Читать книгу The Beauty Within - Marguerite Kaye - Страница 8

London—March 1828

The clock in the reception hall downstairs chimed noon. Having spent much of the morning working and re-working a piece which transcribed the basics of her theory on the mathematics of beauty into a form which could be easily understood by the readers of The Kaleidoscope journal, Cressie now stared unhappily at her reflection in the tall looking-glass. Had she allowed sufficient time to summon her maid, perhaps her unruly curls would bear less resemblance to a bird’s nest, but it was too late now. The morning gown of brown-printed cotton patterned with cream and burnt-orange flashes and trimmed with navy satin ribbon was one of her favourites. The sleeves, contrary to the current fashion, were only slightly puffed, and came down almost to her knuckles, hiding her ink-stained fingers from sight. The skirts were, also contrary to fashion, not quite bell-shaped, and the hem was trimmed with only one flounce. Sombre and serious was the effect she was aiming for. Cressie pulled a face. Washed-out, plain and rather ragged around the edges was what she had achieved. ‘As usual,’ she muttered, turning away from her reflection with a shrug.

Making her way downstairs, she braced herself for the encounter ahead. Whatever the reason behind her father’s request to speak with her, she could be certain it was not going to be a pleasant experience. ‘Be a man,’ Cressie said to herself with a defiant swish of her skirts as she tapped on the door of the book room. Curtsying briefly, she took a seat in front of the imposing walnut desk. ‘Father.’

Lord Henry Armstrong, still handsome at fifty-five years of age, nodded curtly. ‘Ah, Cressida, there you are. I had a letter from your stepmother this morning. You may congratulate me. Sir Gilbert Mountjoy has confirmed that she is increasing.’

‘Again!’ Bella had already produced four boys in eight years, there was surely no need for yet more—and in any event, Cressie had supposed her father to be well past that sort of thing. She screwed up her nose. Not that she wanted to contemplate her father and Bella and that sort of thing. She caught his eye and attempted to rearrange her expression into something more congratulatory. ‘Another half-sibling. How very—agreeable. A sister would make a most pleasant change, would it not?’

Lord Armstrong drummed his fingers on his blotter and glared at his daughter. ‘I would hope Bella would have the good sense to produce me another son. Daughters have their uses but it is sons who provide the wherewithal to secure the family’s position in society.’

He made his children sound like chess pieces in some arrogant game, Cressie thought bitterly, though she chose not to voice it. She knew her father well enough, and this was a mere preamble. If he wanted to speak to her it invariably meant he wanted her to do something for him. Daughters have their uses right enough!

‘To the matter in hand,’ Lord Armstrong said, bestowing on Cressie the sort of benevolent smile that had averted a hundred diplomatic incidents and placated a myriad of courtiers and officials across Europe. The effect on his daughter was rather the opposite. Whatever he was about to say, she would not like. ‘Your stepmother has not been in her customary rude health. The good Sir Gilbert has confined her to bed. It is most inconvenient, for with Bella indisposed, it means Cordelia’s coming-out will have to be postponed.’

Cressie’s rather stiff smile faded. ‘Oh no! Cordelia will be most upset, she has been counting the days. Cannot my Aunt Sophia take Bella’s place for the Season?’

‘Your aunt is a fine woman and has been an enormous support to me over the years, but she is not as young as she was. If only it were just a question of Cordelia. I have no doubt that your sister will go off quickly, for she’s a little beauty. I have Barchester in mind for her, you must know, he has excellent connections. However, it is not simply a question of Cordelia, is it? There is your own unmarried state to consider. I had intended that Bella would act as escort for you both this Season. You cannot prevaricate indefinitely, Cressida.’

The veteran diplomat looked meaningfully at his daughter, who wondered rebelliously if her father had any idea of what he’d be up against, trying to coerce Cordelia into wedding a man whose full, gleaming set of teeth owed their existence in his mouth to their removal from the gums of one of his tenants, if rumour was to be believed. ‘If Lord Barchester is your ambition for Cordelia,’ Cressie said, keeping her eyes fixed on her clasped hands, ‘then it is to be hoped that he is more enamoured with her than he was with myself.’

