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keep comingback. But if they know they’re going to see the same massive wardrobe and dressing table they don’t bother.’ He frowned. ‘We have a bit too much of that in the centre at present.’
    ‘So small is beautiful?’
    ‘A lot of the time. People don’t have room in their houses these days for big pieces.’
    ‘There’s no room for anything huge in my cottage although I would rather like a dresser. There’s space along the wall in the kitchen.’
    ‘We’ll have to look out for one.’
    Gina shook her head. ‘I don’t suppose it would be sensible to buy something I might not have room for in another house.’ She was surprised to find herself sounding wistful. She’d never minded living in rented housing before and yet now she suddenly realised she wanted a home that was hers, that she could buy furniture for. She thought of Sally’s tiny cottage that she’d made such a pretty, cosy home. She wanted to do that too: paint walls, upholster old sofas and strip floors. She shook herself back to reality.
    ‘Some dealers furnish their houses with their stock. Everything in it is for sale,’ Matthew said. ‘They keep things for a while and then move them on.’
    ‘Do you do that?’
    ‘No. My father did but I rather resented favourite chairs and sideboards disappearing. I once had my desk snatched away before I’d finished my homework. I haven’t done it in my own home.’
    ‘People I met today spoke very well of your father,’ Gina said cautiously.
    ‘Yes. He was a wonderful character. Friendly, outgoing –hugely knowledgeable.’ He shot her a glance. ‘I know a fair bit about antiques but otherwise I take after my mother.’
    Gina smiled. ‘Is your mother still alive?’
    ‘No. She died when I was in my early teens and I’m an only child, which threw me and my father together rather.’
    ‘How sad. Not about you and your father but about your mother dying so young.’
    ‘Yes, it was sad, but we got over it.’ He flashed a smile. ‘You can see why we were so fond of Rainey. She and my dad were a right pair. She’d come to dinner, dripping in scarves, making cocktails, putting on music she’d brought with her, talking, laughing, trying to find me girlfriends . . .’
    ‘And did she succeed ever?’
    ‘Not really. I’d rather find my own on the whole.’
    Gina chuckled. She was enjoying herself, she decided. Matthew seemed in a good mood this morning; nothing like the grumpy, reticent man they’d first met. ‘So where do you live? Near the centre?’
    ‘Very. In a flat on the top floor. Very handy for work.’ He smiled that charming smile again. It made him seem so much less intimidating.
    ‘And does Oscar manage in a flat?’
    ‘He doesn’t know it’s a flat. He thinks the whole house is his personal space. Now, do you want more coffee? Another scone?’
    ‘No thank you. That was delicious but very filling.’
    ‘Right, I’ll show you my empire.’
    Something in the way he said that made Gina wonder if in fact what he described as an empire was really a burden. He was an odd character. Reading people waspart of her job but she realised she couldn’t fathom him. He’d gone back into his shell.
    ‘Jenny will have opened up and taken Oscar for a stroll,’ Matthew said as they approached the French House. Looking up at it, Gina thought it must have been a magnificent family home at one time.
    ‘Jenny is a godsend,’ Matthew continued. ‘She’s always willing to open up, close up, do whatever’s needed. She did it for my father and now she’s doing it for me.’
    ‘Has the French House always been an antiques centre?’
    ‘Yes, for as long as I’ve known it. It was thriving in Dad’s day – well, we still do OK now but times have changed . . .’ He sounded wistful and Gina thought again about what the dealer had said. Had his father expected him to follow in his footsteps? she wondered. There was nothing worse than always feeling second-best, not that she or Sally