Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- PART THREE
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- PART FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- PART FIVE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Keep Reading …
- About the Author
- Also by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- About the Publisher
Several hours later, on this lovely May Saturday, a group of men gathered outside the church.
All of them wore Savile Row-tailored morning suits, each with a white rosebud pinned to their lapel. They waited, chatting and smoking, for the arrival of the bridegroom.
One of them, Harry Peterson, was the best man, the others ushers. All had been friends for years.
Harry said, with a chuckle, ‘It’s like the gathering of the clans yet again. We were here in March when Robert married Vanessa. Now it’s Adrian and Moira today. Do you think there will be a third soon?’
Jack Fields grinned. ‘I don’t even have a girlfriend, never mind a fiancée. But I am on the lookout for a cracking young lady if you have any contestants.’
They all chuckled, and Harry said, ‘I’m enjoying my freedom for the moment, since my last lady love has just dumped me, shall we say. But I don’t care. I’m just thrilled I’ve survived the disaster of my Cézanne painting. That’s a huge relief.’
Nelson Weatherby, a long-time friend of Robert’s, said, ‘Thank God for that, Harry. I just heard about it from Robert. The London gallery behaved well, I understand, and repaid you in full. And you got to keep the painting.’
‘I got the money and the painting, yes. But I only kept the money. The Cézanne had to go.’
‘What do you mean?’ Weatherby asked.
‘In France, when a painting is deemed a fake, it has to be destroyed. Immediately. That is the French law. And my art gallery in London, where I bought it, was a stickler about doing the proper thing. They insisted we follow the law to the letter.’ He grimaced. ‘When I say we, I mean myself and the London gallery’s owner.’
‘So how did you destroy it?’ Jack Fields asked, filled with curiosity.
‘I slashed it with a sharp knife. You see, no one should leave a fake in good shape. It could get sold again for a lot of money.’
‘I’m even more curious,’ Jack said. ‘How did you discover it was a fake in the first place? I mean, when you bought it, you must have thought it was really a Cézanne, as the gallery obviously did also. So, what’s the story? Do tell us.’