Copyright © 2014 Penny Vincenzi
The right of Penny Vincenzi to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
First published in Great Britain as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2014
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978 0 7553 7761 9
Jacket photography © Christian Ammann/Gallerystock
Author photograph © Trevor Leighton
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
About Penny Vincenzi
Also by Penny Vincenzi
Praise for Penny Vincenzi
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Character List
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Epilogue
About the Book
The House of Farrell – home of The Cream, an iconic face product that has seen women flocking to its bijoux flagship store in the Berkeley Arcade since 1953.
At Farrell, you can rely on the personal touch. The legendary Athina Farrell remains the company’s figurehead and in her kingdom at the Berkeley Arcade, Florence Hamilton plies their cosmetics with the utmost discretion. She is sales advisor – and holder of secrets – extraordinaire.
But of course the world of cosmetics is changing and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline, its customers tempted away by more fashionable brands.
Enter Bianca Bailey, formidable business woman, mother of three, and someone who always gets her way. Athina and Bianca lock horns over the future of the House of Farrell but it is the past that tells its devastating tale of ambition and ego, passion and wonder.
Here is a tale of survival . . . and a perfect heritage.
About Penny Vincenzi
Penny Vincenzi is one of the UK’s best-loved and most popular authors. Since her first novel, Old Sins, was published in 1989, she has written sixteen bestselling novels, most recently The Decision and the Sunday Times number one bestseller The Best of Times.
Her first ‘proper’ job was at the Harrods Library, aged sixteen, after which she went to secretarial college. She joined the Mirror and later became a journalist, writing for The Times, the Daily Mail and Cosmopolitan amongst many others, before turning to fiction.
Several years later, over seven million copies of Penny’s books have been sold worldwide and she is universally held to be the ‘doyenne of the modern blockbuster’ (Glamour).
Penny Vincenzi has four daughters, and divides her time between London and Gower, South Wales.
For exciting updates and the latest news from Penny visit www.pennyvincenzi.com
By Penny Vincenzi
Old Sins
Wicked Pleasures
An Outrageous Affair
Another Woman
Forbidden Places
The Dilemma
The Glimpses (short stories)
Windfall
Almost a Crime
No Angel
Something Dangerous
Into Temptation
Sheer Abandon
An Absolute Scandal
The Best of Times
The Decision
Love in the Afternoon and Other Delights (short stories)
A Perfect Heritage
Praise for Penny Vincenzi
In the words of the critics . . .
‘There are few things better in life than the knowledge that sitting on your bedside table is the latest Penny Vincenzi’ Daily Express
‘Penny Vincenzi’s romantic blockbusters are in a class of their own. Her plots are compelling, her narrative control unfailingly assured, and her characters colourfully drawn’ Mail on Sunday
Reading a Penny Vincenzi novel is . . .
‘Pure pleasure, Vincenzi-style’ Woman & Home
‘An addictive experience . . . Penny Vincenzi dazzlingly combines the old-fashioned virtues of gripping storytelling with the up-to-the-minute contemporary feel for emotional depth and insight’ Elizabeth Buchan
‘Marvellously engrossing . . . perfect for curling up with on a rainy day. Or any day for that matter’ Barbara Taylor-Bradford
‘Oh, the bliss . . . I was shamefully glued, as if to the best gossip’ Kate Saunders, Saga
‘Glamorous, weepy, indulgent and at times heartbreaking. Oh, and it has some racy bits, too. Hooray!’ Heat
‘Like a glass of champagne: bubbly, moreish and you don’t want it to end’ Daily Express
‘Romps glamorously along, is very well-written and there’s plenty of ceiling-hitting sex and good characters. What more could anyone want? . . . I enjoyed it hugely’ Daily Mail
‘This spectacular novel is utterly captivating’ Closer
‘There’s one name that continues to reign supreme, Penny Vincenzi’ Glamour
‘A very involving read, perfect for a lazy rainy afternoon’ Woman
For my four darling daughters.
Who are all the world to me.
Acknowledgements
This has been a lovely book to write; I always enjoy doing the acknowledgements because they take me back on the journey through it.
I certainly couldn’t have managed this on my own; a lot of very disparate knowledge has gone into it, gleaned from a huge range of people, all of whom gave me, with the utmost generosity, their time and attention in large measure. Most of them didn’t just tell me things, they threw themselves into their task and made suggestions about possible plot twists
in their particular areas.
