Banished to Brighton by Sydney Jane Baily

Chapter Sixteen

Hauling her againsthim by her upper arms, James swiftly took her mouth under his.

“Mm,” she murmured, but he couldn’t tell if she said actual words or just hummed with pleasure.

In the next instant, he sank his fingers into her hair, just under her jaunty hat at the back of her head so he could apply more pressure to the kiss. When she gasped softly, he swept his tongue between her lips and plundered to his heart’s content.

Exploring, sucking, caressing, James fervently wished they were horizontal. He also wished his breeches were looser as his shaft had risen to a great length with painful rigidity.

“Mm,”she managed again. However, she didn’t try to step back or put her hands upon his chest to push him away. Yet nor did she encircle her fingers into his hair the way she had before. He liked tremendously when she did that.

Finally, he stopped. They both needed to suck in large breaths, which they did, staring at one another.

“Shall we do so again?” he asked when she looked at him with a glassy gaze and reddened mouth.

“We can, yes, but I meant, shall we go at once to see the prince?”

It was his turn to utter that one small word. “Oh.”

What an idiot!He lowered his hands from her head, dragging some errant locks of her hair as he did.

After another moment in which he was certain his cheeks were taking on a ruddy pallor, he said, “I apologize.”

But she merely shrugged. “An honest mistake. It’s something we do well together, don’t you think?”

He did!Better than he’d ever done with any other woman in fact. He hoped she felt the same. He had no idea how much kissing Miss Talbot had done in her life, but he knew she’d done some. On the other hand, it was a question no one had ever politely asked him before.

“Yes, we do it very well together. But we shouldn’t. Again, I offer my apologies. Let’s put your new parasol to good use and go to the Pavilion. Hopefully, with you along, Prinny will agree to see me and at least talk about the art.”

And the Regent responded as James’s anticipated, allowing them access to his person after they were announced.

“I’m so glad you came by, Miss Talbot, even if you’re back with this rogue. What happened to Dodd? Or your fiancé, for that matter?”

But Prince George didn’t really want an answer. He started to laugh with good humor before she could say anything. They found themselves walking with him into his private apartments where he ordered wine for all three of them.

“Tell me,” he said once they were seated, “are people enjoying my little assemblies?”

“Immensely, Your Royal Highness,” Miss Talbot promised him. Then she shot James a glance, raising her eyebrow, then back at Prinny. “Before your next gathering, sir, wouldn’t you like to install some new art to astound your guests?”

The Prince Regent made a sour face. “Take care not to put me in a bad mood over Hargrove’s failure.”

“Failure?” Miss Talbot exclaimed. “Oh, sir, you must see what he has brought you from Paris. The most wondrous paintings and sculptures.”

“Not the most wondrous,” Prinny pointed out sullenly. “He didn’t get what I asked him to bring me.”

“That may be true, Your Highness, but your guests won’t have the pieces side-by-side to compare. They will see only your new acquisitions and marvel at them. I vow you will want to take them all back with you to London to display in your other homes.”

“Perhaps,” Prinny allowed, with the first perk of interest.

James proffered an invitation.

“Would you care to come to my house on the Marine Parade, Your Highness, to look at them?”

Prinny grimaced.

“Not really, unless you are on the Circle. Are you?”

“No, sir.”

Prinny folded his arms over his large stomach that appeared to be bursting his buttons. “Then you must bring them here.”

James felt the end in sight for the first time in months.

“When?” he asked, trying to keep the eagerness from his tone.

“Before the next party, naturally, as the lady said.”

All hail the miracle-worker, Miss Talbot!

“I shall bring them by tomorrow, Your Highness.” James wanted to dance a jig of happiness. As soon as the pieces were accepted, he could be on his way.

Glancing at Miss Talbot, his excitement quelled. He couldn’t imagine her fending for herself in Brighton without his assistance. Perhaps he would stay until Aberavon arrived so he could be assured of her well-being.

“You must bring Miss Talbot back with you,” Prinny commanded. “And not too early, not before mid-afternoon.” Then he addressed her more softly. “I hope you will come. I’m sure you’re more splendid than anything Hargrove has.” He said it as if she had a choice. Then he added, “I trust you’ll help me pick out the best location for each piece.”

“I will, Your Highness. I look forward to it.”

“Meanwhile,” Prinny said, rising to his feet, and they both rushed to do the same, “you two must leave. Or rather, you may stay if you wish, but I have somewhere to go and someone to see.” He smiled. “Brighton is far superior to London, I think.”

James didn’t respond, nor did Miss Talbot except with a diplomatic nod. Then Prinny walked out of his own private room, shuffling still but not using a cane, an indication his gout was much improved.

“That went well,” she said, looking pleased with herself.

James wished he could hug her, perhaps swing her around in a merry twirl.