‘Hmm.’ Lord Armstrong drummed his fingers again. ‘That, Cressida, is an excellent point.’

‘It is?’ Cressie said warily. She was not used to praise of any sort from her father.

‘Indeed. You are twenty-eight now.’

‘Twenty-six, actually.’

‘No matter. The point is you have scared the devil out of every eligible man I’ve put your way, and the fact is that I intend to put some of them your sister’s way. They’ll not want you standing beside her like a spectre when I do. As I mentioned earlier, your Aunt Sophia is too advanced in years to adequately present two gals in one Season, so it seems I must choose. Cordelia will likely fly off the shelf. I think my ambitions for you will have to be temporarily put into abeyance. No, do not, I pray, feign disappointment, daughter,’ Lord Armstrong added caustically. ‘No crocodile tears, I beg you.’

Cressie’s clasped hands curled into fists. Over the years, it had become her determined policy never to let her father see how easily he could bruise her feelings. That he still managed to do so was one of the things which vexed her most. She understood him very well yet still, no matter how predictable were his barbs, they invariably hurt. She had long ceased thinking that he would ever understand her, far less value her, but somehow she felt compelled to keep trying. Why was it so difficult to fit her emotions to her understanding! She sighed. Because he was her father and she loved him, she supposed. Though she found it very hard to like him.

Lord Armstrong frowned down at the letter from his spouse. ‘Do not, either, delude yourself that you are entirely off the hook. I have another pressing problem that you can assist me with. Apparently that damned governess of the boys has fled her post. James put a pig’s bladder filled with water in her bed, and the woman left without giving any notice.’ The diplomat gave a bark of laughter. ‘Chip off the old block, young James. We used to get up to the same jape at Harrow when I was a stripling.’

‘James,’ Cressie said feelingly, ‘is not high-spirited but utterly spoilt. What’s more, where James leads Harry follows.’ She might have known that this would turn out to be about her father’s precious sons. She loved her halfbrothers well enough, even if they were thoroughly spoilt, but her father’s preoccupation with them to the exclusion of everything, and everyone, else, grated.

‘The nub of the matter is that my wife is clearly in no position to secure a suitable new governess post-haste, and I myself, it goes without saying, have many weighty matters of state to attend to. Wellington relies on me completely, you know.’ It was an illusion, Cressie knew, but she could swear that her father visibly puffed up as he made this pronouncement. ‘However, my boys’ education must not be interrupted,’ he continued, ‘I have great plans for all of them. I have pondered on this, and it seems to me that the solution is obvious.’

‘It is?’ Cressie said doubtfully.

‘It certainly is to me. You, Cressida, will be governess to my sons. That way, Cordelia will be able to come out this Season as planned. Placing you in the position of governess removes you most expediently from Cordelia’s arena, and spares you from being a burden by making use of that brain you are so proud of. My sons’ education will not be jeopardised. With a bit of luck we may even have Cordelia married by the autumn. And there is the added bonus of having you on hand at Killellan Manor while Bella is indisposed, thus providing you with the opportunity to forge a more amenable relationship with your stepmother than hitherto.’ Lord Armstrong beamed at his daughter. ‘If I say so myself, I have devised a most elegant and satisfactory solution to a potentially difficult situation. Which, one supposes, is why Wellington values my diplomatic skills so highly.’

Cressie’s thoughts were, however, far from diplomatic. Presented with what she had no doubt was a fait accompli, her instinct was to find some way of sabotaging her father’s carefully laid plans. But even as she opened her mouth to protest, it came to her that perhaps she could turn the situation to her advantage.

