After all, that was the only reason to let a man kiss her, wasn’t it?
Suddenly she heard footsteps on the stairs, and Hargrove stepped back when the desired bathtub came into view, carried by a man with his sleeves rolled up and his eyes bulging under his burden. Over his shoulder was an oilskin.
A good-sized tub, indeed!Glynnis was grateful she would be able to submerge to her shoulders. She moved out of the way so the hotel employee could deposit it in the middle of her bed chamber. The man was followed by two women, struggling under the weight of a bucket in each of their hands, and the water was plainly steaming.
“I’ll leave you to it, Miss Talbot,” Hargrove said now the moment was lost. “Before the water loses any measure of heat.”
Had she wasted an opportunity?They could have been caught in a passionate embrace by the hotel staff. Looking at the sweating man and the red-faced women, Glynnis doubted any of the three would have been prepared to demand Hargrove behave honorably. More likely, they would have simply ignored the inappropriate behavior the way good employees pretended not to see so very many infractions.
“More water is coming, miss,” the man said, disappearing quickly back down the stairs while the serving girls emptied their buckets into the tub.
“I will collect you at eight for the Castle Hotel assembly,” he promised.
“Thank you.”
***
WHAT WAS HE THINKING?James had lingered at Miss Talbot’s door and would have tried to kiss her again if the bathtub hadn’t arrived.
He lounged in a deep tub in his own bathroom at his house, and tried not to picture her naked and slippery down the street.Impossible!She was all he could think of after having had his hands on her bare skin once that day.
Knowing she had a fiancé and had been a ruthless husband-hunter should be enough of a deterrence. Yet she wouldn’t be the worst wife in the world. She had a lovely face, a luscious figure, and a quick wit. Not to mention a hearty appetite.
That thought made him chuckle to himself.
Miss Talbot probably also had a robust dowry, being a viscount’s only daughter, although he’d heard the son was something of a nightmare. Regardless, if James were interested in marrying, he could imagine her in the role of Lady Hargrove — except he would never know if she’d had a particular interest in him over any other jackanape.
He recalled the man at his club in London and the other one in Lady Sullivan’s billiards room. Both had been treated to Miss Talbot’s wiles. It was clear she’d had a singular plan for being compromised, and cared not a whit who did it.
Sighing, he decided he should let her go to her Welsh fiancé and hope again the man turned up quickly before James did something stupid, like bed the chit.
But those nipples! And her lips! And her eyes!
He sank under the water to soak his head and stop himself from musing upon her.
A knock at his door was a welcome interruption The house had come with a staff, who were performing adequately, although he missed his own butler.
“Yes,” he called out to Mr. Sparks.
“An urgent message for you, my lord, from the Prince Regent.”
James sneered. Even in his tub, he wasn’t safe from Prinny’s tyranny.
“Come in.”
The door opened and Mr. Sparks entered, keeping his eyes averted from the tub, even as James sat up sloshing water onto the tiled floor. Shaking dry one hand, he took the missive from the silver tray, and the butler retreated. The note was brief:
Not feeling sparkish.
Canceled the Castle until tomorrow.
He stared at the squiggly mess that was Prinny’s signature.
Canceled the Castle?
He hoped word had been sent to all the other establishments offering evening entertainment for some of them closed on nights when the Regent was holding a large event elsewhere. They ought to be given the chance to reopen.
Quite shoddy of Prinny to do something so last minute. But that was the prerogative of royalty, James supposed. Before sinking down into the bath once again, he dropped the letter over the side onto the floor, unmindful of how the ink ran as soon as it encountered his splashed bathwater.