A lot of people from the cosmetic industry were extraordinarily helpful: Robin Vincent, long-time boss of Clarins UK, breathed life into the House of Farrell for me; Charlotte Alexander gave me a most useful teach-in on the world of beauty PR today – very different from when I was a beauty editor – and introduced me to the world of the beauty blogger; Emily Warburton gave me a magnificent overview of the past fifteen years she has spent in the cosmetic industry; Beverley Bayne told me more amazing things about perfume and its formulation than I could ever have imagined; Ella Bradley, magical make-up artist, took me into her glamorous world, showed me the magic she works on a daily basis, and offered me an insight into such heady stuff as doing the make up for London Fashion Week, and Julia Cruttenden, who very sadly died last December, allowed me to attend classes at Greasepaint, her completely wonderful make-up school.
Over in the City of London, Matt Frenchman, by way of a brilliant teach-in, made the almost incomprehensible business of the hedge fund just about comprehensible, and huge thanks to Ben Noakes, who provided me with a most valuable insight into the world of the currency trader, and even allowed me to sit at his desk for one astonishing (and very noisy) afternoon.
Edward Harris, a wonderfully brilliant and creative solicitor, and his wife, the lovely Mrs Harris, provided me with the utterly ingenious idea of the tontine, without which the plot might not have reached maturity.
Ed Chilcott, advertising whizz-man, not only explained advertising today but also worked with me, via many a long and torturous phone call, on the advertising campaign that was to bring the House of Farrell into a most dazzling limelight.
Anthony Beerbohm guided me tirelessly around first Paris and then Grasse, with huge knowledge and skill, and thence into some wonderful restaurants and bars.
My granddaughter Honor Cornish imparted some much-needed knowledge of the clothes, shopping habits, customs and language of her particular age group.
Another granddaughter, Jemima Harding, generously agreed to lend me her (very nice) name for one of my (very nice) characters.
Peter Mayer, long-term friend and publisher extraordinaire, showed me the wonders of SoHo one sunny lunchtime and afternoon in New York and helped me to find the perfect location for the Farrell shop there. Jemima Barton did the same search for me in Singapore and Polly Harding in Sydney.
Moving nearer home, it has been the greatest pleasure to work with Imogen Taylor for the first time as my editor. She is not only supportive, creative and fun, but also has an extraordinary knack for getting the extra five per cent out of not just me, but also my plots. And her assistant Emma Holtz is not only brilliantly efficient, she’s also talked me patiently through my interminable crises of a computer-y nature.
And thank you so, so much Yeti Lambregts, for what must be one of my most beautiful covers ever!
Thank you Jo Liddiard for some brilliant marketing thinking. And much gratitude to the incomparable Georgina Moore, who has worked her magic with the publicity campaign with a click of her high heels and a brisk wave of her wand.
I owe a huge amount, and for the umpteenth time, to Kati Nicholls (never give up on me, Kati!), most brilliant of copy editors, who manages to cut swathes of superfluous words from my books in a way that even I can’t spot when they’ve gone, and checks and re-checks everything in a totally reassuring manner.
Life would be quite unimaginable without Clare Alexander, wonderful agent and friend, who has soothed, advised and reassured me through many books now, invited me to her dazzling dinner parties and, possibly most importantly of all, made me laugh. A lot.
And finally, of course, my long-suffering family, daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren, who keep me sane in their various ways, provide answers to my questions about whatever their area of expertise might be – from wine to designer watches, cars to cameras – tell me I’m wrong when I say the book will never, ever be finished and have supported me most wonderfully through a long, tough year.