‘You wish me to act as governess?’ Her brain worked feverishly. Her brothers were taxing, but if she could manage to teach James and Harry the principles of geometry using the primer she had written, it might provide her publishers with the evidence they needed to commit to a print date. Freyworth and Son had initially been most enthusiastic when she first visited their offices, and most reassuring on the subject of discretion. The firm had, Mr Freyworth told her, several lady writers on their books who wished, for various reasons, to remain anonymous. Surely such practical proof as she would obtain from successfully instructing her brothers would persuade him that her book really was a viable commercial proposition? Selling her primer would be the first step to financial independence, which was the first step towards freedom. And who knew, if she managed his precious boys better than any of the other governesses, she might finally gain her father’s approbation. Although that, Cressie conceded, was unlikely.

Even more importantly, accepting his proposal meant that she would not have to spend a seventh Season mouldering away on the shelf while her father schemed and plotted an alliance. So far, he had stopped short of taking out an advertisement on the front page of the Morning Post along with the intimations of patents pending, but who knew what he might do if he became desperate enough. One daughter, without looks but of excellent lineage and diplomatic connections, offered to ambitious man with acceptable pedigree and political aspirations. Tory preferred, but Whig considered. No tradesmen or time wasters.

Now she thought of it, it was a distinct possibility for, as Lord Armstrong never tired of pointing out, she possessed neither the poise nor beauty of any of her other sisters. That she was the clever one was no consolation whatsoever to Cressie, when she thought of how incredibly foolishly she had behaved during that fiasco of her third Season, by surrendering her one marketable asset to Giles Peyton. That she could have been so desperate—Cressie shuddered. Even now, the memory was mortifying. It had been a disaster in every possible way save one—her reputation, if not her hymen, was intact, for her erstwhile lover and intended husband had hastily taken up a commission shortly afterwards, leaving her in sole possession of the unpalatable facts.

In more recent Seasons, her father’s attempts to marry her off had smacked of desperation, but he had never once flagged in his manipulations. He thought he was manipulating her now, but if she kept her cards close to her chest, she might just manage to turn the tables. Cressie felt a small glow inside her. Whether it was self-satisfaction or a feeling of empowerment she wasn’t sure, but it was a feeling she liked. ‘Very well, Father, I will do as you ask and act as governess to the boys.’

She kept her voice carefully restrained, for to hint that she wished to do as he said would be a major tactical error. It seemed she had hit just the right note of reluctant compliance, for Lord Armstrong nodded brusquely. ‘Of course they will require a proper male tutor before they go to Harrow, but in the meantime the rudiments of mathematics, Latin and Greek—I believe I can rely on you for those.’

‘Rudiments!’

Lord Armstrong, seeing that his remark had hit home, smiled. ‘I am aware, Cressida, that you consider your erudition rather above the requirements of my sons. It is my fault. I have been an over-indulgent parent,’ he said in all sincerity. ‘I should have put an end to these studies of yours long ago. I see they have given you a most inflated view of your own intellect. It is no wonder that you have failed to bring any man up to scratch.’

Was it true? Was she conceited?

‘Next year,’ Lord Armstrong continued inexorably, ‘when Cordelia is off my hands, I shall expect you to accept the first offer of marriage I arrange for you. It is your duty, and I expect you to honour it. Do I make myself clear?’

It had always been made abundantly clear to her that, as a daughter, as a mere female, her purpose was to serve, but her father had never before laid it out so clearly and unequivocally.

‘Cressida, I asked you a question. Do I make myself clear?’

She hesitated, torn between bitter hurt and impotent fury. Silently, she pledged that she would use this year to find a way, any way save telling him the awful, shameful truth of her dalliance with Giles, of placing herself firmly on the shelf and just as importantly, of establishing herself as an independent and wholly un-dependent female. Cressie glared at her father. ‘You make yourself abundantly clear.’

‘Excellent,’ Lord Armstrong replied with infuriating calm. ‘Now, to other matters. Ah—’ he broke off as a tap on the study door heralded the arrival of his butler ‘—that will be him now.’

‘Signor di Matteo awaits his lordship’s pleasure,’ the butler intoned.

