Part 5 (1/2)

'That sounds decidedly dangerous and I will have to take evasive action,' he said. 'I have been stalked by tigers before now, so hopefully my skills will enable me to escape.'

'You will have to succ.u.mb sooner or later, Clere,' Fransham observed with a grin. 'I used to be just as skittish myself, but now I am beginning to see the benefits of matrimony.' He did not glance at Miss Millington as he spoke, but she coloured faintly.

'I expect I shall, too,' Ashe agreed. 'But I prefer to make my own choices and not to be hunted down by terrifying matrons in search of a son-in-law with a t.i.tle and all his own teeth.'

'We must stop teasing poor Lord Clere,' Phyllida said amid the general laughter. 'He has come to London expecting stately banquets and refined conversation and finds himself at a small dinner party with frivolous friends.'

'But charming frivolous friends,' Ashe corrected her. He caught her eye as he spoke and smiled, thinking how warm her brown eyes were and how delightful she looked when she was happy.

She became serious as he looked at her. Her eyes widened and he had a sudden fantasy of her lying beneath him, looking up with fathomless eyes and parted lips. Oh, yes. Spread on a coverlet of green silk, gasping her pleasure as I lick every inch of those pale curves. The thought of her skin against his, ivory against gold, was an erotic provocation all of its own. Why had he been undecided for a moment about his intentions towards her?

His thoughts must have heated his gaze, for Phyllida blushed and turned to the maid. 'That will be all for the moment, Jane. I will ring when I need you.'

She spoke to Lord Hardinge on her left about an opera he had missed the previous week and conversation turned to the theatre and the arts. Ashe joined in the ebb and flow of talk, but mainly listened, absorbing information with the same focus he had employed when on a mission for his great-uncle.

Anything about this new world was useful, but he found himself listening more and more to Phyllida as the meal progressed. She was an excellent hostess, keeping conversation flowing and drawing everyone in with the skill of an accomplished matron. Her own contributions revealed an interest in cultural matters that seemed far reaching and well informed. One would not be bored after the lovemaking. She would not be a mistress from whose bed one hurried.

There, he had thought the word. Mistress. A long-term relations.h.i.+p, not the brief liaisons he had been making do with since Reshmi died. And this time he was forewarned not to become emotionally involved, nor to let his partner in pa.s.sion become so, either. Reshmi had been his first, his only, love and that had hit him hard. Now he was more experienced, was on his guard against that kind of devastation to his heart, and it would not happen again.

'They say there is a consignment of remarkable Chinese porcelain just arrived,' Sir Peter said, cutting into his musings. 'But whether that is rumour or fact I cannot establish. Perhaps it will be offered at auction, but as far as I can tell none of the big houses are handling it.'

'It does exist and is very fine, but the s.h.i.+ppers are intending to sell direct to dealers from the warehouse,' Phyllida said. Everyone looked at her with polite astonishment. 'That is... I heard someone discussing it at the Trenshaws' musicale the other day and complaining that by the time the public sees the items they will have increased in price considerably.'

'Just for a moment I had visions of you inspecting the goods in some ghastly warehouse down at the docks, Phyllida dear,' Lady Blackett said with a chuckle. 'I know how much you like fine porcelain, but wouldn't that be a scandal!' She laughed and everyone joined in. Ashe thought Phyllida's amus.e.m.e.nt was forced and her brother's smile was tight, but no one else seemed to notice.

'And dangerous,' Ashe said. 'From what little I saw of the docks area, it is no place for a lady.'

This time the look Phyllida directed at him aroused no fantasies of lovemaking. She looked as if she wished she had a hatpin to apply to his anatomy. 'Some unfortunate women must carry on their business in that area, Lord Clere. If it is dangerous for them, it is because they are at the mercy of the men who lurk there and who try to take advantage of them.'

'Yes, but working women,' Sir Peter said. 'Many of them no better than...' He seemed to recollect that he was in mixed company and not making a speech in the House. 'Not refined ladies, is what I meant. What a scandal it would be, to find a gentlewoman in such an area.'

There was a general murmur of agreement before, to Ashe's surprise, Miss Millington said, 'I believe many ladies support charities in the East End of London and go there themselves to give succour, even to the unfortunate women to whom Sir Peter referred.'

That turned the conversation to a discussion of charities and the best way to support the deserving poor. Ashe aroused considerable interest by describing the sadhus who, clad only in a sacred thread and a thick smearing of ashes, lived on the offerings of pa.s.sers-by.

'Naked? But surely ladies cannot avoid encountering such men? Is it not a public outrage?' Lady Hardinge asked.

