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emotions.
    He pulled a Paisley silk handkerchief from his navy blazer and silently handed it to her.
    “Damn, I’ve lost a contact lens,” Miranda gulped.
    “Can you see it on my skirt? Or has it fallen to the fl oorT “Keep still. I can see it on your lap.”
    As Adam leaned over her, Miranda inhaled his faint musky scent. Adam moved in a miasma of sexuality, which he seemed not to notice although it was as definite as warm breath. She thought he smelled a bit like a well groomed horse. Close up, his odour reminded her of expensive leather. This subtle erotic scent contradicted Adam’s careful lawyer’s demeanour, his understated Savile Row suits and shirts, his horned-rimmed glasses.
    Miranda knew that Adam had a devastating effect on women. She had first observed it on a shared family holiday in St-Tropez, twelve years ago. Miranda, only twelve at the time, had noticed that even the grumpy old French housekeeper happily danced attendance on twenty-three-year-old Miranda knew why Adam had never made a serious pass her or her sisters. To have done so would have been 11 Unprofessional and might have adversely affected his job.
    “Additionally, all three sisters, while acknowledging his ctiveness, had grown up thinking of Adam as a young -wWttra He in turn had always regarded them as children, to their indignation at the time.
    ta Now, as Adam carefully placed the con ct lens in the nrpahn of Miranda’s hand, she reminded herself that he was ”’,jrot her uncle. Then she pushed this thought to the back of her head and told herself
    jokin y to k her hands off the gI eep staff. Turning away from Adam to reinsert her lens, Miranda also reminded herself that at the moment she hadn’t time for a lover. In this respect she was unusual; the Pill was now readily available and every liberated girl was on it, whether or not her mother knew. Increasingly a woman was expected to jump into bed after the first date something that didn’t suit Miranda, who felt only anxiety when in bed with a man whom she didn’t know well and therefore didn’t trust. At this point in her young life, there had been only one man who made her feel secure.
    Adam said, “Even if it distresses you, there’s something I feel we should discuss before reaching Saracen; it’s your grandmother’s will. She hasn’t yet made one, but we have discussed the matter.” Clearly worried, Adam was silent for a moment, then continued in a low voice: “For me, this is a difficult dilemma: do I stick to my standards of professional discretion, or do I break my client’s confidence in order to do what’s best for her and those she loves? Does the end justify the means? Would Elinor my client, my friend and benefactor allow it? That’s what, I can’t decide. Because I know that Elinor would want whatever is most advantageous to all her granddaughters.”
    “I’d advise you not to break your client’s confidence,” Miranda said, “but be sensible and tell me what the hell this is about.”
    “Without breaking Elinor’s confidence, I can tell you that although she intends to leave the bulk of her fortune to you three sisters, various methods of controlling the money have been considered.”
    “What do you mean, Adam, controlling the money?” Whenever it came to finances, Miranda was instinctively suspicious.
    “She’s anxious that the money not be … frittered away. There are various possible ways of protecting it. She doesn’t the French legal requirement to share the property equally among all descendants. As you know, Elinor lost touch with her family many years ago, and she doesn’t want her brother’s children if he ever had any to suddenly appear, claim money, make trouble. But as Elinor is a resident of France, this will happen unless she makes … alternative arrangements.”
    “What sort of arrangement sT Miranda demanded.
    “She’s had a few rather … dramatic ideas, as you would expect. She doesh’t like the British system,