‘The portrait-painter fellow,’ Lord Armstrong casually informed his daughter, as if this should be the most obvious thing in the world. ‘You shall relieve your stepmother of that burden also, Cressida.’

He had obviously walked in on some sort of altercation, for the atmosphere in the study fairly crackled with tension as Giovanni entered the room in the portly wake of Lord Armstrong’s butler. The manservant, either oblivious to the strained mood or, more likely in the way of English servants, trained to give that impression, announced him and departed, leaving Giovanni alone with the two warring factions. One of them was obviously Lord Armstrong, his client. The other, a female, whose face was lost under a mass of unruly curls, stood with her arms crossed defiantly over her bosom. He could almost taste the pent-up frustration simmering away beneath the surface, could guess too, from the way she veiled her eyes, the vulnerability she was trying to hide. Such a mastery of her emotions was intriguing, for it required, as Giovanni could attest, a lifetime’s practice. Whoever she was, she was not your typical simpering English rose.

Giovanni made his perfunctory bow, just low enough and no more, for it was one of the advantages of his success that he no longer had to feign deference. As was his custom, his dress was austere, even severe. His frock coat with its high shawl collar and wide skirts would be the height of fashion were it any colour other than black. Similarly his high-buttoned waistcoat, his stirrupped trousers and highly polished square-toe shoes, all unrelieved black, making the neat ruffles of his pristine shirt and carefully tied cravat gleam an impossible white. It amused him to create an appearance in such stark contrast to the flamboyant and colourful persona his high-born sitters expected of a prestigious artist—and an Italian one at that. He looked as if he were in mourning. There were times, of late, when he felt that he was.

‘Signor de Matteo.’ Lord Armstrong sketched an even more shallow bow. ‘May I present my daughter, Lady Cressida.’

The glance she shot her father was a bitter dart. It was received with a small smile. Whatever had transpired between them was the latest in what Giovanni surmised had been a lifetime of such skirmishes. He made another bow, a little more sincerely this time. Looking into a pair of eyes the azure blue of the Mediterranean Sea in summer, he saw they were overly bright. ‘My lady.’

She did not curtsy, but offered her hand to shake, like a gentleman. ‘How do you do, signor.’ A firm clasp she had, though her nails were in an atrocious state, chewed to the quick, the skin bleeding around the edges. She had a pleasant voice, to his ear, the vowels clipped and precise. He had the impression of a fierce intelligence blazing from her eyes under that intense frown, though not beauty. Indeed, her dreadful gown, the way she rounded her posture, curling into herself as she sat down, made it clear that she cultivated plainness. But for all that—or perhaps because of that—he thought she had an interesting face.

Was she to be his subject? A pique of interest flared momentarily but no, the commission was for a portrait of children, and Lady Cressida was most definitely well past her girlhood. A pity, for he would have liked to try to capture the vitality behind the shimmering resentment. She was no empty-headed society beauty, nor appeared to have any aspirations to be depicted as such. He cursed the paradox which made the most interesting of subjects the least inclined to be painted, and the most beautiful subjects the ones he was least inclined to depict. Then he reminded himself that beauty was his business. A fact he was having to remind himself of rather too often.

‘Sit, sit.’ Lord Armstrong ushered him to a chair and resumed his own seat, surveying him shrewdly from behind the desk. ‘I wish you to paint a portrait of my boys. James is eight. Harry six. And the twins, George and Frederick, are five.’

‘Four, actually,’ the daughter intervened.

Her father waved away her comment. ‘Still in short coats, is the important thing. You’ll paint them together, as a group.’

It was, Giovanni noted, an instruction rather than a question. ‘And the mother too?’ he asked. ‘That is the usual …’

‘Lord, no. Bella’s not—no, no, I do not wish my wife depicted.’

‘What, then, of their sister?’ Giovanni asked, turning towards Lady Cressida.