Character List
Athina Farrell, a matriarch
Cornelius Farrell, her husband
Bertram Farrell, her son
Caroline Johnson, her daughter
Priscilla Farrell, Bertie’s wife
Lucy and Rob, Bertie and Priscilla’s children
Hugh Bradford and Mike Russell, venture capitalists
Bianca Bailey, a tycoon
Patrick Bailey, her husband
Emily (Milly), Fergie and Ruby, their children
Guy Bailey, Patrick’s father
Sonia, their housekeeper
Karen, their nanny
Florence Hamilton, a director of the House of Farrell
Duncan, her deceased husband
Lawrence Ford, marketing manager at Farrell’s
Annie Ford, his wife
Lara Clements, marketing director at Farrell’s
Mark Rawlins, financial director at Farrell’s
Susie Harding, a publicist at Farrell’s
Jemima Pendleton, Bianca’s secretary
Peter Warren, a non-executive chairman at Farrell’s
Francine la Croix, a beautician at Farrell’s
Marjorie Dawson, a beauty consultant at Farrell’s
Terry, her invalid husband
Jonjo Bartlett, a City trader
Pippa, his sister
Walter Pemberton, the Farrell’s lawyer
John Ripley, a trainee solicitor at Pemberton and Rushworth
Saul Finlayson, who runs a hedge fund
Janey, his ex-wife
Dickon, his son
Fenella, a student friend of Lucy’s
Guinevere Bloch, a sculptress
Carey Mapleton, a new friend of Milly’s
Gillian Sutherland, their form mistress
Mrs Wharton, their music teacher
Mrs Blackman, their headmistress
Sarajane, Annabel and Grace, Milly’s friends
Tod Marchant and Jack Flynn, an advertising duo
Paddy Logan, an assistant at Flynn Marchant
Hattie Richards, a cosmetic chemist
Elise Jordan, a beauty editor
Sadie Bishop, her assistant
Flo Brown, a journalist
Thea Grantly, a journalist
Jacqueline Wentworth, a gynaecologist
Leonard Trentham, an artist
Jasper Stuart, an art dealer
Joseph Saunders, an art critic
Jayce, Milly’s new friend
Stash, Zak, Cherice and Paris, her siblings
Joanna Richards, mother of one of Ruby’s friends
Tamsin Brownley, a creative designer
Lord and Lady Brownley, her parents
Henk Martin, a photographer, Susie’s boyfriend
Jess Cochrane, an actress
Freddie Alexander, a theatrical agent
Lou Clarke, a New York businesswoman
Simon Smythe, a solicitor
Chris Williams, Lara’s new boyfriend
Bernard French, Janey’s boyfriend
Doug Douglas, an Australian businessman
Vicki Philips, an assistant to Susie Harding
Prologue
So – this was it.
Goodbye, really, in a way. However it was dressed up, the Farrell’s that had been her life’s work, her life’s love really, was no longer to be.
The brilliant, colourful, joyous thing that had been born that coronation year, that she and Cornelius had created together, was to change irrevocably, move out of her control. No longer her treasure, her comfort, her sanity. Most of all, her sanity; in the first months after Cornelius died, she had turned to it for occupation, distraction, support in her awful, empty grief. How wonderful she is, people had said, still working all the hours God sends, refusing to give in or give up, how amazing to carry on like this. But they were wrong, so wrong. It would have been amazing, indeed, not to have worked, to have given in, for then the grief and the loneliness would have engulf
ed her, and she would have had nothing in her life at all. She might no longer have Cornelius to temper her excesses, but she had his legacy, the House of Farrell, its creation and its success a bright, brilliant memorial to everything she and he had done together.
Wonderful that you have your children so close to you, people said, and she would smile politely and say yes, indeed, but what they could give her was as nothing compared to her work. What they felt for her could hardly be described as love; she had been a distracted, neglectful mother, over-critical of the dull little girl that had been Caroline and the timid little boy that had been Bertie. And besides, like all children of a successful marriage, they remained outsiders, intruders even, on two people who would have been just as happy without them, however much they might deny it. Whereas the House of Farrell, that was worthy of the brilliant pair of them; it did not fail them, it was their pride and their joy.
They had been stars in the social scene at the beginning, she and Cornelius, acknowledged as clever, daring, inventive, their creative instincts rewarded by financial success; they had had money, style, grace. Their circle, embracing both the establishment and the new, creative aristocracy of the late fifties and early sixties, was fun, colourful, interesting. They had a house in Knightsbridge, a weekend flat in one of the regency terraces in Hove; they moved from one to the other, and to Paris and New York, in pursuit of further inspiration and success, leaving their children with nannies and boarding schools.
It had been an absurdly early marriage – Cornelius twenty-three, she twenty-one, but from the outset, a success; and creating the House of Farrell had been a natural, almost inevitable result of that.
It had been Cornelius’s idea in the first place. Fascinated by the new sciences of marketing and advertising and with a fortune inherited from his banker godfather and an undemanding job in the same bank, he was an entrepreneur in need of a project. Fate provided it, in the form of an eccentric ex-actress mother who mixed her own face creams because she didn’t like those on the market, and spent an hour every morning and another every night transforming a nondescript face into a thing of great beauty, and he had suggested to the lovely girl he had married, also well versed in the wonders make up could work, that they might invest the legacy into a cosmetic business they could run together.