Before breakfast on Saturday, Valerie, Lorne and Chloe took Chianti on a meandering walk through Saint James Park and Green Park, enjoying the rare clear February morning. On their way back along Buckingham Gate, Lorne pointed to the left. "They're about two hundred yards along there, at the corner of Buckingham Place."

"Hmmm, Cleave and Company." Valerie shrugged. "Not heard of them."

"Few have since they're almost entirely bespoke. I've used them for several years now as a source of unique corporate gifts. They've been granted Royal Warrants by the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and among their clients are Heads of State, plus government, military and civil organisations around the world for official regalia and so on."

Chloe chuckled as she looked up into Lorne's eyes "They should be good enough to design Mummy's ring, then, shouldn't they, Daddy?"

"I would think so, Sweetheart. We'll find out at ten thirty."

As they arrived back home, Valerie asked, "You keep all your diamonds here? Aren't you afraid of burglary?"

"It's safer than the commercial vaults." He shrugged. "Look at Hatton Garden last Easter. Two hundred million taken from safe deposit boxes and almost none of it yet recovered."

"Yeah, most banks have discontinued offering safe deposit boxes. I've moved mine to Metrosafe."

"I've buried mine in the garden."

"You've what?" Valerie giggled. "As Chloe would say, you're joshing, aren't you?"

"No, not joshing." He unlocked the door and ushered the women into the foyer. "We'll take a look while breakfast is being prepared."

Chloe took off her coat and stood with her arms raised in front of Lorne. "I would like to have you help me hang this, please, Daddy."

After the lift, hug and cuddle, he set her down and led the way along the hall. "Behind this panel is a lift which descends to the vault. During the height of the Cold War, this house was owned by an American who believed his government's claptrap, and he was obsessed with surviving an inevitable nuclear war. He built a fallout shelter under the garden."

Lorne twisted two pieces of decorative moulding and opened the panel to reveal a small closet, and he motioned inside. "Shall we?" Once they had entered, he pointed to the sides. "Stand clear of the walls; this is an open car." He pushed the Down button, and they began their descent.

"There wouldn't be power to run this after a nuclear attack, would there, Daddy? How did he plan to get out?"

Lorne pointed behind Chloe. "The ladder up the side. That's why the open design of the car. Also, that crank. It fits into this slot, and the lift can be operated by hand."

When they arrived at the bottom, Valerie nodded toward the vault door. "Seems you've upgraded the fallout shelter.

"A lot. I had it lined with high-tech panels on all six sides, and I had a new door fitted, all certified as Thirteen EX CD."

What's that?"

"It's the highest security rating in the European standard. Goes from zero to thirteen, but most safes and vaults are seven and lower."

"So, is this like a real bank vault, Daddy?"

"Only a few of the more modern bank vaults are as secure as this."

"Oh!" Chloe pursed her lips and nodded. "May we go in?"

"That's why we're here, Sweetheart, to fetch your mother's stone." He entered a series of numbers on a keypad, which popped open a small door at face level. "The alarm override is in here." After he had disabled the alarm with eye and thumb scans, he twirled a dial through a combination of numbers, then he did the same to a second dial before he turned a large spoked wheel to withdraw the lock bolts and open the door.

"Wow! That's complex."

"Makes no sense having a bomb-proof vault if the door is simple to open, Sweetheart."

"No, I guess not." She pointed to the stacks lining the far wall. "Are those all gold?"

"Most of them, but against the right wall, those silver-coloured ones are platinum and palladium."

Valerie had watched all this in awe as her mind spun. He's so easy with this. So easy with us. Like we're part of him. She trembled. Oh, God! I love that. Love how ...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Lorne's gentle arm around her waist and his soft voice. "You're off somewhere."

"Yeah, trying to get my mind around all this. Around you. Around us. I'm ..." She shook her head, then rose to her toes to kiss him. He took the kiss deeper, and she deepened it further, losing herself in the passion. Finally, Chloe's insistent exaggerated throat clearing brought Valerie back to a more appropriate behaviour, and their lips parted.

"Now, that I have your attention again, Daddy." Chloe giggled and gave a big grin. "How heavy are these bricks?" She lifted the end of one an inch or so and let it fall with a ringing clink.

"Those are called standard bars, Sweetheart. Four hundred ounces, so about thirty-three pounds each."

Chloe shook her head and giggled. "Gotcha, Daddy. Your math is off. That would be twenty-five pounds."

"Yes, if they were potatoes, but precious metals are weighed in Troy ounces, not avoirdupois, so twelve ounces to the pound, not sixteen."

She nodded. "I knew that, but I forgot." Then turning to the far wall, she asked, "So how many of these have you?"

"Chloe! That's not an appropriate question." Valerie winced as she looked at Lorne. I'd like to know myself, but ...

"I'm not sure, exactly, but we can look at the ledger." He kissed Valerie's cheek, then led her across the room to the built-in desk and opened a drawer. "The details of every purchase and sale are recorded here, and I keep a running total."

Valerie examined the meticulous rows and columns while Lorne turned to the last page of entries. "Surely, you keep track of all this with a computer."

"Yes, for sure, but I also like the aesthetics of the hand-written ledger. It somehow seems more appropriate."

Valerie chuckled. "That why the images of Bob Cratchit and Ebenezer Scrooge on the walls? Maintaining the counting-house ledgers?"

Lorne ran his fingers through his hair as he nodded toward the framed drawings. "I use those to remind myself not to forget others, but it seems it's not worked. Look at all I've hoarded. Crazy, isn't it? What's it for?"

"Gold was an astute investment, Lorne. Tell me what else would have quadrupled in such a short time? I sold three-quarters of mine four years ago when it was over a thousand an ounce, and I used the proceeds to expand my property development projects."

"Yeah, I moved a third of mine out in 2011 and 2012 while it was at the top. This is what's left, waiting for the next rise."

"Hmmm. Yeah, recoup your initial cost, meaning this is all free." She waved her hand toward the stacked ingots. "How many did you have?"

"Mummy! That's not an appropriate question." Chloe covered her mouth to hide her snicker.

Valerie blushed as Lorne spoke. "There, now you two are even. I have a thing about simple numbers, so I set my investment at one hundred thousand ounces."

"That's two hundred and fifty of these, isn't it?" Chloe asked as she lifted the end of the bar and dropped it again. "I love the ringing sound."

Lorne returned the ledger to its drawer, then he selected one of the black velvet boxes from the shelves, opened it and took out the emerald-cut stone. "Always been my favourite." He dropped the diamond into a small leather bag and pulled the drawstrings to close it. "Let's head up and have breakfast."