‘Just the boys. I want you to capture their charms,’ his lordship said, looking pointedly at his daughter, whom he obviously considered to possess none.

Giovanni repressed a sigh. Another tedious depiction of cherubic children. Sons, but no daughter. The English aristocracy were no different from the Italian in their views in that regard. It was to be a pretty and idealistic portrait totally lacking in any truth, the licit products of Lord Armstrong’s loins displayed in the family gallery for posterity. His heart sank. ‘You wish me to show your sons as charming,’ he repeated fatalistically.

‘They are charming.’ Lord Armstrong frowned. ‘Proper manly boys, mind. I want you to show that too, nothing namby-pamby. Now, as to the composition …’

‘You may leave that decision with me.’ Forced to paint a vision far removed from reality he might be, but his fame had at least allowed him some element of control. As Giovanni had expected, his lordship looked put out. It was all so predictable. ‘You may have every confidence in my choice. I presume you have seen my work, my lord?’

‘Not seen as such, but I’ve heard excellent reports of it. I wouldn’t have summoned you here if I hadn’t.’

This was new. Across from him, he could see that it was news also to Lady Cressida, who looked appalled.

‘I fail to see how my being unfamiliar with your work is at all relevant.’ Lord Armstrong frowned heavily at his daughter. ‘As a diplomat, I have to trust the word of others constantly. If there’s a problem in Egypt, or Lisbon, or Madrid, I can’t be expected to hotfoot it over there in person. I ask myself, who is the best man for the job, and then I get him to deal with it. It’s the same with this portrait. I have taken soundings, sought expert advice. Signor di Matteo was consistently highly recommended—in point of fact,’ he said, turning to Giovanni, ‘I was told you were the best. Was I misinformed?’

‘Certainly, demand for my portraits far outstrips the rate at which I can produce them,’ Giovanni replied. Which was true, and ought to cause him a great deal more satisfaction than it did, even if it did not actually answer Lord Armstrong’s question. His success was such that he could command an extremely high premium for his portraits, even if that very success felt not like freedom but a prison of his own making. Another thing Giovanni was discovering recently, that success was a double-edged sword. Fame and fortune, while on the one hand securing his independence, had severely compromised his creativity. It was a price worth paying, he told himself every day. No matter that he felt his muse recede ever faster with every passing commission.

His newest patron, however, seemed quite satisfied with his response. To possess what others desired was sufficient for Lord Armstrong, as it was for most of his class.

His lordship got to his feet. ‘Then we are agreed.’ He held out his hand, and Giovanni stood too, taking it in a firm grip. ‘My secretary will handle the—er, commercial details. I look forward to seeing the finished product. I must make my excuses now, for I am expected at Apsley House. There is a chance I may have to accompany Wellington on his trip to St Petersburg. Inconvenient, but when one’s country calls, what can one do! I shall leave you in my daughter’s charge, signor. She will supervise her brothers during the sittings. Anything you need Cressida can provide, since Lady Armstrong, my wife, is currently indisposed.’

With only a curt nod in his daughter’s direction, Lord Armstrong hurried from the room, content that he had in one fell swoop neatly resolved all his domestic problems and could now concentrate his mind fully on the much more important and devilishly tricky matter of how best to address the issue of Greek independence without standing on either Turkish or Russian toes.

Left alone with the artist, Cressida surveyed him properly for the first time. She had been so absorbed in trying to maintain control of her temper that until now she had noted merely that Signor di Matteo’s dress was not at all like the peacock she expected, that he was younger than she had surmised from his reputation, and that his English was excellent. What struck her now with some force was that he was starkly and strikingly beautiful. Not merely handsome, but possessing such an ethereal magnetism and sense of physical perfection that she could almost question whether or not he was real.

