Hi Lez, I took the image into Portrait Pro (just as a personal challenge as you don't permit editing) and was able to soften the expression just a little to take it out of the "Does that thing shoot real bullets?" league. I narrowed her eyes by a tiny fraction, softened the expression in the mouth and lips and then took it into my trusty old Photoshop CS6. In CS6 I cloned out the 2nd catchlight (lower left) in each eye and I think it worked. I didn't mess with anything else because, as others have said, you got the photography end absolutely spot on. I won't share without specific permission but it's doable and took about 10 to 15 minutes max.
I understand about difficult clients. I had one similar who still stands out in my memory. A pretty young lady but despite my best efforts I could not get her to relax.