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moral support. It would have been fun with her. As the morning progressed she became more and more anxious. Matthew always seemed to be talking business with people and she didn’t want to be hanging on his sleeve all the time, but if she didn’t watch him in action, she’d never learn. And it was so hard. Too hard.
    It was still quite early when they left the hall. As she and Matthew drove back, the Volvo (which she discovered was almost obligatory if you dealt in antiques) full of small but beautiful bits of furniture, she decided she should tell him she didn’t want to go ahead.
    ‘Matthew?’
    ‘There’s no one else in the car.’
    ‘I don’t want to do it.’
    ‘Do what?’
    ‘Become an antiques dealer. It’s too difficult.’ Gina felt herself becoming rather desperate. ‘How can I sell thingsI know nothing about when the person buying them probably knows far more than me? How can I buy them in the first place? I was at a total loss this morning.’
    ‘I did tell you it wouldn’t be easy.’
    ‘I know,’ she said meekly.
    ‘But you wanted to give it a go for Rainey’s sake.’
    ‘That’s how we all felt last night: you, me and Sally. But I didn’t really appreciate how hard it would be.’
    Matthew didn’t speak for a while. Then he sighed. ‘Give yourself a chance. It was the first fair you’d been to. And nobody knows everything.’ He was being generous, Gina knew, but he had had years to learn his trade – and if what that dealer had said was true it hadn’t been easy for him.
    ‘But I didn’t know
anything
– except I couldn’t afford to buy a scent bottle for four hundred quid and sell it at a profit.’
    ‘Well, that’s a very good thing to know. You could have got a bit off that price but scent bottles are specialist items. You need to know where your buyers are.’ He smiled. ‘You’re being too hard on yourself.’ It was the nicest thing he’d said to her and Gina felt some of her determination beginning to return.
    ‘I’m not bad at selling, actually. But selling things to experts, when I know nothing, and expect to make money – well, I just can’t.’
    To her surprise she spotted a glint of amusement in the corner of his eye. ‘You won’t be selling to other dealers, not at first. You’ll be selling to ordinary punters, collectors, people looking for a present for their cousin’s ruby wedding – cranberry glass probably. Very popular for ruby weddings.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Gina. ‘You know I hadn’t thought of that.’
    ‘It’s my fault. I introduced you to the professionals before you’d seen the casual buyers. Have you got time to come to the centre now? After I’ve bought you breakfast, of course. Second breakfast,’ he amended. ‘Then we’ll go to the centre.’
     
    He parked the car at the back of the French House, took her down a side street and then opened the door to a shop, the window of which was full of tins of tea, coffee and cocoa, Continental delicacies, grinders and teapots. The bell jangled as they went in.
    It was the aroma of coffee that hit Gina first and she stayed in the shop part for a few seconds to enjoy it before following Matthew to the café in the back.
    ‘What would you like? A cup of coffee? I recommend the cheese scones too.’
    Gina sat on one of the high stools at the bar while Matthew placed the order and chatted with the girl serving. He was obviously a regular customer. He came back with a loaded tray.
    ‘Coffee’s never quite as delicious as it smells but this is pretty near it,’ she said when she’d taken a couple of sips of her cappuccino.
    ‘It’s the thought of this afterwards that gets me out of bed before dawn.’
    ‘Did you have a successful trip? You seem to have bought a few things.’ She spread butter on to her scone and took a bite.
    ‘Yes, I got a couple of nice pieces at reasonable prices. The trick is to buy stock that will sell quickly. If there’s always something different to see, buyers