‘Is that man Harry Stone around?’ Edith asked. There was menace in her eyes and her tone was demanding. ‘No, Mr Stone’s in London. If you want to see him, you should have called before you came here.’
‘Claire, that’s who you are, isn’t it? You listen to me. You tell Harry Stone that I need £75,000 and all in cash. Tell him I want it quick, a payment upfront to show that he really wants to buy Marine House. If he won’t pay, I’ll see he doesn’t get into talking with Mother anymore and it’ll be put to another buyer. There’s plenty of them out there, you know.’
‘Does Lady Ruth know what you’re here asking for? After all, a large sum of cash upfront on a property deal is a bit unusual to say the least.’ Claire’s voice echoed with sarcasm.
‘It’s nothing to do with Mother or Josh. And anyway, Mother does what I say.’
‘Where is Josh? He’s walked away with a very valuable diamond, and Mr Stone’s anger is growing at what is happening with Marine House.’
‘Josh is nothing to do with me; that silly boy finds trouble as he runs around with his loose friends. But he won’t be too far from his mother’s apron strings.’
Standing in the wide hallway, Claire stared hard at Edith. Her upper lip was in a sly grin; it gave an open sneer of arrogance to Edith’s face. Claire was not going to be intimidated by this woman. With her arm outstretched, Claire tried to usher Edith back to the door; she wanted her out of this place. But Edith had come for a purpose; she pushed past Claire and walked to the end of the hall.
‘Where are you going?’ Claire shouted to her.
‘This is my house, and I shall go where I like.’ Edith spat the words back.
‘You shouldn’t intrude and roam around the house, especially as Mr Stone’s not here,’ Claire said as she walked towards Edith.
‘I’ve told you I own this house; it’s mine not his.’
Edith turned away from Claire and opened the door to the Regency sitting room. She walked in quickly and closed the door behind her. It left Claire in the hall, hesitating but angry. How was she going to stop this arrogant interloper? She should tell Edith of the health condition Harry Stone faced, but she stopped. Harry Stone’s illness was still private.
And there was Stone’s study. Entries in diaries, emails, Panama bank accounts and diamonds from Nevis would give Edith a wide, gloating smirk on her face and the last say on Marine House if she saw all that. Claire walked quickly up the stairs, locked the open door and put the key in her pocket.
A short while later, Edith made heavy noises on the stairs walking to the top floor. Claire’s anger was rising, but there would be another time and place to deal with her and the whole family. Claire had already decided where and how that would be. She let today run on. With a mug of tea, she sat in the sitting room and left the door to the hallway open. Resting on the edge of the chaise longue near the window, vacantly she stared towards the sea. But there was the clamour of doors opening and closing and then heavy footsteps on the stairs.
A few minutes later Edith came back into the hallway. She had a half smile on her face; she looked satisfied. Under her arm she carried a small frame, but she held it away from Claire.
‘What have you got there?’ Claire asked.
‘Just an old picture. Not valuable. It’s something I remember being in the house. I liked it so much, so I’m taking it with me.’
‘Let me see it,’ Claire asked.
Edith half turned the picture to Claire. It was a small oil painting, a scene which looked like the grand canal of Venice.
‘You need to ask Mr Stone before you take that.’
‘I doubt he even knew it was there going by all the dust on it. But you can tell him it’s mine now if you like.’
‘It is still part of the house, and you have no right to take it. Don’t think you can harass Mr Stone like this; I can tell you now, it won’t work,’ Claire said.
‘Well, we’ll see. But let’s meet again, Claire. Soon. And to make sure Harry gets this lovely place, make sure you bring me a large bundle of notes adding up to £75,000.’
Edith was being facetious and the arrogant smirk on her face was still there as she walked quickly to the front door with the looted picture. Was the picture valuable, too valuable to be left for Harry Stone to keep if this house was ever sold to him? Claire did not know, and she doubted Harry Stone would know either.
But Edith roaming freely around Marine House would make Stone’s temper simmer. It left buying Marine House from the Jackson family like a casino with counters on the roulette table which would be lost in the turn of a wheel.
The heavy front door closed with a thud.
A few minutes later, as she locked the back door, Claire tried to calm her anger. Her call to Marine House had left a scar. This was not a place she ever wanted to come back to.