Restoring Grace (67 page)

‘
Ooh,' Demi squeaked, 'It's
like
Location, Location,
Location.'

‘
You
watch far too much television,' muttered Hermia. 'Will you please all shut up!'
said Ran. 'I think I'll take this outside.’

Although many were
tempted, no one dared follow
him. Flynn refilled everyone's
glasses, including Demi's,
until he got to Ellie. 'Oh',
Ellie, we forgot all about you. I'll get you something soft.'

‘
I'll get it! I want to see the kitchen.'

‘
You don't,'
said Grace. 'It's a mess. But it's going to
be gorgeous! We've got such plans. If only Ran's
collector—'

‘Ah, here he is!' said Flynn.

‘Right,' Ran announced, still very cool. 'It's
as I said, he's prepared to offer you two million pounds for the panels,
private sale, no publicity. He doesn't want any either.'

‘He's getting a bargain,' muttered Allegra.

‘I think that's fantastic!' said Grace. 'Can
you tell him I'm very happy to accept his offer?'

‘I already have.'

‘
Two million
pounds,' said Demi. 'That's an awful lot
of money.’

Hearing Demi say the amount somehow brought it
home to Grace all over again. She put the back of her hand up to her face to
cool her cheeks, which were
suddenly flushed.
'Yes, it is, isn't it? An awful lot of
money. Thank you so much for
organising all that, Ran.'

‘
A pleasure,'
said Ran going to stand by Ellie. 'I'm sorry
I had to be so secretive
about it.'

‘
So what are
you going to do with all that money?'
asked Edward.

Grace took a sip of
champagne. 'I've thought about
this already. I'm going to divide it
into four parts. One part, I'm going to keep for myself, to pay for the dry
rot, and do up this house. Another part I'm going to give to
Ellie, to help—' she hesitated for an instant,
wondering
if she dared make any
assumptions about Ellie and Ran,
but decided not although they seemed
welded together just then, '—her with her new life, and the baby, and
everything.'

‘
God, I
knew babies were expensive,' said Edward, 'but
I didn't realise they cost that much.'

‘That was always the
trouble,' Muttered Hermina.

‘
And the other two
quarters I'm going to give to Allegra and Nicholas, in case they feel they were
treated unfairly
by my aunt's will.’

There was a silence.
Allegra blushed and even Nicholas
looked abashed.

‘
That's
awfully good of you, sis,' said Nicholas, 'but
are you sure you don't
want to get even more money for them? They're obviously worth a real fortune.’

Grace frowned at her brother. 'Two million is a
real fortune, and I'm quite happy with it.'

‘
I was only
thinking,' her brother persisted, 'now
you've got a man to sort things
out for you—’

Grace interrupted. 'Listen, everyone, I've made
my
decision and I'm sticking by it. I don't
need a man to sort
things out for me. I love my man' — she gave him a
look which confirmed this more than adequately — 'but I can look after myself.'

‘
And there's
no need for you to give me money—'
started Ellie, but Grace cut her off.

‘I'm not going to discuss it any more!' she
said firmly. 'Is that clear?’

The room fell silent. It seemed it was indeed
clear. 'Well, I don't know about the panels,' said Ellie, 'but it seems to me
that Grace is definitely restored.'

‘Yes, I am!' Grace confirmed. 'And now could I
please have some more champagne?’