Sonya lowers the volume

Quiet is underrated, says Sonya, and ten minutes in her company proves the point. She has the rare ability to lower the temperature of a hectic day without saying much at all. Years of ballet have given her an athletic 162 cm frame and a posture that never slumps; her long dark brown hair is straight and smooth, her hazel eyes calm and kind. She dresses in understated evening elegance: midnight-blue crepe, a cashmere wrap as fine as smoke, low heels, a single strand of pearls.

Thoughtful and warm, she listens more than she speaks, and when she does speak it is worth hearing. Meditation is part of her morning, a habit she describes without any preaching, and ballet remains her great love; she still takes class twice a week and goes to the Royal Opera House whenever a new production opens. She collects fragrance, too, small bottles from independent perfumers, and her descriptions of them, amber, fig leaf, cold iris, are so vivid you almost catch the notes yourself. In her early thirties, she speaks gentle, considered English.

In Mayfair she likes an early dinner at Tamarind on Queen Street, a calm, elegant Indian dining room where the spices are layered as carefully as a perfume. She will ask for the dishes the kitchen is proudest of and describe each aroma as it arrives. Afterwards, if there is time, she suggests a slow loop around Berkeley Square beneath the old plane trees, which she swears settles the mind better than any cocktail.

Sonya lives in Knightsbridge, a few minutes from Park Lane, and prefers early evenings, from about five until ten. Every length of booking is on the rates page; Bella will match it to her diary.