Part 7 (1/2)

She was too busy thinking about the failure of Sophie's subterfuge to pay attention to the rest of what he had said, and only as she looked at him and saw his intent expression did she do so.

'I was going to join you for afternoon tea,' he continued. 'Which reminds me - the Rosetti family owe you an icecream. Poor Sophie thought it would fool me more if she pretended to eat yours!'

Erica's lips twitched. Though sorry that Sophie had not succeeded in fooling her uncle, she was nonetheless amused by the way he was reacting to it.

'Please don't bother getting me another icecream. It's better for my figure if I don't eat one.'

'Not at all. You are too slender. A few kilos would improve you.'

'And more expensive clothes too, no doubt!'

He looked completely unrepentant. 'I am glad that you take note of what I say. It augurs well for the future.'

Deliberately she refrained from asking him what he meant, though from the way he continued to watch her she knew he was waiting for her to do so. She sipped her coffee. If he was hoping to embarra.s.s her by flirting with her he would have to do better than this. She might be innocent from his viewpoint, but she was not so devoid of social graces that she would allow herself to be flummoxed by such heavy-handed flattery.

'Why was your niece afraid to let you see her with Mr. Gould?' she asked. 'Don't you like young men with beards?'

'It is his att.i.tude to life - not his clothes - that bothers me.'

'What does he do?'

'Nothing. That is the trouble. He has an engineering degree, but according to Sophie he is more interested in meditation. He has been in India for three years and is on his way back to England. Unhappily he decided to stop off in Venice - which is how they met.'

'I take it you don't approve of their friends.h.i.+p?'

'Would you - if you were me?'

She pondered the question. 'Not if I were you,' she said finally.

His nostrils flared. 'Explain that.'

'I have a less rigid upbringing than you, Conte Rosetti. I am able to make allowances for different points of view.'

'Are you suggesting I am narrow-minded?'

'Yes. You are also obstinate and self-opinionated.'

His eyes glittered like points of steel. 'All this is based on one single meeting with me?'

'This is the third time we have met.'

'I do not count that time in the shop. We began on the wrong feet.'

Wrong foot,' she corrected, glad to find he was not faultless in everything.

'Foot, feet, what is the difference! We are talking now of important things. I am disappointed that you should think me narrow-minded. I consider myself to be exactly the opposite!'

'Naturally.' Her tone was dry. 'That's why you object to your niece's friend!'

'She wishes to marry him,' he said abruptly. 'Can you see them being happy?'

In all fairness she had to concede to some reservations, but was quick to add that she was reluctant to give a firm view without talking to the young man.

'He may be quite different from the way he looks,' she finished. 'Anyway, it's better to go to India and study religion than to wear leather suits and tear up the motorway on a motorbike!'

'Both are extremes of behaviour that I detest.'

'Didn't you do anything foolish when you were a boy?'

He rubbed one long finger across his chin. 'I had too many family responsibilities to have the time. There was some talk about my entering the priesthood...' He smiled, his eyes crinkling. 'That would have been worse than foolish - it would have been a disaster!'

Annoyance seared through her. 'Do continental men always talk about s.e.x?'

'I cannot answer for other men,' he replied. Tor myself, the answer is no.'

'Then why-'

'With you it is different. I feel I can say whatever comes into my mind. It is hard for me to realize that we barely know each other. I seem to have thought of nothing except you since we have met.'

She was stunned into silence, and taking advantage of it, he put his hand on her arm. His fingers were warm on her skin and it required all her will power not to pull her hand away. He's only flirting with me, she reminded herself. Whatever he says to the contrary, he's only playing a game.

'Do not let us waste time talking about Sophie and her young man,' he continued. 'I will deal with him in my own way. I wish to talk about you instead. Will you have dinner with me tonight?'

Happiness flooded through her, but as swiftly as it arose, so it ebbed away. He was only asking her out because he had seen her this afternoon. Had they not met he might never have contacted her again.

'I can't go out with you,' she said stiffly. 'I am busy.'

'What are you doing? Where are you going?'

Unprepared for the catechism, she could not lie, and her silence gave him his answer. His expression hardened.

'Why are you pretending, Erica?'

It was the first time he had spoken her name and she wondered if he was aware of it.

'Why?' he demanded again. 'I insist that you tell me.'

Do I have to have a reason?'

'Certainly. You are not an irrational child. If you refuse to dine with me, it is because you do not wish to do so. I have a right to know what I have done to offend you.'

He looked so angry and determined that she stared at him helplessly, wondering how to appease him. Yet why should she even bother to appease him? She meant nothing in his life and he meant nothing in hers. It was ridiculous for either of them to pretend. She tilted her head and faced him.

'If you hadn't b.u.mped into me - if Sophie hadn't used me - you wouldn't have asked me out.'

'So that's it! You think I only asked you to dine with me because of my niece?' His fingers tightened so painfully on her arm that she winced. But he appeared not to notice it, so intent was he on what he was saying. 'I have invited you to have dinner with me because I want to be with you. I would like to be with you now if I did not already have another engagement.'

'Please don't let me keep you,' she said coldly.

'What's the matter with you? Why are you angry?'