The Antique Love by Helena Fairfax Page B

was behaving oddly. He tried to relax, to let go of his stiffness, and managed a small smile.
    “There’s a great sandwich bar round the corner. It’s a little walk from here if you fancy a change?”
    “Great. I’ll just go tell Tehmeena.”
    Five minutes later they were outside.
    “Sunshine,” cried Penny. “Who’d have thought it?”
    Kurt looked down at her and smiled. Now he was outside in his preferred element, he felt more able to relax.
    “Yeah, sunshine. It’s fabulous ,” he said. “See, I’m talking British already.”
    “Spoken like a native.” Penny looked up at him with a happy smile, as pleased as he was to be outdoors.
    They walked along companionably for a while, crossing the busy streets and threading their way past other pedestrians. Occasionally, Penny would point out a landmark, and prompted by Kurt, she began to fill him in on a little of the area’s history. He let her speak, saying little himself except to throw in the odd remark. His eyes were warm when they rested on her, and there was a quiet smile on his lips as she made the ordinary buildings come to life. She told him a pub on the corner had once been a police-station. They peered in through the window and saw the desk-sergeant’s counter, now a busy bar thronged with lunchtime drinkers. An old blue police lamp still hung outside.
    The next building they passed was a drab department store. Kurt had thought it nothing remarkable until Penny drew to a halt.
    “This was the first shop in the whole of London ever to have electric light. Can you believe it?” She stared at the massive array of electrical goods in the window. “Can you imagine how exciting it must have been? Oh.” She looked up at him, her quick mind jumping to another subject. “That reminds me. I need to get more batteries for my camera. I’d like to take some photos of your house tomorrow. Do you mind if we go inside?”
    “Sure.”
    * * * *
    Kurt stayed on the ground floor to examine the endless ranks of television sets whilst Penny made her purchase as quickly as she could. She returned from the camera department to find him gazing in deep abstraction at one of the larger screens. She stood still. His arms were folded. Even from a distance his large, muscular body made a striking figure. He had the uncanny ability to remain absolutely still and, at the same time, give the impression of a vital physical presence. Penny stood for a while, unnoticed, wondering what on earth was on the screen that could cause such intense absorption. Then she smiled and shook herself. Sports was her guess. Probably American football. But when she rounded the aisle to stand beside him, she took one look at the screen and felt her heart come a stop with an almighty lurch and the smile vanish from her face. This was no football match. It was an old romance, and the scene in front of her was playing out with sickening familiarity.
    She looked up at Kurt. “I’m back,” she said loudly. “Shall we go?”
    He didn’t move. His eyes were still fixed on the screen, where a young girl stood outside a theatre, watching the crowds make their way up the steps. She was wearing a cream dress in some floaty material. She was slimmer than Penny, but the dress clung to her in much the same way. When she lifted her arm to wave to a man in the crowd, the similarity in the graceful movement was uncanny.
    “Did you ever watch this movie?” Kurt asked without turning.
    There was a short silence before Penny replied. “Yes. It’s Queen’s Act with Megan Rose.” Her mouth was dry. “It’s the first film she ever made.”
    Penny’s mother was in her early twenties when the film was shot. Penny’s father had been her agent. In the film, she played the part of a struggling actress in one of London’s theatres. Megan Rose’s fans knew it as the film that launched her career and catapulted her to Hollywood fame. For Penny, the film had a far different meaning. It was the film that brought