Chapter 14 - The Most Expensive Antique Was Repaired
The astronomical clock looked impossible to save after Camilla knocked it down.
It wasn’t.
Conservators spent months stabilizing the internal mechanism, repairing the carved base, replacing only what could not be preserved, and documenting every intervention.
The restoration cost was substantial.
Insurance covered most of it after the investigation concluded the accident was accidental rather than intentional damage.
The owner chose not to sue an eight-year-old child.
That helped Camilla sleep again.
Nearly sixteen months after the auction, we were invited to see the restored clock privately.
Camilla stood several feet away from it.
Hands behind her back.
Very deliberately.
I smiled.
“You can get closer.”
“Nope.”
“The pedestal is secured now.”
“Nope.”
The conservator laughed.
Then showed us the repaired section of the base.
A faint seam remained.
Camilla stared at it.
“You can still see where it broke.”
“Yes,” the conservator said.
“Is that bad?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“It’s part of the object’s history now.”
Camilla looked at me.
May you like
Something about that answer stayed with both of us.
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