“Thanks to you, it did. All previous attempts to make him look at them were met with stern resistance. Until you.”

She beamed a large smile. He would swear it surrounded his heart with its warm beauty.

“What are you doing for dinner?” he asked.

Her smiled disappeared. “I nearly forgot. I’m going to Lord Dodd’s home for dinner.”

“Ah, I see.” But James didn’t. Why was she toying with the man? And if it wasn’t that, then she must genuinely enjoy Dodd’s company.

“I would invite you along,” she began, her cheeks pinkening.

“No, you can hardly do that. Brighton is small enough that Dodd and Miss Montrose know where I am. If they had wanted to invite me, they would have.”

She glanced away and then at the floor.

“Shall we go?” she said. “I doubt His Highness really meant for us to stay in his room in his absence.”

James nodded, and they began the trek to the mundane world outside the Pavilion.

***

DISHEARTENED BY THEdragging length of the day after enjoying herself with Hargrove and knowing she would not see him again until the following afternoon, Glynnis did the unthinkable. At least, it would be in London. She showed up at Lord Dodd’s home before the appointed hour. Many would think it outrageous she hadn’t asked for an escort, but his home was so close, merely around the corner and along the Steyne.

Perhaps on the way home, when it was dark, she would allow him to walk her back to the Old Ship.

Even more outrageous was the fact that Miss Montrose would not be at the dinner or the entertainment afterward. Lord Dodd’s missive had pointedly invited her to a dinner for two in order for them to become better acquainted. Glynnis knew being alone with a man in his home for hours was indefensible.

With a start, she realized she had done precisely the same with Hargrove, but somehow that was different since he had no intention of marrying her. Frowning at her own tortured logic, she rapped upon the door, wishing it had opened as she’d approached. Standing on the step was a most unsettling thing.

Moreover, Glynnis knew Hargrove would be disappointed in her, perhaps appalled, if he ever learned this was to be a party of two. And lately, what the viscount thought about her had come to matter a great deal.

After a short wait, a maid not the butler opened the door. At first, Glynnis was not readily given admittance. She had to give her name and explain she was there for dinner.

“Dinner isn’t being served yet, miss,” the maid said doubtfully. And since she apparently wasn’t using to tending the door, she didn’t immediately invite Glynnis inside to wait in the small downstairs parlor or, more appropriately, upstairs in the drawing room where she and Hargrove had been entertained during the previous visit.

Glynnis had to ask, “Is Lord Dodd at home?”

“Yes, miss,” but the maid looked behind her as if unsure.

“Then why don’t I await him in the drawing room while you tell his lordship I’m here.” And no longer willing to stand on the step — after all, she was a viscount’s daughter — she pushed her way inside.

“Yes, miss,” the girl said before disappearing down the hallway toward the kitchen.

Somehow, Glynnis doubted Lord Dodd was in the servant’s area. After poking her head into the informal parlor where one might take breakfast or read the paper and seeing it empty, she mounted the staircase.

While Glynnis would never dream of going two flights up to the private rooms, at least not until she became Lord Dodd’s wife, she decided to make herself comfortable in the drawing room. Hopefully, he would be made aware of her presence and come find her. They could have a glass of wine and get to know one another better.

As she approached the drawing room, she heard noises.

Pausing, she nearly fled back down the stairs. But alarmingly, the distinct sound of moaning floated through the closed double doors, and then she heard a male voice groan.

Gracious! Was Dodd injured? Perhaps a dangerous London light-fingered napper had accompanied the other people from Town and had broken into the house to pilfer valuables. If Lord Dodd had surprised the varlet, violence might have occurred.

Before she could think better of barging in, Glynnis did exactly that. Tossing open one of the cream-colored doors, she took two steps into the drawing room and halted in frozen disbelief.

She could barely credit her eyes. There, on the sofa where she first saw Miss Montrose, Glynnis now saw a lot more of her! Naked as a needle, Isabelle was straddling Lord Dodd, who was fully clothed but with his breeches pushed to his knees. The woman appeared to be riding him, going up and down on his hips as if he were a horse.

Pausing, Isabelle stared directly at Glynnis. Then, without even the stain of embarrassment coloring her cheeks, she smiled before closing her eyes, putting her head back, and beginning to move her hips even more rapidly.

Meanwhile, Lord Dodd, whom Glynnis had thought to marry a mere few minutes earlier, craned his neck to see what the interruption was.

“Oh, blast!” he exclaimed upon seeing her. “Isabelle, stop. You must ... stop.”

But she didn’t, and he groaned again. Glynnis realized the sound wasn’t one of pain at all, but absolute pleasure. 

