‘Yes, I heard the site of Tilly’s tea shop might be up for sale.’
‘The whole street’s up for sale following the bombing,’ said Prendergast. ‘Most of the shopkeepers have lost their livelihoods, and because it was an act of war, they can’t claim insurance.’
‘So could I pick up the Tilly’s site for a reasonable price?’
‘Frankly, you could pick up the whole street for next to nothing. In fact, if you have any spare cash, Mr Barrington, I would recommend it as a shrewd investment.’
‘That’s assuming we’re going to win the war,’ Hugo reminded him.
‘I admit it’s a gamble, but it could show a handsome return.’
‘How much are we talking about?’
‘For Mrs Clifton’s site, I think I could talk her into accepting two hundred pounds. In fact, as half the traders in that street bank with me, I suspect you could pick up the whole shooting match for around three thousand. It’s like playing Monopoly with loaded dice.’
‘I’ll look into it,’ Hugo said before putting the phone down. What he couldn’t tell Prendergast was that he didn’t even have Monopoly money.
He tried to think of some way of raising that amount, when all his usual contacts were unwilling to lend him even a fiver. He couldn’t ask Olga for any more money, unless he was willing to walk down the aisle with her, and that was out of the question.
He wouldn’t have given the matter another thought if he hadn’t bumped into Toby Dunstable at one of Archie’s parties.
Toby and Hugo had been contemporaries at Eton. Hugo couldn’t remember much about Dunstable, except that he regularly helped himself to the younger boys’ tuck. When he was finally caught removing a ten-shilling note from one of the boys’ lockers, everyone assumed he would be expelled, and possibly he would, if he hadn’t been the second son of the Earl of Dunstable.
When Hugo asked Toby what he was up to nowadays, he said rather vaguely that he dabbled in property. Hugo told him about the investment opportunity Broad Street presented, but he didn’t seem that interested. In fact, Hugo couldn’t help noticing that Toby didn’t take his eyes off the diamond necklace that sparkled around Olga’s neck.
Toby handed Hugo his card, saying, ‘If you’re ever in need of some ready cash, it shouldn’t prove too difficult, if you get my drift, old fellow.’
Hugo got his drift, but didn’t take his hinted proposal at all seriously, until Olga asked him over breakfast one morning if a date had been fixed for the decree nisi. Hugo assured her it was imminent.
He left the house, went straight to his club, checked Toby’s card and gave him a call. They agreed to meet at a pub in Fulham, where they sat alone in a corner, drinking double gins and chatting about how our lads were faring in the Middle East. They only changed the subject when they were certain they couldn’t be overheard.
‘All I’ll need is a key to the flat,’ said Toby, ‘and the exact location of her jewellery.’
‘That shouldn’t prove difficult,’ Hugo assured him.
‘The only thing you’ll have to do, old chum, is make sure you’re both off the premises long enough for me to carry out the job.’
When Olga suggested over breakfast that she would like to see a production of Rigoletto at Sadler’s Wells, Hugo agreed to book a couple of tickets. He would usually have made some excuse, but on this occasion he readily agreed, and even suggested that they have dinner at the Savoy afterwards to celebrate.
‘Celebrate what?’ she asked.
‘My decree nisi has been granted,’ he said casually. She threw her arms around him. ‘Just another six months, my darling, and you’ll be Mrs Barrington.’
Hugo took a small leather box out of his pocket and presented her with an engagement ring he’d bought on approval in Burlington Arcade the previous day. She approved. He intended to return it in six months’ time.
The opera seemed to last for three months, rather than the three hours suggested in the programme. However, Hugo didn’t complain, as he knew Toby would be making good use of the time.
Over dinner in the River Room, Hugo and Olga discussed where they might spend their honeymoon, as they couldn’t travel abroad. Olga favoured Bath, which was a little too close to Bristol for Hugo’s liking, but as it was never going to happen, he happily went along with her suggestion.