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"Here’syourteaandyouréclair,"hetoldher."ItwouldhavecostlesstobuyoneofthoseTintorettos."
"Don’texaggerate,"saidJessicacheerfully."Anyway,therearen’tanyTintorettosattheTate."
"Ishouldhavehadthatcherrycake,"saidRichard."ThentheywouldhavebeenabletoaffordanotherVanGogh."
RichardhadmetJessicainFrance,onaweekendtriptoParistwoyearsearlier;hadinfactdiscoveredherintheLouvre,tryingtofindthegroupofhisofficefriendswhohadorganizedthetrip.Staringupatanimmensesculpture,hehadsteppedbackwardsintoJessica,whowasadmiringanextremelylargeandhistoricallyimportantdiamond.HetriedtoapologizetoherinFrench,whichhedidnotspeak,gaveup,andbegantoapologizeinEnglish,thentriedtoapologizeinFrenchforhavingtoapologizeinEnglish,untilhenoticedthatJessicawasaboutasEnglishasitwaspossibleforanyonepersontobe.BythistimeshedecidedheshouldbuyheranexpensiveFrenchsandwichandsomeoverpricedcarbonatedapplejuice,bywayofapology,and,well,thatwasthestartofitall,really.HehadneverbeenabletoconvinceJessicathathewasn’tthekindofpersonwhowenttoartgalleriesafterthat.
Onweekendswhentheydidnotgotoartgalleriesortomuseums,RichardwouldtrailbehindJessicaasshewentshopping,whichshedid,onthewhole,inaffluentKnightsbridge,ashortwalkandanevenshortertaxiridefromherapartmentinaKensingtonmews.
