For a long time Harry and Jenny Darton doubted whether or not they should hang the sign "Antique's" over the front door of their attractive building. Were the inhabitants of Bridbury ready for antiques? Perhaps they would just consider it to be “old rubbish” and prefer to buy new things? In the big city, yes, there you could sell old porcelain, gobelin tapestries, and discarded period paintings instantly over the counter, but here?

Finally Jenny took the plunge and decided to sell modern articles in the shop alongside antique. But the initial results were definitely not a disappointment. During the very first week Jenny sold a mahogany table to Mary Sutton of restaurant "Eating Time" and a corner cupboard with transparent glass to Caroline Croydon for her sweetshop "Sweetie. Harry recently sold another French barometer dating from 1725 to Jonathan Bexley, the bank manager and a beautiful cabinet to the dentist, John Andrew Waynes. But her biggest success was when she sold a huge fruitwood bookshelf from Balmoral Castle, inclusive ladder, to Jaimy and Lucy Barnet of the local bookshop.

In return Jenny regularly buys a book from Lucy from her own cupboard.  A large Dutch engraving of a sea battle dating from 1586, delivered by Harry Darton has recently been hung in the entrance hall of mayor George Redbridge’s town hall. The Darton’s only worry is their son Timothy who is a bit of a fast liver. He is one of the few inhabitants of Bridbury who has landed behind police officer William Enfield’s bars, due to “public disorder”. But they still hope that Timothy will grow up some day and take over the business and the love of antiques.