‘I’ll be back in a moment,’ she said.

‘Just a minute. You haven’t told me who you are.’

She glanced back, regarding him with a curious smile. ‘No, I haven’t, have I? Perhaps I thought there would be no need. I’ll see you later.’

Briefly she raised her champagne glass to him before hurrying away.

‘You’re a sly devil,’ said a deep voice behind him.

A large bearded man stood there and with pleasure Lysandros recognised an old ally.

‘Georgios,’ he exclaimed. ‘I might have known you’d be where there was the best food.’

‘The best food, the best wine, the best women. Well, you’ve found that for yourself.’ He indicated the young woman’s retreating figure.

‘She’s charming,’ Lysandros said with a slight reserve. He didn’t choose to discuss her.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll back off. I don’t aspire to Estelle Radnor’s daughter.’

Lysandros tensed. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I don’t blame you for wanting to keep her to yourself. She’s a peach.’

‘You said Estelle Radnor’s daughter.’

‘Didn’t she tell you who she was?’

‘No,’ Lysandros said, tight-lipped. ‘She didn’t.’

He moved away in Petra’s direction, appalled at the trap into which he’d fallen so easily. His comments about her mother had left him at a disadvantage, something not to be tolerated. She could have warned him and she hadn’t, which meant she was laughing at him.

And most men would have been beguiled by her merriment, her way of looking askance, as though that was how she saw the whole world, slightly lopsided, and all the more fun for that.

Fun. He barely knew the word, but something told him she knew it, loved it, even judged by it. And she was doubtless judging him now. His face hardened.

It was too late to catch her; she’d reached the top table where the bride and groom would sit. Now there would be no chance for a while.