Property of a Noblewoman

by Danielle Steel

  “Miss Willoughby?” Phillip asked, looking uncertain as she smiled and nodded, shook his hand, and then introduced him to Hal Baker. Phillip seemed personable and polite, as the two men greeted each other.

  “Sorry to bring you out in such awful weather,” Jane said apologetically. “I think it might be worth your while, though. The pieces are really beautiful,” she said as they followed Hal downstairs to the safe deposit boxes. They didn’t need the notary this time, as all the official work had been done, and the inventory had been notarized and was complete. Now all they had to do was make a decision about how to dispose of it. They had stopped running the notices that week, and no heirs had appeared. Jane thought it was really a shame that no one had surfaced.

  Hal unlocked the box as he had before, and they followed him into the same cubicle where Jane had first seen the pieces and the other contents of the box. He set the box down on the table, and left them there alone. Jane took out the jewelry boxes one by one and set them on the table. Phillip began opening them. The first box he opened held a diamond and sapphire brooch from Van Cleef, and he looked visibly impressed. He saw the ruby ring next. He took a jeweler’s loupe out of his pocket, and held it to his eye.

  “This is a ‘pigeon’s blood’ Burmese ruby,” he said to Jane as he looked at it. “It’s the finest quality and color there is.” He took the loupe from his eye then and gazed seriously at her. “I’d say it’s about twenty-five or thirty carats, at a guess. It is incredibly rare to find a ruby of this quality in that size. It’s a knockout, and would sell for a fortune.” He examined the emerald ring after that, which he guessed was about the same size as the ruby, or slightly larger, and declared it to be first rate as well. He placed it back in its box with great care, and opened the box with the diamond ring next, which was even larger, and this time he smiled. “Wow!” he said, sounding like a kid, and she laughed.

  “That’s what I said when I saw it,” she admitted, and then looked sheepish. “I tried it on,” she confessed, and he grinned as he imagined it.

  “How did it look?” he teased her a little. This was suddenly fun. The jewels were fabulous, and if the surrogate’s court sold them with Christie’s, it was going to be a fantastic sale.

  “It looked pretty good. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to a rock this size,” she said, smiling back at him. “How big is it?”

  “Probably about forty carats, depending on how deep it is. That’s just a guess.” But he had gotten good at estimating size and quality of stones during his two years in the jewelry department, and had taken a basic gemology class to educate himself. These were the finest pieces he’d seen so far.

  He studied the invisibly set sapphire necklace and earrings from Van Cleef, and the pearls, which he said were natural, which made them incredibly valuable too, and the tiara, the pearl and diamond antique choker from Cartier, and the pieces from Bulgari in Rome. He went through all of it in under an hour, and looked at Jane when he was finished, deeply impressed.

  “Until I saw the photographs, I figured all you had here was junk. And once I saw the pictures, I knew it would be good stuff, but I didn’t expect quality like this. And no heirs have come forward at all?”

  “None,” she said sadly. “Would you like to see the photographs of the countess? She was a beautiful young woman.” She took them out, and they went through them together. He pointed out where she was wearing the jewelry – there were several photos. And what struck Jane again was how happy she looked with the handsome count, and how much he seemed to love her as he gazed at her adoringly.

  “He appears to be old enough to be her father,” Phillip commented.

  “He was thirty-eight years older,” Jane responded. She had figured it out from his obituary and her passports.

  “What were their names again?”

  “He was Count Umberto Vicenzo Alessandro di San Pignelli. And her maiden name was Marguerite Wallace Pearson – di San Pignelli, once they married. She was eighteen then, and he was fifty-six.” Jane looked wistful as they stared at the photographs together, and Phillip glanced at Jane in surprise.

  “It’s a fairly common name, but my mother’s maiden name was Pearson too. Maybe they were distantly related, cousins or something, although it’s probably just a coincidence. There was no Marguerite that I know of. I’ll have to tell my mom. I’m not suggesting that she’s an heir,” he said, looking embarrassed, “it’s just an odd coincidence of name. She’s never mentioned a relative who married an Italian count, and the countess was a generation older than my mom. Maybe she was a distant cousin of her father’s, or more likely no relation at all.” But the name had sparked his interest, though not as much as the jewels, and the fabulous auction and buzz they would create. He hadn’t seen jewels like that in all the time he’d been there, and they had sold some beautiful things in the past two years. “Who should I speak to about an auction?” he asked Jane directly.

  “My boss, Harriet Fine. I’m just a temporary clerk. I’m finishing law school in June.”

  “NYU?” he asked with interest.

  “Columbia. I had to do an internship or clerk for a court to finish. Surrogate’s court hasn’t been too entertaining till now,” she admitted to him as Hal Baker came back and locked up the safe deposit box again, and they followed him out. “All the clerkships I wanted were taken, family court and criminal, so I got this. I took it instead of probate, which would have been worse.” She smiled ruefully, and so did he in answer.

  “The jewelry department at Christie’s isn’t much better. They transferred me from the art department two years ago, which felt like a prison sentence, although I have to admit, this auction would be spectacular. Are they talking to any other auction houses?” he asked, and she shook her head.

