Drawing the Line Read Free Page A

said – would 1589 make sense?’
    ‘
Natura
Rerum
. A Gentleman. 1589. Lina, dear heart – do you know what you’ve found?’
    ‘A book I know,’ I insisted.
    ‘More than that!’
    ‘All right,’ I said, knowing I had to humour him before he’d humour me, ‘tell me.’
    ‘Lina – unless I’m very much mistaken – you’ve hit the jackpot!’

Chapter Two
    ‘
Natura Rerum
is one of the rarest books there is! In the whole world, Lina. Only two or three extant,’ he continued. His voice had risen to a squeak.
    ‘You mean – only two or three still in existence? Out of how many?’ Funny how my head was working. Half of it wanted to think about the book as precious and important in its own right, the other kept on hammering away about its value to me.
    ‘No one knows for sure. But who in their right mind would cannibalise one? It’d be worth infinitely more whole.’
    ‘No one who knew what it was,’ I said slowly. ‘Copeland’s a print dealer, not an expert in old books.’
    ‘Marcus?’
    I shrugged – absolute negative. ‘He’s got some sort of art qualification. When he’s not doing that watercolouring stuff he sculpts embarrassing nudes for the export market.’
    Griff looked at me sideways. ‘Dear heart, are you sure, absolutely sure?’ He didn’t mean about Marcus.
    ‘Sure as I’m standing here,’ I said. But standing still was very difficult when I wanted to go and snatch it and bring it safely here. Or just dance on the spot.
    ‘I know you’ve got a nose – sometimes you sniff out such unpromising items from such unlikely places I wonder if you’re got a bit of a divvy in you – but for you to recognise it when Copeland doesn’t –’
    ‘I told you,’ I said, grabbing his hands and shaking them from side to side, ‘the thing is that I’ve actually seen the book itself. The whole book. When I was veryyoung,’ I continued. ‘It’s part of my very earliest memory. It was somewhere my mother took me. It certainly wasn’t her family. So it had to be –’
    ‘Your father’s side.’
    I took a breath. ‘So you see, if I can trace that book –’
    ‘Maybe you can trace your father,’ Griff finished for me, sighing. He looked at me from under his eyebrows. ‘My child, I’ve said this before, and I daresay I’ll say it again: this may not be wise. Looking to the future is, in my humble experience, far better than looking back. Far less dangerous. Leave it. I beg you: go and flirt with another young man or two.’
    ‘Flirt! I never flirt!’ I pouted.
    ‘My cherished one, you never stop.’
    ‘In any case, shouldn’t we be after that book? It’d make our fortune!’
    There was a long pause as if ideas were coming that he should have had five minutes ago. ‘Believe me, if – and it has to be said it’s an enormously big “if” – if that frontispiece is genuine and comes from a genuine copy of
Natura Rerum
, then the bibliophile world and his wife will be looking for it. And not for sentimental reasons, believe me.’
    ‘“A big if”! You’re not saying it’s a forgery!’
    He nodded sadly. ‘Ralph Harper’s not the only one who tampers with things.’
    I couldn’t speak. Giving me something between a hug and a shake, Griff said in his everyday voice, ‘Be that as it may, I noticed a pretty little Worcester posy bowl over on Josie’s stall – ever such an ugly repair. Now Josie said she was interested in that Majolica plate you’ve been working on. If she won’t offer you enough, try that newlad down by the exit to the loos: he looks pretty damp behind the ears. And there’s a darling little Art Deco oil and vinegar set on someone else’s stall – I would have thought that it would repay your ministrations threefold.’
    That was Griff’s way of reminding me that I was at Detling to work. Although I was fizzing with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, there was no point in arguing. And, now I needed money desperately – whatever Griff said, I