“Good evening, Nolan,” Cerisa greeted him with all her usual cool poise. She was dressed in a silver gown and appeared to have been sprinkled with diamonds; she glittered coldly and with infinite self-possession. “Melina told me she thought you might be here tonight.”

Nolan made the introductions and was gratified when Cerisa held out her hand. She disliked casual contact, even on social occasions. But Leesa, of course, was her equal in bloodline and breeding, and that was something Cerisa would respect.

“Your Nolan is quite a gifted scientist,” Cerisa said to Leesa. “I have often been impressed by his ability to think through a problem and come up with an unusual solution.”

Leesa looked unreasonably pleased, but she did not, as Nolan half-expected, demand “Really?” Instead, she said, “I know so little about his work that it’s hard for me to understand how talented he is.”

“Oh, he’s talented,” Cerisa said. “But now that I’ve met you, I can see why he’s determined to leave my offices for your estates when the time comes. You’re quite a lovely young lady.”

Another smile from Leesa, this one a little coy. She was used to being admired by older women; she was quite a favorite with her mother’s friends. “Thank you,” she said tranquilly. “But I’d rather hear praise of Nolan.”

Cerisa actually laughed, something Nolan did not remember ever witnessing before. “Well, he’s invented two drugs that between them have saved about two thousand lives,” she said. “That’s an impressive statistic to take home to your mother’s social circle.”

“And it will mean so much more to them because it’s come from you,” Leesa said. “They’ve all heard of you, of course. My mother mentions your name every time the subject of Nolan’s work comes up.”

Cerisa smiled, a somewhat wolfish expression on that haughty face. Nolan hoped suddenly that Melina had not subjected Julitta to a similar interview; she would not fare nearly so well as Leesa. “Well, you can tell them that my opinion of Nolan is the highest,” she said. “And that I will be sorry to see him go.”

Even Nolan could tell that comment signalled the end of the audience, so he murmured indistinguishable words of farewell and ushered Leesa away. She was positively glowing, which annoyed him just a little; he knew she was thinking how delighted her mother would be with Cerisa’s comments, and it irritated him that Cerisa’s words carried more weight than his own.

“Well, I can see you enjoyed that,” he said, a slight edge to his voice, but she missed it.

“Oh, she’s an old hag—worse than my grandmother!—but I was glad to hear her say such nice things about you,” Leesa said merrily. “Weren’t you?”

“She’s never said anything like them to my face, so I suppose I suspect her motives,” he said dryly.