Belatedly, when clean, dry, and seated in his own dining room enjoying a meal while reading the newspaper, James thought of Miss Talbot.Had anyone notified her of the change in plans?
Doubtful. Knowing Prinny, he’d sent his message out to a few key guests, expecting them to disseminate the information. The rest would turn up at the Castle Hotel to be sorely disappointed. Since Miss Talbot expected him at her hotel to escort her, she would be saved that embarrassment as long as she stayed put. Yet he hated to think of her getting dressed and waiting for him. He wouldn’t like to be considered the type of clod who left a woman in the lurch.
Finishing his repast, James hurried back upstairs and let his valet ready him for nothing more than walking a few hundred yards to Miss Talbot’s hotel and telling her their evening was postponed. Then he might head to the house of that flash mollisher with the luscious curves and enjoy a quick roll.What was her name?
When he knocked on Miss Talbot’s door a little after eight, he’d had the uncomfortable experience of the nighttime porter giving him a sideways glance when he went toward the staircase. Since this was most definitely not a brothel, he supposed single men coming and going was unusual if they weren’t registered guests.
Miss Talbot opened the door, and James could honestly say she took his breath away. Dressed to the nines, as his mother called it when she was at her finest. Nine what, he had no idea, but he knew a beautiful woman when he saw one.
Wearing a deep mauve gown with a lacy gray bodice and little cap sleeves that left her slender arms on display, he wouldn’t mind starting at her wrist and kissing his way up to her delicate shoulder.
“Your fiancé is missing out on a vision of loveliness tonight,” he declared.
“Thank you. And you cut a bosh figure, my lord.” She turned from him. “Let me get my shawl and my very last reticule. It’s already after eight, and I wouldn’t want to be too late in case the champagne has been poured.”
Then James recalled why he was there.
“I am afraid there is no champagne tonight. Prinny has called off the assembly.”
She blinked up at him, looking immediately disappointed, and he realized he didn’t want to leave her so finely dressed and go elsewhere — not even to tup a welcoming whore.
After all they were both ready for a night out, and the storm had passed and gone somewhere farther inland to the east. It would be a shame to waste the fair weather.
That was the only possible reason he said his next words.
“Why don’t we go to the theatre?”
Immediately, her expression brightened. Before he could even consider retracting his invitation, she stepped out of her room and pulled the door closed behind her. Then she took hold of his arm and looked up at him.
“I feel so much better than when you left me earlier.” She squeezed against his arm, causing her breasts to nearly escape the top of her décolletage. “And I’m exceedingly pleased to go to the theatre. Will there be food there? Or will you take me to supper afterward?”
He almost laughed. There was that hearty appetite.
“Sometime this evening, we shall find nourishment,” he assured her. Even though he had just eaten, he wouldn’t deprive Miss Talbot lest she faint again.
They made their way down the stairs, and James made sure to nod at the porter so the judgmental lout would recall how quickly he’d vacated the premises with the lady, not lingering for even a kiss at her door.
While strolling along Ship Street, he told her the little he knew from Prinny.
“I hope he holds the assembly tomorrow night,” she said. “I have yet to go inside the Castle Hotel.”
“And if you don’t see it soon, you won’t see it at all,” James told her.
“Whatever do you mean?
“I believe it is the end for the Castle.”
They turned right onto North Street. At the end of it, one could make out the distinctive roof of the Castle Tavern, as he thought of it, though it was, indeed, a hotel and public rooms, too.
“It looks to be in good state of repair from the outside,” she said.
“Oh, it is,” he assured her. “A confirmed rumor has it that Prinny is buying the Castle to enlarge his already stupendous home.”
“You don’t sound pleased.”
Best if he didn’t speak ill of the prince even in front of a woman of no influence. Despite not spending much time in Brighton, James thought it to be a damnable shame for the Regent to snatch up the well-liked business if he meant only to demolish it.
“The passing of an era,” he quipped.