Aware that she was staring, she took a mental inventory in an attempt to unscramble her reeling senses. High cheekbones and a high brow, the sleek line of his head outlined by the close-cropped cap of raven-black hair. His eyes were dark brown under heavy dark lids. It was a classically proportioned face, albeit vaguely saturnine. The planes of his cheeks were sharp, accentuated by the hollows below. He had a good nose. A near enough perfect nose, in fact. And his mouth—it was wasted on a man, that mouth. Full lips, top and bottom, deeply sensual, sculpted, and at the same time it curved up just enough to make him look as if he was on the verge of a smile, just enough to take the edge off his forbidding expression. Even without measuring the precise angles, Cressie could tell she was looking at the physical embodiment of perfect mathematical beauty. A face which would launch a thousand ships—or flutter a thousand female hearts more likely, she thought cynically. But it was also the epitome of her theory. And at that thought, her heart gave a little unaccustomed flutter.

She was being rude, though, judging from the way Signor di Matteo was returning her gaze. Haughty and at the same time wearily resigned, he was clearly accustomed to being stared at. No wonder, and even less of a surprise was his indifference to her, for he had painted some famous beauties. Unlike her father, Cressie had studied several examples of Signor di Matteo’s work in the course of her research for her treatise. Like the man himself, his paintings were perfectly proportioned and classically beautiful. Too perfect, almost. His subjects were portrayed flawlessly and flatteringly. There was, in the small number of portraits she had managed to view, a similarity in the way their faces conformed to an ideal, the result of which was undoubtedly a very accomplished likeness, but also moulded the individual features from a kind of template of beauty. Which was exactly the premise of the theory that Cressie had developed. Beauty could be reduced to a series of mathematical rules. It would be fascinating to see first-hand how Signor di Matteo, the famous artist, set about creating his works.

A famous artist who, Cressie now noted with deep embarrassment, was tapping his fingers impatiently on her father’s desk. She flushed. How rude he must think her. ‘I trust you have in mind a suitably flattering composition, signor. As you will no doubt have noticed, my father dotes on his sons.’

‘His charming boys.’

Was there just the lightest hint of irony in his voice? Could this artist actually be mocking his patron? ‘They are very good-looking,’ Cressie conceded, ‘but they are most certainly not charming. In fact, you should know that they have a particular liking for practical jokes. Their governess has recently left without notice as a result of one such, which is why I shall be taking her place, their reputation being—’

‘You!’

Cressie stiffened. ‘As I have already informed my father, I am perfectly capable of teaching the rudiments of mathematics.’

‘That is not what I meant. It is merely that the Season is almost upon us. I would have thought you would have had parties to attend—but forgive me, it is none of my business.’

‘I have already experienced several Seasons, signor, and have no wish to endure another. I am six-and-twenty, and quite beyond dances and parties. Not that I ever—but that is of no account.’

‘You have no wish to find a husband, then?’

The question was extremely impertinent, but the tone of his voice was not, and Cressie was, in any case, eager to vent her spleen now that the real object of her wrath had departed. ‘There are some women whom marriage does not suit. I have concluded I am one of them.’ Which was not quite a lie, but more like putting the truth through a prism. ‘Until I am at least thirty and saying my prayers, however, my father will not accept that. His gracious permission to excuse me this year is more to do with ensuring I do not intrude on my youngest sister’s chances of making an excellent match. Once she is safely betrothed, I am to be wheeled back on to the market. My role as governess is merely a temporary expedient.’

Her frankness had obviously perplexed him. It had taken her aback too. A small frown marred that perfect brow of his, and confusingly there was also a hint of upward tilt of that far too perfect mouth. Was he laughing at her? Cressie bristled. ‘It was not my intention to provide you with a source of amusement, signor.’

‘I am not amused, merely—interested. I have not before met a lady so determined to boast of her unmarried state and the fact that she understands more than the—er—the rudiments of mathematics.’

He was mocking her. ‘Well, now you have.’ Indignation and anger made Cressie indiscreet. ‘And I do understand considerably more than the rudiments, if you must know. In fact, I have published a number of articles on the subject, and even reviewed Mr Lardner’s book, Analytical Treatise on Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. I have also written a children’s geometry primer which a most respected publisher has shown an interest in printing, and I am currently writing a thesis on the mathematics of art.’

