51�Թ�

"She was just lying on the the settee. It was a very empty room. Her life was completely impoverished," she said.

“Lots of people can relate to it. You’re trying to find a penny. You’re literally looking down your settee to see if you can find a quid.”

She recalls waking up lying on a settee in a completely different room, with double vision and her whole body shaking.

They sat sideways on the settee because of their bustles, waiting for visitors who never came.

She sold flatware, stemware and linens, setting the pieces out on antique furniture — marble topped butcher tables, rattan settees, Art Deco bars — which, because customers asked, she began to sell too.