Yours truly,

Astrid

P.S. Please give this ring to my cousin Nicky when you next have the chance. He should have it for Rachel.

Charlie put down the note and reclined on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Astrid had been lying on this very bed, probably staring at the same view. It was her favorite suite at the George V and he had been the one to introduce her to it the first time he brought her to Paris back in their university days. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and he wished he could just go back to that time and do everything differently. Charlie rolled over and buried his face in the pillow, inhaling deeply. He thought that if he breathed deep enough, maybe her scent would return.

* * *

* Truly the best way to heat up two-day-old pizza. The crust gets crispy and the cheese gets cheesy if you leave a lid on for a minute at the end.

CHAPTER TWO

TYERSALL PARK, SINGAPORE

Rachel was walking through the rose garden, looking at the fresh new blooms and inhaling their deep, intoxicating scent when Nick returned. He had been to see Alfred Shang in the hope of raising enough money to buy Tyersall Park from his aunts.

“How did it go?” she asked as he entered the garden, although from the look on his face she already knew the answer.

“I walked him through the entire proposal, thinking he would at least throw me some kind of bone since Tyersall Park had been his father’s estate. Do you know what he told me? He thinks that we are in the midst of another financial bubble waiting to burst, and when that implodes all of the property markets in Asia will collapse. He said, ‘If this idiot really wants to give you ten billion for Tyersall Park, you would be an even bigger idiot not to take it. Take his money and go buy some gold. It’s the only asset worth keeping in the long run.’ ”

Nick leaned into one of the rosebushes and said, “This is maybe the third time I’ve actually stood here and smelled the roses. It’s funny how one takes things for granted when they’ve always been around.”

“We’ll plant our own rose garden,” Rachel said encouragingly. “I think we can afford a little country house now, don’t you think? Maybe in Vermont, or even in Maine. I hear North Haven is beautiful.”

“I dunno, Rachel. With four billion dollars, it’s going to be tough finding something out there,” Nick deadpanned.

Rachel smiled. It was still impossible for her to fathom that kind of money coming into her life, especially since Nick had just spent the past month desperately trying to raise funds and not getting anywhere close to what he needed. Now that the deadline was up, and his last-ditch effort with Uncle Alfred had failed, Nick had no choice but to give in to his aunts’ demands.

Picking a beautiful blossom that was dangling from a half-broken stem, Rachel looked up at Nick. “Shall we go in?”

“Yes, let’s do this.” Nick took her hand and they walked up the stone steps into the house, where Nick’s aunts sat pensively around a table in the library.

Alix looked up at him. “Are we ready to make the call?”

Nick nodded, and Felicity picked up the telephone in the middle of the table and dialed Oliver’s number. “Hiyah! It’s his international cell phone. Now we’ll have to pay the long-distance rates,” Felicity grumbled.

The phone rang a number of times before Oliver picked up.

“Oliver, can you hear us? We have you on speakerphone here,” Alix shouted into the phone.

“Yes, yes, you can lower your voice. I can hear you just fine.”

“Where are you right now, Oliver?”

“I’m back in London at the moment.”

“Ah, how lovely. How’s the weather today?”

“Hiyah, gum cheong hay!*1 Let’s just get on with it, Alix!” Victoria scolded.

“Oh, okay…um, I’ll let Nicky speak, since he is technically the majority shareholder,” Alix said.

“Hi Oliver. Yes, I just wanted to inform you that we’ve reached a consensus.” Nick paused for a moment, took a breath, and then continued. “We’re ready to take Jack Bing’s offer of ten billion dollars for Tyersall Park.”

“Okay. And I am accepting on their behalf. We have a deal!” Oliver replied.

Felicity leaned in. “And Oliver, we’d like your expertise on valuing the furniture. We’ll sell him most of the furniture and objects in the house, with the exception of a few things that we wish to keep.”

“He’s not getting Mummy’s Battenberg lace doilies, that’s for sure,” Victoria muttered under her breath.

“Super. The Bings will be thrilled, and I know it hasn’t been easy for all of you to reach this decision, but I can tell you that you have made a superb deal. This is a record-breaking amount for real estate, and I don’t think you would have realized a price like this from anyone else on the planet. Great-aunt Su Yi would have been pleased.”

Nick rolled his eyes, while Victoria and Alix nodded.

“You’ll let them know, Oliver?” Felicity asked.

“Of course. I will call Jack right after we get off the phone, and then I’ll e-mail Freddie Tan to begin drawing up the contract.”

“Okay then, goodbye.” Nick turned off the speakerphone.

The ladies sighed collectively. “It’s done,” Felicity muttered, as though she had just drowned a litter of puppies.

“It was the right thing to do. Ten billion dollars! Mummy would be so proud of us,” Alix said, dabbing her eyes with a rolled-up tissue. Felicity looked at her sister, wondering if what she said was true. Would her mother ever be proud of her?

Nick got up from the table and walked out the French doors into the garden again. Rachel was about to go after him when Alix placed a hand on her arm. “He’ll be fine,” she said to Rachel.

“I know he will,” Rachel said softly.

···

I just put four billion dollars into his pocket and that fucker didn’t even thank me, Oliver thought after Nick had abruptly hung up. Then he picked up his phone again and called Kitty’s cell phone.

“Kitty? It’s done. The Youngs have accepted the offer…Yes, really…No, no, you can’t move in next week, it’s going to take a few months at the very least to get the deal done…Yes, they will sell some of the furnishings…Of course I will tell you what’s worth acquiring, don’t worry…I don’t think we can pay them more to move out tomorrow. This has been a home to the family for more than a century, Kitty. They need some time to get things sorted and dismantle the estate. The silver lining is that you’ll have time to plan the new interiors…Henrietta Spencer-Churchill? Yes, I do know her, but Kitty, why would you want the same designer who’s already doing Colette’s new house?…I know she’s related to Princess Diana, but I have an even better idea…I can think of only one person in the whole world I would trust with a redo of Tyersall Park. Can you meet me in Europe next week?…No, not Paris. We’re going to Antwerp, Kitty…No, it’s not in Austria. Antwerp is a city in Belgium…Oh, you’ll swing by London to pick me up? How awfully kind of you…Perfect. Look forward to it.”