So there! Cressie folded her arms over her chest. She had not meant to blurt out quite so much. Having done so, she waited for Signor di Matteo to laugh, but instead he raised his brows and smiled, not a condescending smile, but rather as if he was surprised. His smile made her catch her breath, for it transformed his beauty from that of a haughty statue to something much more human.

‘So you are a published author.’

‘Under the pseudonym Penthiselea.’ Cressie had just betrayed yet another jealously guarded secret without meaning to. What was it about this man? He had her spilling her innermost thoughts like some babbling child.

‘Penthiselea. An Amazonian warrior famed for her wisdom. It is most—apt.’

‘Yes, yes, but I must urge you to discretion.

If my father knew …’ Cressie took yet another deep breath. ‘Signor, you must understand that in my position—that is to say— my father thinks that my facility for mathematics is detrimental to his ambition to marry me off, and I must confess that it is my own experience too, by and large. Men do not value intelligence in their wives.’

Signor di Matteo’s smile had a cynical twist to it now, his dark eyes seemed distant, turned in on some unpleasant memory. ‘Blood and beauty rule supreme, signorina,’ he said. ‘It is the way of the world.’

It was a stark little expression, which said more precisely than she ever could exactly what Cressie herself believed. Beauty was this man’s business, but she wondered what he knew of the burden of pedigree. She could not find a way of framing such a personal question without inviting offence.

He put an end to her attempts, with a question of his own. ‘If you are studying the relationship of mathematics to art, you must have read the definitive work by my fellow Italian. I refer to Pacioli, his De Divina Proportione?’

Pleased to discover that he was not the type of man to assume her sex prevented her from understanding such an erudite work, Cressie was at the same time distracted by how lovely the title of the book sounded when spoken by a native Italian. ‘You have read it?’ she asked foolishly, for he obviously had.

‘It is a standard text. You agree with what he says, that beauty can be described in the rules of symmetry?’

‘And proportion. These are surely the basic rules of any art?’

Signor di Matteo began to prowl restlessly about the room, frowning. ‘If painting was simply about getting angles and proportions right, then anyone could be an artist.’

‘How did you learn to paint so well?’ Cressie countered.

‘Study. Of the Old Masters. In the studios as apprentice to other painters. Practice.’

‘So it is a skill. A craft, with rules which can be learned. That is exactly my point.’

‘And my point is that art is not simply a craft.’ There was anger in his tone now.

‘I don’t understand what I’ve said to upset you, signor. I was paying you a compliment. The primary purpose of art is to adorn, is it not? And if it is to adorn, it must be beautiful. And if it is beautiful, then it must conform to what we know is beautiful—to the mathematical rules of symmetry and proportion which we see in nature, as your countryman Signor Fibonacci has shown us. To be reckoned the best, not only must you have mastered the technical skills of the draughtsman, but you must obviously have the firmest grasp of these underlying rules.’

‘So I paint by rote, that is what you are saying?’

‘I am saying that you are a master of the rules of nature.’

‘Yet nature has created you, my lady, and you hardly conform to those rules. By your process of deduction, you cannot then consider yourself beautiful.’

The cruelty of his words was like a slap in the face. She had been so caught up in propounding her theory that she had unwittingly insulted him, and his response, to turn her own plainness against her, was much more painful than it ought to be. The light of intellectual conviction died from her eyes, and Cressie tumbled back down into harsh reality. Signor di Matteo possessed the kind of looks which made women cast caution to the winds, though most likely the caution they cast was physical rather than intellectual. ‘I am perfectly well aware, signor, that I am not beautiful.’

‘There is beauty in everything if you know how, and where, to look.’

