E. F. Benson

“ Mrs. Aylwin, in consequence, at his death, had been left badly off; but the constant environment of her husband's purchases had given her a great shrewdness as to what not to buy, and she had learned to see at a glance, even if she knew nothing about the fabric in question, whether it had distinction and character. Character was the great thing: a piece might be hideous, but if it had character her purse was open.
The shop "Aylwin & Sons"—though she had never had either son or daughter—still did a good trade, but it was not there that she made her best deals. ”

“ Also there was something to be said for shell ornaments.
"Yes, my dear, I knew you would think them hideous," she said. "But they have character—bad character, perhaps, but that is so much better than no character. They mean something; they are a fine reflection of the mind of the persons who must have taken years in making them. I don't say I admire them much, but they are a unique collection."
"I regard them with suspicion," he said. "I have known you make a collection for purely business purposes, and then, by degrees, get so fond of it that you could hardly bear to part with it. ”

“ As soon as I've got together all I think I want, I let it be known, and up go the prices, and my little lot becomes far more valuable. But I like to get a good start first."
"I hope you're doing so," he said.
"I am indeed. I've got quite a lot of my new collection already."
"But haven't they found out what you're, after?" he asked.
"Not a bit of it," said she, "I'm being very cunning over this, for there's not very much of it about. I pick up a piece now and then in a shop, but I never myself attend an auction where there is any of it. I send my maid instead." ”

“ Aylwin—and in this lay her genius—had discovered a fact as yet not sufficiently recognised by the trade, namely, that there are many rich people (and she cared now to deal only with thoroughly rich people) who would not think of buying one piece of Queen Anne furniture or one piece of Crown Derby, but who would eagerly lay twenty times the price of one for ten collected specimens of it. Just now the collection appeared to be ornaments made of shells. ”

“ She must be in a condition to realise that it was no use fighting him either in the field of matrimony or in that of Buntingford jugs. She must learn that he was stronger than she.
He had turned into a side-street where there were many curiosity shops, and his progress was slow. Then he gave a gasp of amazed wonder, and his eyes started from his head. There in an inconspicuous shop facing him was a tea-set—tea-pot, sucrier, milk jug, bread-and-butter plate, and six cups and saucers—all of Buntingford ware. And the foolish experts knew of no such thing ”

“ Who would want a collection of those things? A couple of specimens are enough for the Museum. There's no beauty about them, as you can see for yourself."
Mr. Coleham's heart leaped inside his fine fur coat. "No, ugly stuff," he said. "But it was new to me, and I take an interest in anything new. Bitter cold morning, isn't it? Come and see my Heppelwhite card-table some evening, and have a bit of dinner. It's a peach, that table."
Illustration: "'The Buntingford jug, ma'am,' she said."
Mr. Coleham's catalogues of sales were as numerous as Mrs. Aylwin's, and he hurried home to study them. ”

“ I've never cared for anything so much in my life. The only consolation is that the price has gone up immensely, and I have no doubt I shall sell the pieces I've got at a great profit."
"Perhaps, then, you might tell me what it is," he said.
"Why, I forgot you didn't know," said she. "Naturally there's no secret about it now. I sent my pieces down to the shop this morning. Buntingford jugs. I suppose you've never heard of Buntingford ware?" ”

“ This delighted him; it was so like Josephine's cleverness to have taken up a class of porcelain about which nobody knew or cared, and he felt convinced of the correctness of his guess. Proof, if proof was needed, came a few days later when he attended the sale in East Street, Hampstead, and saw Mrs. Aylwin's maid there. He had taken his valet with him, and instructed him, while he himself kept prudently out of sight, to bid and go on bidding for Lot 217. ”

“ All round the billiard table, nicely spaced, was a row of Buntingford jugs, and in the middle the tea-set. He inspected it just before she came, and locked the door.
Mrs. Aylwin was in excellent spirits again, all her dejection had passed, and she was her cheerful self.
"I've been making myself miserable, Tony," she said as they lunched, "and I'm tired of it. I've been beaten. I don't like being beaten, but when you are beaten, the best thing to do is to acknowledge it, and begin on something else."
"Oh, your last collection," said he. ”

“ I never let anyone know what my collection is till I have got together a good quantity of it. If a dealer in London knew what I was collecting, it would be all over the place in no time, and the prices would go up. ”

“ The same train of thought had perhaps occurred to his mind, for he did not combat her pessimistic view about old women, but sat comfortably down. He was a large man, pleasantly furnished with flesh, and filled a chair beautifully.
"And how have things been going?" he asked. "Business prosperous?" ”