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Authors: Jeffrey Archer
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way of returning my hundred thousand,’ said Cornelius. Turning to Elizabeth, he said, ‘How I misjudged you, Elizabeth. I suspect it was your idea
all along.’
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 him the truth,’ said Hugh firmly.
‘Oh?’ said Cornelius. ‘Have I misunderstood what took place at the auction yesterday morning?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid you have,’ said Elizabeth, any remaining colour draining from her cheeks. ‘You see, the truth of the matter is that the whole thing got 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 terms of the sale
were clearly printed in the catalogue: 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 add 15 per cent to the sale price, so the real bill is for PS126,500. And
what’s worse, if we put it up for sale again they also retain 15 per cent of the price that’s bid, so we would end up losing over thirty thousand.’
‘Yes, that’s the way auctioneers make their money,’ said Cornelius with a sigh.
‘But we don’t have thirty thousand, let alone 126,500,’ cried Elizabeth.
Cornelius slowly poured himself another cup of tea, pretending to be deep in thought. ‘Umm,’ he finally offered. ‘What puzzles me is how you think I could help, bearing in mind
my current financial predicament.’
‘We thought that as the auction had raised nearly a million pounds …’ began Elizabeth.
‘Far higher than was estimated,’ chipped in Hugh.
‘We hoped you might tell Mr Botts you’d decided to keep the piece; and of course we would confirm that that was acceptable to us.’
‘I’m sure you would,’ said Cornelius, ‘but that still doesn’t solve the problem of owing the auctioneer PS16,500, and a possible further loss if it fails to
reach PS110,000 in three months’ time.’
Neither Elizabeth nor Hugh spoke.
‘Do you have anything you could sell to help raise the money?’ Cornelius eventually asked.
‘Only our house, and that already has a large mortgage on it,’ said Elizabeth.
‘But what about your shares in the company? If you sold them, I’m sure they would more than cover the cost.’
‘But who would want to buy them,’ asked Hugh, ‘when we’re only just breaking even?’
‘I would,’ said Cornelius.
Both of them looked surprised. ‘And in exchange for your shares,’ Cornelius continued, ‘I would release you from your debt to me, and also settle any embarrassment with Mr
Botts.’
Elizabeth began to protest, but Hugh asked, ‘Is there any alternative?’
‘Not that I can think of,’ said Cornelius.
‘Then I don’t see that we’re left with much choice,’ said Hugh, turning to his wife.
‘But what about all those years we’ve put into the company?’ wailed Elizabeth.
‘The shop hasn’t been showing a worthwhile profit for some time, Elizabeth, and you know it. If we don’t accept Cornelius’s offer, we could be paying off the debt for the
rest of our lives.’
Elizabeth remained unusually silent.
‘Well, that seems to be settled,’ said Cornelius. ‘Why don’t you just pop round and have a word with my solicitor? He’ll see that everything is in order.’
‘And
all along.’
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 him the truth,’ said Hugh firmly.
‘Oh?’ said Cornelius. ‘Have I misunderstood what took place at the auction yesterday morning?’
‘Yes, I’m afraid you have,’ said Elizabeth, any remaining colour draining from her cheeks. ‘You see, the truth of the matter is that the whole thing got 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 terms of the sale
were clearly printed in the catalogue: 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 add 15 per cent to the sale price, so the real bill is for PS126,500. And
what’s worse, if we put it up for sale again they also retain 15 per cent of the price that’s bid, so we would end up losing over thirty thousand.’
‘Yes, that’s the way auctioneers make their money,’ said Cornelius with a sigh.
‘But we don’t have thirty thousand, let alone 126,500,’ cried Elizabeth.
Cornelius slowly poured himself another cup of tea, pretending to be deep in thought. ‘Umm,’ he finally offered. ‘What puzzles me is how you think I could help, bearing in mind
my current financial predicament.’
‘We thought that as the auction had raised nearly a million pounds …’ began Elizabeth.
‘Far higher than was estimated,’ chipped in Hugh.
‘We hoped you might tell Mr Botts you’d decided to keep the piece; and of course we would confirm that that was acceptable to us.’
‘I’m sure you would,’ said Cornelius, ‘but that still doesn’t solve the problem of owing the auctioneer PS16,500, and a possible further loss if it fails to
reach PS110,000 in three months’ time.’
Neither Elizabeth nor Hugh spoke.
‘Do you have anything you could sell to help raise the money?’ Cornelius eventually asked.
‘Only our house, and that already has a large mortgage on it,’ said Elizabeth.
‘But what about your shares in the company? If you sold them, I’m sure they would more than cover the cost.’
‘But who would want to buy them,’ asked Hugh, ‘when we’re only just breaking even?’
‘I would,’ said Cornelius.
Both of them looked surprised. ‘And in exchange for your shares,’ Cornelius continued, ‘I would release you from your debt to me, and also settle any embarrassment with Mr
Botts.’
Elizabeth began to protest, but Hugh asked, ‘Is there any alternative?’
‘Not that I can think of,’ said Cornelius.
‘Then I don’t see that we’re left with much choice,’ said Hugh, turning to his wife.
‘But what about all those years we’ve put into the company?’ wailed Elizabeth.
‘The shop hasn’t been showing a worthwhile profit for some time, Elizabeth, and you know it. If we don’t accept Cornelius’s offer, we could be paying off the debt for the
rest of our lives.’
Elizabeth remained unusually silent.
‘Well, that seems to be settled,’ said Cornelius. ‘Why don’t you just pop round and have a word with my solicitor? He’ll see that everything is in order.’
‘And
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