He was standing too close to her. She was acutely aware of his brooding physical presence. Cressie got to her feet, intending to push him out of the way, but he caught hold of her arm. His fingers were long, tanned and quite free of paint, she noted absently. Her head barely reached the broad sweep of his shoulders. This close, there was no mistaking the strength which lurked underneath that lithe exterior. Being so near to him made her breathing erratic. It was embarrassment which was making her hot. Every propriety must be offended. ‘What do you think you’re doing? Unhand me at once.’

He ignored her, instead tilting her chin up and forcing her to meet his piercing gaze. She could escape quite easily, and yet it did not occur to her. ‘It is true,’ he said softly, ‘that your nose is not perfectly straight and so spoils the symmetry of your profile.’

Cressie glowered. ‘I am perfectly aware of that.’

‘And your eyes. They are too wide-spaced, and so not in the proportion to your mouth which Pacioli requires.’

One long finger traced the line he mentioned. His own eyes had a rim of gold at the edges. The lashes were black and thick. His touch was doing strange things to her insides. It made her jittery. Nervous. Was he flirting with her? Definitely not. He was merely punishing her for her unintended insult. ‘And my ears are out of alignment with my nose, the ratio between my chin and my forehead is wrong,’ Cressie said, with an insouciance she most certainly did not feel. ‘As for my mouth …’

‘As for your mouth …’

Signor di Matteo trailed his finger along the length of her bottom lip. She felt the most absurd urge to taste him. He growled something in Italian. His fingers splayed out over her jaw. He bent his head towards her. He was going to kiss her.

Cressie’s heart thudded. He really was going to kiss her. The muscles in her calves tensed in preparation for flight, but she didn’t move. His fingers slid along her jaw to tangle in her hair. She watched, urging herself to escape, but at the same time another part of her brain was enthralled, mesmerised, by that perfectly symmetrical face. Let him, she thought. Let him kiss me, if he dares!

His lips hovered a fraction over hers, just long enough for her to have a premonition of melting, a premonition of what it would be like to cede, to unleash whatever it was he kept restrained. Just long enough for Cressie to come to her senses.

She yanked herself free. ‘How dare you!’ It sounded very unconvincing, even to herself. She was struggling to breathe, praying that the heat which flooded her cheeks, which was surely mortification, was not too apparent. The nerve of him! He was outrageously attractive and he obviously knew it. Also, he was Italian. Everyone knew that Italian men were quite unable to control their passions. Obviously, it was not such a cliché as she had thought.

‘To return to your point, signor, I concede that my mouth is too wide to be considered beautiful,’ Cressie said, relieved to hear that her voice sounded almost composed.

‘Beauty, Lady Cressida, is not exclusively about symmetry. Your mouth is very beautiful, in my humble opinion.’

Giovanni di Matteo did not look the least abashed. ‘You ought not to have kissed me,’ Cressie said.

‘I did not kiss you. And you ought not to have spoken so scathingly of my work, especially since you have never seen it.’

‘Do not assume that I am so ignorant as my father. I have studied it, and I did not speak scathingly! I merely pointed out that you—that painting—that any art—’

‘Can be reduced to a set of principles and rules. I was listening.’ But even as he curled his lip, Giovanni had a horrible suspicion that this wholly unorthodox female had somehow managed to get to the root of his dissatisfaction. In the early days, when he painted for the simple pleasure of creating something unique, he had channelled that tangible connection between canvas and brush and palette and blood and skin and bone, painting from the heart and not the head. It had earned him nothing but mockery from the so-called experts. Naïve. Emotional. Lacking discipline and finesse. The words were branded on his heart. He learned to hone his craft, eradicate all emotion from his work. To his eye it rendered it soulless, but it proved immensely popular. The experts acclaimed it, the titled and influential commissioned it. He chose not to disillusion any of them. Giovanni made his bow. ‘Much as I have enjoyed our discussion, Lady Cressida, I must go and continue with the more prosaic task of capturing the likeness of my current client. I bid you good day.’

He took her hand, raising it to his lips. As he kissed her fingertips, the spark of awareness took him by surprise. Judging by her shocked expression, he was not the only one affected by it.