Playing the Game. Barbara Taylor Bradford

The car crash had ruined Laurie’s life; Annette forever endeavoured to give her sister joy and a little fun, and make living less boring for her.

      She’ll guess straight away, Annette thought, as she stepped into the foyer of the flat and greeted Angie, Laurie’s carer. She’ll read my face, she decided as she shed her coat. In order to forestall this, Annette pushed a smile on to her face, and went into the living room, exclaiming, ‘Here I am! Sorry I’m late.’

      ‘That’s all right, Annette,’ Laurie answered, smiling. ‘I was busy talking to Malcolm, anyway – we had a few things to discuss. I just finished another pile of research for him and he’s going to take me to dinner tonight. As a special treat.’

      ‘That’s great; he’s always been so nice with you,’ Annette murmured, bent over and kissed her sister, sat down in the chair next to her. ‘Where do you want to go for lunch?’

      Laurie shook her head. ‘We’re not going out. Mrs Groome is making lunch for us today, and so we’re going to have it here. I hope that’s all right?’

      ‘It’s fine, whatever you want.’ Annette reached out, touched her arm, and said, ‘Listen, before we get lost in our usual chitchat, I’ve something to tell you.’

      Laurie stared at her, frowned. ‘You sound very serious all of a sudden. What’s wrong?’

      ‘Nothing’s wrong, not in the sense you mean. But I’m afraid we won’t be sailing off to New York on the Queen Elizabeth. I hate to disappoint you, but Marius thinks we should have the auction in London, not New York.’

      Laurie’s face dropped, but in an instant a smile spread across her face. ‘Oh, don’t worry. Malcolm had wanted to come with us on the trip, so perhaps the three of us could still go – after the auction in London, I mean.’

      ‘Malcolm wanted to come with us?’ Annette sounded startled. ‘I didn’t know you were … so friendly.’

      ‘Oh, yes, we are. Very, very good friends. He often comes over for dinner, and he takes me out quite a lot.’

      For a moment Annette didn’t quite know what to say, so surprised was she, but she finally found her voice. ‘Well, he’s always been one of my favourites and I know he’ll look after you properly when you’re out together.’

      Laurie burst out laughing. ‘I can look after myself, you know that. And we’re good friends,’ she added again. ‘We enjoy each other’s company; we’ve a great deal in common.’

      ‘I know you do.’ Annette sat very still for a moment, staring into the fire, watching the flames shoot up the chimney. She wondered if Marius would approve of this growing friendship, and then pushed the thought away. One thing was certain. She would never permit him to interfere in Laurie’s life.

      As if Laurie were seeing into her head, she said, ‘I know you’re angry with Marius. Inside, Annette. You’re not showing it, but I can feel it. You’re angry because he always manages to manipulate you, control you. And listen, why does he think London’s better for the auction?’

      ‘Because I had my first big auction here with the Rembrandt. My first big success. He wants me to repeat it … wants it to be bigger and better.’

      ‘But you could have done that in New York, couldn’t you? Made it bigger and better?’

      ‘I think so. But perhaps he knows something I don’t.’

      ‘I suppose it doesn’t matter really,’ Laurie murmured, giving her sister a hard stare. ‘When there’s a newly discovered Degas sculpture, and especially when it’s The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, you know the auction is going to be a smash hit wherever it’s held.’

      Annette stared back. ‘How right you are,’ she responded, thinking how smart her sister was. She also realized that Marius had known exactly the same thing. They could easily have had the auction in New York, it would have worked just as well there as here, because of the fame and quality of the artworks. But for a reason she had no inkling of, he had been determined to make her have the auction in London.

      Laurie swung her chair slightly, faced Annette, smiled at her sister. ‘Listen, I know it annoys you, this controlling of his, the manipulation that’s gone on for years. But you do get your own way in so many other things, because you’re very clever. And he has always looked after us, hasn’t he?’

      ‘Yes, and I’ve always played the game, been loyal to him.’

      There was a pause before Laurie said, ‘Whatever would we have done without him?’

      ‘I don’t know,’ Annette answered, thinking that she might have gone to jail and Laurie would have been dependent on the kindness of their aunt. Not very great prospects, to say the least. Taking a deep breath, she remarked in a very positive voice, ‘The main thing is to make the auction a big success. So I guess where it’s held doesn’t really matter. Now, on to something else. You’re an avid newspaper reader … have you ever heard of a journalist called Jack Chalmers?’