And when she forced her attention away from his mouth his eyes were lying in wait to tease and entice her. There was a wicked promise in them and it was tempting to speculate what would happen to a woman who called that promise in. Of course, that could never be herself. She was here on serious business. But some lucky woman…

She pulled herself together.

‘You have a lovely home,’ she said, sounding slightly forced.

‘Yes, it’s beautiful,’ he agreed. ‘But I’m not sure it could be called a home. I have many dwellings, but I spend so little time in each one that-’ He finished with a shrug.

‘None of them is home?’ Fran asked.

He gave a rueful smile. ‘I feel like a small boy saying this, but wherever my mother is feels like my home. In her presence there is warmth and graciousness, and a sense of calm benevolence. You would like her very much.’

‘I’m sure I should. She sounds like a great lady. Does she live in Kamar all the time?’

‘Mostly. Sometimes she travels, but she doesn’t care for flying. And-’ he looked a little self-conscious ‘-she doesn’t approve of some of my pleasures, so-’

‘You mean like going to the casino?’ Fran supplied, laughing.

‘And other small indulgences,’ he said outrageously. ‘But mostly the casino. She says a man should have better things to do with his time.’

‘She’s right,’ Fran said immediately.

‘But how could I have spent this evening better than in meeting you?’

‘You’re not going to start telling me it was fate again, are you?’

‘Have you suddenly become a cynic? What about all that Arabian folklore you used to enjoy? Didn’t it teach you to believe in magic?’

‘Well,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘it taught me to want to believe in magic, and that’s almost the same thing. Sometimes, when life was very dull, I’d dream that a flying carpet was going to come through the window and carry me off to the land where genies came out of lamps and magicians cast their spells in clouds of coloured smoke.’