Wanted: White Wedding

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Daniel’s eyes softened again, making her want to run away and hide. What did he imagine he was seeing when he looked at her? There was no way on earth he could know how much she’d loved those Sundays. Loved the huge knickerbocker glorys her grandma had made especially for her.

‘She’s not used it for years, so there’s no point hanging on to it,’ she said brusquely.

He nodded. ‘It’s worth something in the region of three thousand pounds. I’d certainly want to see a reserve of at least two thousand on it. Is there anything else you want me to look at while I’m here?’

‘There’s a clock in the hallway. She doesn’t really want to sell that, but if she does end up in Cymbeline Court it’ll never fit.’ Freya led the way back into the hall and stood in front of it. ‘I quite like this, actually.’

‘It’s lovely.’

Freya looked over her shoulder. ‘Don’t you need to look at it more closely?’

‘It’s a New Jersey Federal mahogany longcase clock, and it’s a gem. I’ve looked at it before.’ Daniel gave a wry smile.

‘Every time I come here. Honesty compels me to admit this might be something you’d do well to sell elsewhere. We haven’t had a clock of this quality in our saleroom for months. I’ll look into it.’

‘So how much is it worth?’

‘Conservatively, about twenty thousand.’

‘Why so much more than the table? There seem to be loads of clocks about.’

He walked forward and stroked his fingers down the side of the case, as though he were touching something precious. ‘This one is attributable to a known cabinet maker. William Dawes worked in Elizabethtown into the first decade of the 1800s. This clock was probably made at the turn of the century.’

‘So it’s American? How the heck do you know that?’

Daniel smiled. ‘Look.’ He pointed up at the clock face. ‘In a European clock you’d expect to see a brass dial, but metal was hard to come by in America so they used iron and painted it white.’

‘Ah. So, how do you know it’s by this William Dawes?’

‘It’s got “William Dawes, Hackensack” on the face. That’s a good clue.’

He was laughing at her. Again. A sexy glint lighting his dark brown eyes. It made her feel flustered.

What was the matter with her today? Her whole survival plan was based around control. Control was everything.

But there was something about his brown eyes which ripped through her defences. Made her wish…

Damn it!

She turned away. He was married. And she wasn’t interested in a man who was prepared to lie to someone they’d promised to love.

‘Are you done?’ Margaret called from the dining room.

‘Are we?’

Freya turned back to him. ‘Everything else is small. I can bring them to you when we’re more organised. The bigger things we’re going to need to have collected.’