‘This won’t take long,’ he said, pushing the door further open and walking into the room.

‘Hey, I didn’t invite you in,’ she protested.

‘I didn’t invite you either, but here you are,’ he responded.

‘And I’m just going out to dinner,’ she said.

At this point a gentleman would have at least offered her a drink. Rinaldo’s only response was a shrug.

‘Then I’ll be brief,’ he said.

‘Please do,’ she replied crisply.

‘First, I suppose I owe you an apology for my behaviour this afternoon.’

She gaped at him, totally taken aback. The last thing she had expected from this man was an apology.

‘After you left I spoke to Isidoro who confirmed that you’d been about to depart of your own accord, and that you too had used the word unseemly.’ He took a deep breath and spoke as though the words were jerked from him. ‘I apologise for doubting your truthfulness.’

‘I appreciate that,’ she said, ‘all the more because it half killed you to say it.’

‘I’m not known for my social skills,’ he agreed wryly.

‘I’d never have guessed.’

‘You think to disconcert me with irony? Don’t bother.’

She nodded.

‘You’re right. You don’t care enough about other people’s opinions to mind whether you have social skills or not,’ she said gravely. ‘I’m sure rudeness has its advantages, besides being less trouble.’

This time there was no doubt that she got to him. He eyed her narrowly. Alex looked straight back at him.

‘May I remind you that I only came to that reception on your brother’s invitation?’ she said. ‘It wasn’t my idea, and I certainly wouldn’t have come if I’d known what would happen. Perhaps it’s I who owe you an apology for my clumsiness.’

They regarded each other warily, neither of them in the least mollified by the other’s conciliatory words.