‘Or perhaps she cared more about her daughter having something of value, in casesheever needed it?’
‘Actually, thinking of how valuable it could be, aren’t you nervous about just carrying it around in your bag?’
Georgia shrugged. ‘Not really. I mean, it might not even be the famous stone.’
She took out the dress Sam had just put in her case, receiving an arched-brow glare from her friend.
‘Do I need to cancel my weekend away just to make sure you have fun in Geneva?’
Georgia sighed and put the dress back in. ‘No, you do not need to cancel your loved-up weekend with Harry. I do remember how to have fun.’
‘Really? Because you could have fooled me.’
Georgia glowered at her, but she couldn’t stay mad at Sam for long. Especially when she started to talk business.
‘When you get back, I was thinking we could start working up some new ideas. I think I’ll go mad if I don’t have something to work on soon.’
‘Music to my ears,’ Georgia replied. ‘Now get back to researching Luca Kaufmann while I finish packing, would you?’
Sam grinned. ‘It would be my pleasure.’
Later that evening, when Sam was long gone and Georgia was packed and ready for her flight in the morning, she opened her laptop and sat up in bed. When they’d sold the business, she’d thought about buying a bigger flat, but she loved her cosy one-bedroom place, and although she’d splurged on an expensive bed and new sofa, the only other thing that had changed in her life since then had been the amount she spent on a nice bottle of wine.
She had a glass of rosé beside her now, and a romcom playing in the background, but ever since Sam had started researching Luca, Georgia hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, which meant that her mind wasn’t on the movie. She typed the name Luca Kaufmann into her search engine and found the same photo Sam had shown her earlier. He was handsome, Sam had been right about that, but what interested Georgia most was how he was connected to her sapphire. She’d begun searching for information on the royal tiara before dinner, and she’d come across an article dated ten years previously. A well-known Swiss jeweller had been interviewed on the various collectionsof jewels from European monarchs, and he’d made special mention of the missing sapphire. It seemed that it had puzzled collectors around the world for many years, which made it all the more unbelievable that her family could be connected to it in some way.
Just as she was scrolling to another article, she heard a ping and glanced down at her emails. She clicked off the article, her heart pounding as she saw who it was from. She’d found a translator earlier in the day and scanned the article through to them, hoping she might get it back in a few days, but to her amazement, it was there already.
Georgia reached for her wine glass and took a sip, surprised by how nervous she was. The newspaper clipping must have been at least seventy years old, so she knew that whatever information it contained might not mean anything to her, but it might also tell her the link between the stone and her great-grandmother.
Please find the translation below. There’s no date on the article unfortunately. Thanks for the work and let me know if there’s anything else you need assistance with!
Georgia quickly skimmed across the message, holding her breath as she began to read the translation.
Financier and philanthropist Florian Lengacher has died at the scene of a tragic car accident near his summer home in Lake Geneva. It is understood that his motor vehicle was struck by another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction, killing both drivers.
Lengacher was recognised as being one of the most successful financiers in Switzerland. During his lifetime, he amassed a personal fortune in excess of forty million francs,and was known for being an avid collector of priceless artefacts and artwork. Despite his great wealth, he donated many historically significant pieces of art to Swiss galleries, fulfilling his desire to see art enjoyed by all. When he was interviewed recently to discuss his acquisition of a finance firm, he was asked what his advice would be to young men wanting to follow in his footsteps. ‘I had a working-class upbringing, and was the first in my family to attend university. It doesn’t matter where you come from, but more so the hunger you have to succeed, to provide for those you love. I tell my son not to waste any opportunity, to be passionate about his schooling and his work. My family sacrificed so much to give me the opportunities they didn’t have.’
Lengacher is survived by his wife and son. He will be remembered in a private service, and his family has pledged to make a charitable donation in his name to a museum. Before his passing, he established a foundation to provide university education for underprivileged students, and his family intend on honouring that commitment.
Georgia read the article again, in case she’d missed something in her first read-through, but as interesting as the words were, they didn’t mean anything to her. She googledFlorian Lengacherin the hope that she might find a photo, but other than a few hits in Italian, she couldn’t find anything to help her discover more about who this man was.
She eventually closed her laptop and put it on her bedside table, sinking back farther into her pillows. Could he have been her great-grandfather? The article had said he had a wife and son, which made the situation even stranger. Was her great-grandmother his wife? But if she were pregnant when he died, wouldn’t she have had the means to keep the child, given hisgreat fortune? Or had she been pregnant by another man, and not wanted anyone to know?
Georgia turned off the television, her mind racing at all the what-ifs. Reading the article had given her more questions than answers, and she doubted she’d get a wink of sleep before her flight in the morning.
Who are you, Florian, and what on earth is your connection to my family?
9
Georgia had started to second-guess her decision the moment she’d boarded the plane, and now she was having those doubts all over again as she stood on the street outside a high-end jewellery shop. It looked as if it could have been there for a hundred years, in a heritage-style building with windows just large enough to display a small collection of earrings and rings, and a well-dressed man standing at the door who was clearly a guard.Why did I think this was a good idea?
She was also suddenly acutely aware that she was carrying around a very expensive sapphire, which was making her nervous. Even if it wasn’t the missing royal sapphire, it was still worth a great deal of money, and she felt as if it should be under lock and key somewhere, not rattling around in a little wooden box inside her bag.
‘Georgia?’ said a deep voice with a French accent, startling her.
She spun round and came face to face with a very handsome, very familiar-looking man. Luca looked exactly as he did in the photos Sam had found online, despite Georgia insisting that he was probably much older and less attractive in real life. It seemed she’d been very, very wrong.
‘Yes,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘You must be Luca?’
