Cheek! she thought. He was appraising her like a potential investment, to see if it was worth his time and trouble.

Helena was as free from conceit as an accredited beauty could well be, but this was insulting. After the remarks she’d overheard it was practically a declaration of war.

But she had also declared war, although he didn’t know it. Now it was time to discover the lie of the land.

‘It’s just a pity that the tours of this place are so short,’ she sighed. ‘No time to see all I wanted to.’

‘Why don’t I show you a little more?’ he asked easily.

‘That would be delightful.’

Envious looks followed her, the woman who’d captured the most attractive man in the room in two and a half minutes flat. As they departed a voice floated behind them.

‘We could all do that if we had her legs.’

She gave a soft choke of laughter, and he smiled.

‘I guess you’re used to it,’ he murmured.

He didn’t add, ‘A woman who looks like you.’ He didn’t have to.

The trip was fascinating. He was an excellent guide with a gift for explaining things simply but thoroughly.

‘How do they get that wonderful ruby-red?’ she marvelled.

‘They use a gold solution as a colouring agent,’ he told her.

Another marvel was the row of furnaces, three of them. The first contained the molten glass into which the tip of the blowpipe was dipped. When the glass had been worked on and cooled a little it was reheated in the second furnace through a hole in the door, known as the Glory Hole. This happened again and again, keeping the glass up to the ideal temperature for moulding. When the perfect shape had been achieved it went into the third furnace to be cooled slowly.

‘I’m afraid you may find it uncomfortably hot in here,’ Salvatore observed.