Evan and Darcy by Melanie Coles

Author:Melanie Coles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Published: 2017-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

The offices of Fitzwilliam de Burgh were located in a high rise building at the Paris end of Collins Street. They were lucky enough to find street parking a block away, so made it to their destination in plenty of time.

When they stepped off the elevator at the seventeenth floor straight into a reception area, Evan’s eyes grew huge. The law firm took up the entire floor. Black and white framed cityscapes adorned the oak-panelled walls, while plush leather chairs were grouped around wooden coffee tables at either end of a large mahogany reception desk. Soft down lights were reflected in the slate-tiled floor. It looked sophisticated and elegant, and very, very expensive.

“Reckon I know where all those legal fees are going,” he said, drawing a grin from Kath.

He gave their names to the receptionist at the desk before seating himself next to his aunt, who was wringing her hands. He placed his hand over hers.

“You okay?”

“Yes, love. I appreciate you coming with me.”

“It’ll be fine. The hard part’s over. This paperwork is a formality, that’s all.”

She gave him a wobbly smile. “I know.”

Eventually they were met by a clerk who ushered them into a large office and asked them to take a seat, before retreating out a side door. Evan and Kath could not have sat even if they wanted to. They stood in silence together, their eyes taking in the magnificence of the room before them.

If the reception area had been the parlour, then this was the grand ballroom. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched the length of the room. In one corner, two large leather sofas formed an ‘L’ shape around a low-lying coffee table; the sofas positioned to take full advantage of the view out over the street below. A huge Turkish rug covered the floor in the middle of the room. Bookcases lined two entire walls; laden with old, heavy, legal manuscripts, smaller thinner bound books, jade vases and assorted knickknacks.

Opposite the door stood a large, mahogany desk; a leather recliner behind it seemed to dwarf two opposing chairs. An old, hand-drawn cartograph hung on the wall over a mantle adorned with several framed photos. Everything was neat and proper, not a folder or paperclip appeared out of place.

“Oh my,” Kath said, her hand fluttering against her throat. “Rob said it was grand, but I had no idea he meant grand.”

Evan barely heard her. He’d been fingering the dusty leather books on a corner shelf when something caught his eye. A photo sitting on the mantle. He gazed at it for several moments, until finally he picked up the brass frame from the shelf, lowering it to get a closer look.

A boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes leaned against an old fence. His young face hinted at the beginnings of manhood and he was laughing at the camera. But it wasn’t the boy or his features that had drawn Evan to the picture; it was the woman who stood beside him. It was probably several years old now.

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