“I guess we should go inside,” Miss Talbot said.
“No rush,” James told her. “Undoubtedly, the prince’s cello will be brought out, but not yet, not until we’re all desperate to leave and Prinny is equally desperate to hold us captive.”
She cocked her head. “You lied to Lord Cumberry?”
“Indeed, I did. And now that he’s gone, I must warn you not to walk alone with him again. He will attempt to take liberties with your person. Moreover, he is the worst type of petticoat pensioner.”
The annoying woman showed no alarm, but simply blinked up at him.
“I beg your pardon.”
“Cumberry is a scroof, if you take my meaning. He’s a sponge who lives off the women he escorts around Town.”
“Ah,” she said. “If he’s the worst, is there abettertype of petticoat pensioner?” She offered an amused smile.
“I suppose not. I don’t approve of anyone using another person for their own gain.”
Her cheeks went a little pink, and it had been harsh of him to say, but he was still smarting over her deceptive behavior on the divan.
“I thank you for your concern once again,” Miss Talbot said, albeit a little stiffly. “First Leilton and now Cumberry. Is there anyone at this party who isn’t a scoundrel? Anyone safe for an honest woman to chat with or take a turn about the garden?” Then she glanced around.
James realized they were secluded behind a hedgerow. Undoubtedly, she was noticing the same thing.
Looking back at him, her lovely eyebrows rose.
“If there is no cello performance yet,” she asked, “what shall we do to occupy ourselves?”
And the chit offered him a wry smile. She was so frank with her stares, he felt a stirring he absolutely didn’t wish to feel, the same draw he’d perceived in London.
“We must rejoin the other guests at once, Miss Talbot.”
Damn him if he didn’t sound like a prude!The sooner her fiancé arrived and took her off his hands, the better.
She insisted on him taking her arm, so they strolled out from behind the hedge, linked together. A few people glanced their way. The only thing saving them was that Prinny’s parties often ended in scandalous behavior and an unchaperoned stroll around the grounds didn’t seem terribly egregious in comparison, even if a few imagined they had been up to no good.
Still, James would insist she behave better. He almost laughed at himself.How on earth could he do that?Moreover, he couldn’t imagine how she had become his responsibility.
“I shall leave you here,” he said, abruptly disentangling her from the crook of his arm. Her hand gripped his coat sleeve tightly for a moment, then released him. She wandered toward one of the smaller groups of guests which included a few lords and ladies whom he knew, and he felt a little sorry for Miss Talbot.
Shaking it off, having done his duty, he went back inside. But a few minutes later, out of the corner of his eye, he observed her reenter the music room. Suddenly, the pleasant distraction of a well-known Cyprian who’d come down from her infamous perch in London to offer her services to the Prince Regent’s friends faded into the background. She was still talking, but her voice faded.
Miss Talbot glanced at him, then looked away, taking in the room, and quick as a whip, she traversed it and left.
“If you’ll excuse me,” James said to the rouge-cheeked beauty with her feminine assets on display in the sheerest of gowns. He might have a go at thoseassetslater if no one else claimed her first.
Following in Miss Talbot’s footsteps, leaving the music room behind, he realized she’d already passed through the gorgeous new Nash gallery and was somewhere else in the Pavilion. Unable to tamp down his curiosity, he went after her.
Where was the minx? And why in hell was she strolling alone?