  “No. Just you. Christie’s was my boss’s first choice. She told me to call you, so I did. I’m glad you like Countess di San Pignelli’s things. I think they’re beautiful too.”

  “They’re better than beautiful. They are all of the finest quality. It’s rare to see pieces of that caliber, with such important stones. The count and countess must have led quite a life.”

  “It looks like it from the photographs,” Jane said quietly.

  “I wonder what happened after that,” he said, curious. It was impossible not to wonder about her and the count.

  “I wish I knew too. They look so happy together, although she had sad eyes.”

  “Did she?” Phillip was surprised. “I didn’t notice. I was too distracted by the stones.” He smiled, thinking that Jane was an interesting woman. He had expected to meet some boring humdrum clerk. She was a vast improvement over that.

  “What happens now?” Jane asked him when they were standing in the lobby of the bank again, and Hal had left them to go back to his desk.

  “My boss speaks to yours,” Phillip explained. “We make a bid to sell the pieces, negotiate our fee, and discuss the catalog with them. If they like what we have to say, they consign the pieces to us, and we put them in our next Magnificent Jewel sale, probably in May, September, or December, right before the holidays. We would do a whole section about her with some of the photographs, and try to make it sound romantic and appealing, and then we sell them, take our portion of the hammer price from the seller and the buyer, and turn the rest over to the state. It’s pretty straightforward, unless an heir shows up of course, but it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen, from what you’ve said.” She had told him about going to the nursing home and the countess’s old apartment building in the city, while he was photographing the jewelry for his files, so he could show his boss what kind of story they could build in the catalog, even though she wasn’t well known. But a “Countess” had some magic to it, and the jewels spoke for themselves. He didn’t need to make a hard sell.

  “None of it will probably happen before I go back to school,” she said quietly, thinking about it. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for the auction, or maybe someone could let me know.�
�� She had taken a personal interest in this, and he could see it.

  “You should come to the auction. A sale like this will be very exciting.”

  “Will you be the auctioneer?” She was curious about him.

  “I doubt it. This sale will be too important. It will be part of a bigger sale, but it will certainly be one of the highlights. Important jewelers and collectors will be bidding from all over the world on the phone, and some of them will be in the room. It would be quite an experience for you to see it.” And opportunities like this wouldn’t come her way often.

  She was pensive before she answered. “I think it might make me too sad.” He was touched by what she said. She really cared about this woman, although she had never known her. “It seems so heartbreaking that she died alone, with no family around her.” Phillip nodded, not sure what to say, as they left the bank together. The rain had finally stopped.

  “Can I give you a lift?” he offered as he hailed a cab.

  “No, thanks. I’ll take the subway back to the office. I’ll tell my boss that Christie’s would be interested in selling the pieces at auction. I’m sure she’ll call you.”

  “If she doesn’t, I’ll call her. I might anyway. We wouldn’t want this sale to get away from us,” he said, as he opened the door of the cab.

  “Thank you for coming,” she said politely, and he smiled as he closed the door and waved as they drove off. He had been bowled over by everything he’d seen that morning – the jewels, and the girl.

  Chapter 6

  WHEN PHILLIP GOT back to the office, he had to get ready for the jewelry sale they were doing at noon, and he only had half an hour to prepare. It was not an important sale, and was listed under the heading “Fine Jewels,” which was a far cry from the “Magnificent Jewels” he had just seen, in a whole other category. And he realized he would have to discuss them with his superiors after the noon auction. He didn’t have time now to do them justice, and he wanted to show them the photographs he’d taken.

  The sale he ran at noon went smoothly, but took longer than expected, and it was four-thirty before he walked into the office of the head of the jewelry department. Ed Barlowe was looking over a list of the hammer prices from that afternoon and seemed pleased. He glanced up at Phillip.

  “Nice sale,” he commented, as he set the list down on his desk. “What’s up?” he asked, pointing to a chair and inviting Phillip to sit down.

  “I looked at an abandoned estate today with a clerk of the surrogate’s court. It’s a collection of extraordinary pieces, all by major jewelers,” he said quietly, as he handed Ed the photographs he had just printed out, and he watched Ed’s face as he sifted through them, examining each one. He looked startled when he glanced back at Phillip.

  “Are these pieces as good as they look?”

  “Better. The photographs don’t do them justice,” Phillip said calmly. It was the first time he’d enjoyed working in the department in two years. This was like discovering oil, or finding gold. Even if they weren’t his, it was exciting to be part of it, and hopefully have a role to play in the sale.

  “Do we know the provenance?” his boss asked him.

  “We have a name, and some photographs. She was a young American girl who was married to an Italian count from 1942 till 1965. Probably a young heiress. She died without money or heirs. All she had were the jewels, which the bank discovered when they drilled open the box.”

  “Is everything in order?” Ed asked with concern. “Were all the time restrictions respected?”

  “Diligently. The box was abandoned three years ago, the bank drilled it open after thirteen months and sent a registered letter in the right time frame. They waited two years after that, notified the surrogate’s court, and they’ve placed ads to locate the heirs. None have turned up. I saw all the records myself.”

