the end of last year. My grandmother passed away many years ago. So it was just the old fella rattling around here on his own in recent times.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ I say, turning back from the excellent oil painting of Trinity College in Cambridge that I know I’ll be able to sell easily in the shop.
‘Yeah, well, he was ninety-five, so he’d reached a good age.’
‘That is good. There’s a chap who has a shop near to mine – he’s about ninety. I just hope I’m in as good a shape as him if I ever reach that age.’
Adam holds my gaze and smiles, so I hurriedly scribble something about the painting in my notebook.
‘Unfortunately, it took me a while to get back here so I could begin sorting the house. I’m the executor of his will.
Have you ever been an executor of a will?
There’s so much paperwork and forms to fill in.
’ Adam pulls a pained expression, as if paperwork is the worst thing in the world.
‘There’s so many better ways I could be spending my time. But I guess it has to be done.’
I find myself wondering in what ways he might spend his time. But I quickly shake that thought away. Concentrate on the task in hand, Eve!
‘I was the executor on my grandmother’s will,’ I tell him. ‘She passed away a few years ago now, and before that I helped out a lot with my grandfather’s estate when he passed.’
‘Then you’ll know what a pain it is,’ Adam says, nodding.
‘Someone has to do it,’ I reply diplomatically. ‘It is a lot of work, but you don’t really mind too much if you cared for the person who died.’
‘That’s true.’ Adam agrees. ‘In my case, there was no one else. There’s only me left now.’
Again I want to ask more, but I stop myself. I have to get back to the court by five, I must press on with the rest of the house.
But as we move on to the next room, I can’t help wondering what’s happened to the rest of Adam’s family. I know from personal experience how it feels to be the last one. But I’m also aware that not everyone wants to share every part of their lives, especially with strangers.
‘You said before you’d only just been able to get here to arrange the clearance of the house.
Do you live far away, then?’ I ask as I examine a large china cabinet full of interesting bits and pieces – I’ve already spotted some Beswick horses and some Royal Doulton figurines, and oddly among the more traditional and valuable items – a china fruit bowl filled with glazed red and green apples.