Free Precious Gifts by Danielle Steel Page B

and was too shaken by the discovery of Sophie. It had had the effect of uniting her and the three girls. Whatever their differences, they were forgotten now, faced with something far more serious, and a common enemy they were all prepared to despise. Not to mention Bertie, who had declared war on all four of them. They had enemies on all sides.
    “Maybe I will research the painting,” Véronique said, looking tired. “I could go to Italy for a while instead of France.” She always loved spending time in Rome, Florence, and Venice, visiting museums and churches. She thought about it again when she went home that night, but she also wanted to hire a detective in Paris to investigate the Marnier women. That was a priority to her now, for herself and the girls. She had much to think about.
    She decided what she wanted to do the next morning. Arnold called her to see how she was, and apologized for what a shock she must have had at the reading of the will the day before.
    “I begged him to tell you himself,” Arnold said gently, “but he wouldn’t. He wanted me to handle it for him. He wasn’t good about things like that.” Arnold sighed. They both knew it was true. Paul only did what was easy, never what was hard.
    “It doesn’t matter now,” Véronique said graciously, wishing it were true. But it did matter to her, and had left a bad taste in her mouth about who he was. He had disappointed her once too often, and hurt his children this time, too, in spite of the thoughtful way he had disposed of his estate. And then she remembered something she wanted to ask Arnold after her conversation with the girls the night before. “Can you get me a photograph of the painting he left me? I’m sure he has one in a file somewhere.”
    “I can have the painting delivered to you fairly soon,” he said helpfully, but she wasn’t ready for that. It was a very large painting, and she had no space for it on her walls. She would have to move some other things to make room, and she didn’t know if she wanted to do that, particularly for a fake, if it was. And it evoked conflicting emotions now of hurt and tender memories that were long past.
    “I’d rather just have a photograph for now. I’ll have to put it in storage anyway.”
    “I’ll take a look,” he promised. “Would you like me to give you the photograph over dinner?” he asked hopefully. He never gave up.
    “To be honest, I’m still too upset. You gave us a lot to digest yesterday. And I’m going to leave for France in a few days. I need to get organized and pack.” She wasn’t in the mood to fend off Arnold’s gentle, persistent advances. “I’m going to hire a detective in Paris to investigate the two Marnier women for the girls,” she told him, to change the subject, and he said he thought it was a good idea, and promised to get her the photograph of the alleged Bellini before she left.
    “Are you going to check that out, too?” he asked her.
    “Maybe. Eventually. I don’t know if I’ll have time now. There’s a monastery in Venice, with incredible archives, that pursues the veracity of paintings, particularly those in dispute as to their authenticity. It would be interesting to visit them anyway. I went there once with my mother, after my grandfather wrote about the monastery in a book. She was always fascinated by forgeries. I caught the bug from her. If I go to Italy, I might visit them again.”
    “When will you be back?”
    “I don’t know. Late August. Maybe September. I’m going to visit the château with the girls.”
    “Are they planning to keep it?” he asked with interest.
    “I doubt it. They don’t want the burden of a château in France. They’re much too busy with their lives here.” They both knew that she could take on the responsibility of the château for them, but she didn’t want to. She had given it to Paul, and it was a relic of ancient history for her.
    “I’ll get you the photograph before you leave,” he