  “Good.” Ed seemed pleased, as he sat behind his desk, an enormous antique partner’s desk that Christie’s had purchased years before. “I don’t want slip-ups with pieces like this. Why don’t you call the clerk of the court and discuss our fees with them, just so everything is clear? I’d like to schedule it for the May sale. There’s still time to photograph them. We can just squeak under the wire, and get these into the catalog. Make sure you call her right away.”

  “I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning,” Phillip assured him, and left Ed’s office with the Pignelli file in his hand. It was too late to call them today, it was after five, and as a government office, he knew they’d be closed.

  He was tempted to call Jane to tell her, but it would be improper to discuss it with her before they came to an agreement with Harriet, so it would have to wait, although he hoped their paths would cross again.

  And the next day, as he had promised Ed he would, he called Harriet, per Jane’s suggestion, had a frank discussion with her, said they were interested in selling the pieces, and quoted their fees of ten percent from the seller on the hammer price, with the rest of the proceeds going to the state. And the cost of photography for the catalog would have to be paid for by the surrogate’s court, which didn’t surprise Harriet, she was used to it, since they put items up for auction all the time. He told her they would want to use some of the photographs of the countess in the catalog, to help hype the sale, if Harriet didn’t mind. She didn’t care, it was fine with her. And she promised to get back to him with a decision by the end of the week. He told her that they were a little pressed for time, to get the items into the catalog for the May sale. She said she’d see what she could do, and Phillip wondered if she’d shop it around and get quotes from Sotheby’s too, but Jane had said it would be unlikely, since Harriet had suggested Christie’s herself. So all he could do now was wait for their answer, and hope the surrogate’s court placed the items with them. They’d be a fabulous addition to any sale.

  He still hadn’t heard from them on Friday, but didn’t want to push, and he decided to wait until Monday to call Harriet again, although Ed inquired about it on Friday afternoon.

  Phillip spent the weekend on his boat, as usual, and dropped by his mother’s apartment on Sunday afternoon on his way home. He wasn’t staying for dinner, since Valerie had told him she was going to dinner with friends. Someone else had invited her to the ballet, and she’d declined.

  She poured tea for both of them, and they spent a few minutes together before she had to leave. She was already dressed for the evening, and looked very nice in jeans and a heavy black sweater, with heels, and she was wearing makeup.

  “How did your week go?” she asked him with interest, and he told her about the jewelry he had seen, and Christie’s wanting to include it in a sale. He told her he hadn’t had an answer from the clerk of the surrogate’s court yet, but was planning to pursue it again the next day.

  “The jewelry must be impressive if Christie’s wants to sell it,” Valerie said, finishing her tea. And then he remembered the coincidence of names.

  “The woman’s maiden name is the same as yours, by the way,” he said with amusement, “though I doubt we’re related to this woman,” he added, and she nodded.

  “It’s a pretty common name. I’m afraid we don’t have any relatives who’d own that kind of jewelry, although it would be nice if we did.” She smiled at him, but they both knew that she wasn’t dazzled by it, and money was never a strong motivating force to her, particularly other people’s. His mother had never been a greedy woman, and had always been satisfied with what she had.

  “I think the prices on this sale will go through the roof. The pieces are incredibly beautiful, with big stones of high quality. It’s going to be an exciting sale, if the court lets us have it.”

  “I’m sure they will. Why wouldn’t they?” Valerie said reassuringly as she stood up. “Now I have to go.”

  “You never know. They might get a better deal from another auction house.”

  “I hope not,” she said loyally.

  He thought for a second about telling her about meet
ing Jane, but he felt stupid doing it. He’d probably never see Jane again. So he stood up, hugged his mother and kissed her good-bye, and promised to call her soon.

  “Have fun tonight,” he said as she closed the door and he got in the elevator.

  The next morning he called Harriet Fine again. She apologized for not getting back to him. She had been waiting for clearance from her own supervisors to proceed with the sale, and she had just gotten it an hour before.

  “It’s a go,” she said quietly. “They’ve accepted your terms for the sale.”

  “That’s fantastic!” Phillip said, sounding excited. “I’d like to pick up the pieces in the next few days, so we can photograph them for the catalog. May I have your authorization for the bank?”

  “I’ll take care of it right away,” Harriet assured him. “I’ll notify the bank. Will you pick them up yourself?”

  “Yes. I’ll probably bring a security guard with me, with a town car. After that, should I keep them in our safe at Christie’s pending the sale, or do you want them returned to the court?” It all sounded like a headache she didn’t want or need, and this was much bigger than any sale she’d dealt with before. And Christie’s was certainly reliable and trustworthy to keep the jewels in their vault until the sale.

  “I’d prefer that you keep them until the auction. I’ll send a clerk over to ensure that the transfer goes smoothly the day you pick them up. Just let me know when you plan to do it.” He thought about it for a moment and checked his calendar before he spoke. The following morning was clear.

  “Would tomorrow be too soon?” he asked hesitantly. “I could be there when the bank opens at nine.” And with luck, he could get them to the photographer by ten, so they could get started.