smiled as though the moment had never happened.
‘I didn’t bring you out to criticise you,’ he said. ‘Perhaps I went a little too far.’
‘Just a little,’ she agreed. ‘I suppose to someone who operates in higher finance I must seem raving mad.’
‘Don’t let’s start on that again,’ he begged. ‘But let me look at the paperwork. I can tell you how to-that is, I may be able to suggest things you might find useful.’
‘Thank you,’ she said meekly.
He seemed about to reply, then caught the gleam in her eyes and thought better of it.
‘What exactly do you do?’ she asked.
‘I work for the Banco Orese Nationale. It’s a merchant bank, and I deal in stocks and shares, advising clients, research into market trends.’
‘Go on.’
He settled into an explanation that lasted well into the second course and Harriet listened with genuine interest.
‘Control is the answer,’ he said once. ‘If you’re not in control, somebody else is. So you must always be the one in control. If I’m trying to beat someone down on the price of stock I always make sure I have one piece of information more than he does. Then I’m in control. He may think he is but I know that I am.
‘You lost control of your shop, and now I’m in control-no, don’t get mad. I’m not getting at you. I’m just helping you to avoid predators like me in future.’
‘It’s OK, go on,’ she said, too fascinated to take up the cudgels again. She lacked the killer instinct to put really tough business practises into action, but she could follow complicated financial arguments.
When Marco checked himself and said, ‘Let me put that another way,’ she answered indignantly.
‘You don’t have to talk down to me. I understand every word.’
‘Well it’s a damned sight more than your sister can,’ he growled. ‘What is it?’
She had burst out laughing. Now she choked and said, ‘It was just the thought of you talking like this to Olympia, and her trying to look interested.’
He grinned. ‘Her eyes were glazed. Come to think of it, most women’s eyes glaze after the first minute.’
‘I should think so, too. If you take someone out on a date she doesn’t want to be lectured about market trends.’
‘You didn’t mind.’
‘That’s different. We’re business partners.’
‘So we are,’ he said after a moment. ‘And this is a board meeting.’
‘To consider the project so far, and work out
‘Well, as a start, can we agree that you’ll curb your purchasing instinct for a while? I’d like some input in future.’
‘You meant you want to stop me spending money?’
‘I was trying to put it politely. The blunt version is that from now on I hold the purse-strings.’
She’d been feeling more kindly towards him but that vanished abruptly. ‘What did you say?’ she asked with a sweetness that should have warned him.
‘No more buying.
‘Because you say so?’
‘Because I say so. I’m doing a complete overhaul of your financial arrangements and you do nothing more until I’ve got them on a sensible footing.’
‘Well, well! What happened to tact?’
‘To hell with tact. Tact will bankrupt you.’
‘Bankrupt
‘Nonsense,’ he said impatiently. ‘It isn’t in your power to bankrupt me.’
‘How interesting! I really must marry you for your money. Let’s announce the engagement at once.’
‘What a proposition. Irresistible!’
‘Well, let’s face it, you haven’t anything else to offer. You’re rude, overbearing, dictatorial, arrogant-’
‘Is that supposed to floor me? Think again. There’s nothing wrong with arrogance if you’re sure of your ground.’
‘And I’ll bet you’re always sure of your ground.’
‘Too right. It stops me being wrong-footed by people who don’t know what they’re talking about.’
‘Meaning me?’
‘Meaning anyone.’
‘Meaning the entire rest of the world, as far as you’re concerned. So now you’ll have exactly the wife you need, someone who’s seen the worst of you and will put up with it for the sake of your money.’
He grunted. ‘You think you’ve seen the worst of me?’
‘Well, I hope the rest isn’t even more unpleasant.’
‘It can be,’ he said, his eyes glinting. ‘It can be a lot more unpleasant. Think hard before taking me on.’
‘Fine! It’s all off. Here endeth the shortest engagement in history. The protagonists couldn’t stand each other.’
She dropped her voice on the last words, aware that she was attracting attention. Marco also looked around, before lowering his voice and leaning closer to her.
‘You’re being melodramatic,’ he said coldly. ‘There’s no need for all this emotionalism.’
She too leaned closer. ‘I’m not being emotional, I’m being coldly realistic. Why not? It works for you.’
‘You know nothing about me,’ he snapped. ‘All this because I want to organise your finances-’
‘You don’t want to “organise” my finances, you want to control them, and me. Where would it stop if I let you?’
‘
‘I think you’d better be.’
‘Harriet, I’m telling you, no more buying.’
‘And I’m telling you that you’ve made me a loan, not bought me body and soul. The shop is mine.’
‘For how long if I decided to turn really nasty?’
‘You? Nasty? Surely not! Listen to me, Marco, I own that shop, I run it, and I alone decide what it needs. If I see stock I want, I won’t ask you first, I’ll buy it and tell them to bill me.’
‘And if I insist on returning it?’
‘That’ll be hard because I’ll be back in England.’
‘Having smuggled an Etruscan necklace or two under your jacket, I suppose?’ he said with heavy irony.
‘It was a fake and I’ll do whatever is necessary,’ she said through gritted teeth.
They both looked up quickly to see a large, middle-aged man who’d approached their table while they were preoccupied. Marco rose to shake his hand, introducing him to Harriet as Alfredo Orese.
Orese, she thought. And he worked for the Banca Orese Nationale.
‘Unforgivable of me to interrupt two lovebirds,’ Alfredo said jovially, purloining a chair from another table and joining them. ‘Nice to see a young couple absorbed in each other, head to head, oblivious to the world, know what I mean?’
That must be how they had looked, Harriet realised, smiling noncommittally.
‘Not a word, Alfredo,’ Marco said amiably. ‘Let us keep our secrets.’
Alfredo put his finger over his lips and winked. He was somewhat the worse for wear, and seemed less like a banker than a man who liked a good time. He ordered a bottle of the best champagne, toasted them noisily, kissed Harriet’s cheek and finally, to their relief, took himself off.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Marco said, letting out his breath. ‘He’s a good fellow, means no harm.’
‘And likes playing at being a banker,’ she said wryly.
‘How did you know?’
‘The name. But I reckon the name is the only reason he’s there.’
He grinned. ‘Yes, but to his credit he understands that and doesn’t interfere. You ought to marry him. He’s got ten times what I have and he’d let you blow the lot without protest.’
