“Of course, my lord.” Mr. Melton stood straighter. “A deep tub will be taken up to her room at once and filled with the hottest water.”
Glynnis sighed. She might as well add to her bill. “I also need the services of your laundress for my garments that ended up in the saltwater.”
“I’ll take them now, Miss Talbot.”
Feeling a little humiliated, she handed over her linen shift and stays.
The man glanced at her soggy bonnet atop her head, but obviously, he couldn’t give that to the laundress, nor her single glove. When the concierge surveyed what he held, his cheeks flushed.
“I’m not certain your ... um ... that is ... undergarments, I mean the cotton shift, certainly, but your ... um ... corset ... it has wood in it, has it not?”
Her cheeks must be scarlet. To think she was discussing her stays with a man while another listened.
“That is a corded corset without boning or wood. Except for the busk. Thank you for reminding me.”
She reached over and withdrew the slender wooden dowel from its sheath nestled between the bust cups. Her busk seemed to be as solid as ever, undamaged by its short time in the ocean.
Both men were staring at her.
“I believe it to be made from juniper,” she said into the uncomfortable silence.
Mr. Melton cleared his throat. “I shall get these laundered at once.” He paused to look at her salty dripping gown. “And your bathing dress, miss?”
“No,” she told him without hesitation. “I shall not pay to launder this, thank you. When it dries, I will return it to the dippers on the beach.”
“How will you dry it?” he asked, looking down at the puddles forming on the carpet around both her and Lord Hargrove’s feet. “There is nowhere in your room to hang a dripping garment. And we can’t have you dangling it out the window of the hotel.”
“I wouldn’t dream of doing so,” she declared as a shiver wracked her entire body.
Despite the man’s promise, Glynnis felt no closer to getting her hot bath and feared she never would, not if she had to wait outside for the bathing dress to dry.
“I’ll escort the lady to her room,” Hargrove volunteered, obviously recognizing her distress, “and she can change out of the dress and give it to me. I’ll return it to the dippers myself.”
“Would you?” she asked, and thought she had never been fonder of anyone in her life. “That’s settled then. Please order the bath, Mr. Melton, without delay.”
“Yes, miss,” but his gaze followed them up the stairs, concerned either with damp spots on the hotel floor or with the inn’s reputation over a single man going with her to her room.
“He’s thinking wicked thoughts,” she said over her shoulder.
“Well, he can stop thinking them. I will stay in the hallway while you undress. And do hurry. The salt is starting to dry inside my suit and is making me itchy.”
So grateful for his assistance, she didn’t even smile at the notion of salt in his breeches while she led him to her room.
“I will be quick. I promise.” And she opened her door and closed it behind her.
With an odd feeling, knowing Hargrove was directly on the other side, she removed the bathing dress.
Donning her dressing gown, Glynnis had nothing to put the felt monstrosity into, so she simply opened the door and handed the sandy, salty, sodden mess to him.
“I very much appreciate your taking care of this,” she told him, feeling daring standing there barefooted with nothing on but a whisper of cream-colored satin tied at her waist.
Naturally, his gaze took in her appearance head to toe, but he’d seen so much of her earlier, she hardly thought it mattered.
Except the light of interest in his eyes told her otherwise. His appreciation of her was evident.
When he didn’t speak, she couldn’t help wondering if he would kiss her again. Given her scantily clad body and the proximity of privacy behind her in the shape of a soft clean bed, she wondered where it would lead.
His dark blue eyes held hers, and she almost convinced herself in the space of a heartbeat that he was asking permission. For precisely what, she was unsure, yet she found herself debating whether she was prepared to give a rake unfettered access to her person when there was no one to force his hand to marriage.
