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 passed 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 assuming 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.’
‘Oh…!’ Phyllida was not used to being thwarted in her own world. She was limited by her birth, her secrets and the need, endlessly, to make money, but within those constraints, she was in control. This infuriating man who just sat there patiently waiting for her to finish fulminating and give in to him was completely outside her experience.