'In India nudity may be considered shocking, erotic, aesthetic, practical or religious, depending entirely on context,' Ashe explained. 'My mother or sister would think nothing of dropping a few coins into the begging bowl of a naked sadhu, but they would be shocked to find a member of the household walking about without a s.h.i.+rt, for example.' They still looked dubious. 'Have the ladies here never viewed naked Cla.s.sical statuary and admired it for its aesthetic qualities?'

That made them laugh in rueful acknowledgement that he had scored a point. 'But cold white marble is quite another thing from real live flesh,' Phyllida objected. 'If I came upon the figures from Lord Elgin's marbles walking in Green Park, coloured as in life, as I believe they once were, I would be shocked.' Ashe caught her glance at Miss Millington who was obviously suppressing a smile at some secret joke they shared.

The unmarried ladies were not as uncurious about men as they were supposed to be, he concluded. Ashe imagined Phyllida viewing the erotic carvings that decorated some of the rooms in the palace at Kalatwah. She would be shy, perhaps, but also intrigued and aroused. He found the thought more than arousing himself, his intent hardening along with his body.

There was that amused, appreciative look in Lord Clere's eyes that made her want to blush. Phyllida felt as though he could read her mind and see her memory of telling Harriet Millington that she wished his tight evening breeches would split. Provoking man, he was able to flirt without a word spoken.

She caught the attention of her female guests. 'Ladies, shall we?'

When they reached the drawing room the door was hardly closed behind them when Lucy Blackett exclaimed, 'What an attractive man! So exotic with those golden good looks. You are a dark horse, Cousin Phyllida, keeping him a secret.'

'Not at all,' she protested. 'He is Gregory's friend. He met him at Tattersalls the other day and invited him. I feel sorry for the whole family, don't you? It must be so strange finding themselves in England for the first time with such a vast, neglected inheritance and everything so strange.'

The other women looked disappointed that she was not admitting to an ulterior motive in inviting Ashe, but Phyllida turned the conversation and they were discussing Harriet's plans to visit the Lake District with her parents in the summer when the men rejoined them.

The rest of the evening pa.s.sed pleasantly. At length Jane came in to announce that the carriages had arrived and there was a general move to depart before the three equipages completely jammed the narrow street.

Harriet's maid came up from the kitchen and Gregory offered to escort Miss Millington home. 'I can get a hackney back,' he explained, running down the steps, hat and gloves in hand.

'Am I right in a.s.suming your brother wishes to fix his interest with Miss Millington?'

Phyllida turned to find Ashe right behind her in the hallway. 'I hope so,' she admitted. Jane was holding his hat, cane and gloves, but he made no move to take them. 'I like her very much.'

'I wonder if I could have a word with you before I go, Miss Hurst?'

Phyllida realised she was alone in the house except for the servants. She should ask Jane to sit in the corner of the room, or ring for Anna, but it seemed priggish to insist on the proprieties and no one was there to wag a disapproving finger at her.

She went back into the drawing room and noticed that he left the door open behind him which was, she supposed, a relief. Ashe Herriard seemed to take all the air out of the room. Or perhaps it was just that there was none left in her lungs. She sat down and gestured to a chair, but he remained standing.

'You are going to that warehouse by yourself to buy some of the porcelain, aren't you?' he asked without preamble.

She was, of course. If it was half as good as they were saying, she would buy all she could afford and turn a healthy profit on it. But she had no intention of revealing her plans to anyone, let alone autocratic gentlemen. 'I have not decided, Lord Clere.'

'Oh, yes, you have, I saw it in your face. But you must not go, it is not safe in that area.'

Phyllida got to her feet in a swirl of rose-pink muslin. 'Lord Clere, you have no right to dictate my actions.'

'A gentleman is duty-bound to protect a lady.'

'I have a brother, sir.'

'He seems either unwilling, or unable, to control your activities.' Ashe leaned against a chair, apparently unshaken by either her tone or her frowns.

'As we are alone, my lord, allow me to remind you that I have a business to run. I am twenty-six years old and I do not need controlling. But I do need stock of the highest quality and this porcelain promises to be just that.'

'I will buy it on your behalf.'

She sat down again with an undignified thump. 'You? What do you know of porcelain?'

'At least as much as you, I would wager.' Now she was sitting again he dropped into the chair he had been leaning against with considerably more elegance than she had just displayed. 'I was brought up in one of the great trading cities of the East with a grandfather high in the East India Company and I have spent the last three years in the court of an immensely wealthy prince with a taste for collecting.'

'I need to make my own judgement. I know what will sell in my shop, what my limits on price are.'

'Then I will come with you.' He was pleasant, he smiled, he might as well have been made of granite.

'And buy the best pieces from under my nose?'

'Now I know about the collection it will not take me long to discover where it is. I do not need to accompany you, I could cream off the best items tomorrow.'