Glynnis couldn’t unfreeze her feet although she desperately wanted to. Yet it was as if observing a naughty book come to life. She watched as Isabelle Montrose continued enjoying herself, rising up and sinking down. Lord Dodd appeared helpless to extricate himself from under her, and in fact, aided her movements with a hand on either side of her waist.

The agreeable sensations were obviously too good for him to push her aside and end the love-making. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of the woman’s hips, and he rose to meet her body, driving deeply into her core.

All the while, Isabelle’s large breasts bounced in a mesmerizing fashion. And then she gave a full-throated scream, making Glynnis jump despite watching it happen. It was followed a moment later by a guttural cry from Lord Dodd as he performed a series of rapid thrusts before he finally stilled.

Only then did Isabelle open her eyes again and look at Glynnis.

“You are early, Miss Talbot,” she said. “How shocking of you!” Then she grinned. “But I assure you, he’s quite good. If you give Hugh the better part of a half hour, he’ll be up to it again. Even better by the time you’ve eaten dinner.”

Then Isabelle climbed off of him and unhurriedly took her gown from where it was draped over the back of the sofa. Holding it in her arms, barely covering herself, she brushed past Glynnis and out the open door.

By this time, Lord Dodd had swiveled his legs to the floor, fastened his breeches, and rose to his feet.

“I’m sorry you came in unannounced,” he said as opposed to apologizing for any number of other egregious events.

“But she’s your aunt,” Glynnis pointed out, her voice hardly above a whisper.

He cocked his head. “Only by marriage.”

As if that gave him leave to give her a good swiving.

Glynnis shook her head, still stunned. She couldn’t deny seeing the act played out before her had been eye-opening in the extreme.

“Do you wish to wait?” Lord Dodd asked, confounding her with his meaning until he added, “Shall we put off our own enjoyment until after dinner? That had been my plan. My pole is at half-mast now, but Isabelle is incorrect. It will be stiff as a tree limb in far less than a half hour, especially if you undress for me.”

“Undress for you?” Glynnis was sure she’d walked into an asylum. “Are you mad?”

He took a step closer. “Don’t tell me you are now becoming prudish. Or are you feeling jealous of her?” He ran a hand through his blond hair, smoothing it. “I promise you, Isabelle and I are not a couple. She has lovers, I have lovers. When it suits us, we satisfy one another. It doesn’t mean I desire you any less.”

“I thought you wanted to marry me,” she protested, instantly wishing she’d kept her naïve notion to herself.

His expression became one of astonishment. “But you’re already engaged. That’s what makes you perfect, Miss Talbot. I assumed you were looking for some excitement before the dreadful day when you marry a man you barely know and whom you seem so little interested.”

That was why he’d asked if she were in love with her fiancé and whether she knew him well. She supposed some women would, in fact, consider this a good bargain — if one were none-too-happily engaged.

“Never mind all that, Miss Talbot. I haven’t changed my mind. Are you up for the sport? I can give you a tupping to remember. More than one if we suit and decide to enjoy each other’s company for the remainder of my stay in Brighton. That is, until your fiancé arrives. And even then...,” he trailed off with a lascivious smile and reached out to take her hand in his.

Glynnis dodged backward. Hargrove had refused to tup her because she was engaged. Lord Dodd wanted to swive with her for the exact same reason.

What strange creatures men were!

Without bothering to answer, she turned and walked out, down the stairs and back onto the Steyne. She was exactly where she had begun when she’d first arrived in Brighton, no worse for the experience, except she’d run out of money. She’d wasted all her precious time on Lord Dodd.

Tomorrow, she had to settle up with the Old Ship and decide what to do. What a sorry plight she was in!

Ahead of her were two ladies wandering along, and Glynnis almost called out to them since they seemed to be going her way. Then she realized they were harlots, and one was the frowsy blonde in which Hargrove had shown an interest the first night.

Other people were out, too, on this pleasant evening, but they were mostly couples. There were also a few young bucks who took notice of her, perhaps mistaking her for a lightskirt. Viscounts’ daughters didn’t walk alone after sundown in evening dress, looking shiftless and with nowhere to go.

Thus, she caused her footsteps to become purposeful, passing the trollops who had stopped at the corner. They tittered when she went by, and for a moment, Glynnis wondered if they were more fortunate, more intelligent than she. After all, they were selling themselves as she’d hoped to do. Whereas she was offering her body for a lifetime as a wife, they only had to give theirs for an hour, maybe less, although there was little security in their precarious positions.

Sadly, presently, she had even less. At least they had enough money to keep a roof over their heads on the Steyne, not to mention companionship. She had neither. Even if she started selling packets of shells for the popular passion of shelling, with genteel ladies in London fixing shells to frames, vases, and even their hats, it would be too late. She needed assistance immediately.

Which was why when she reached the Marine Parade, she turned left instead of right, toward Hargrove’s home instead of the Old Ship.

For the second time that night, she stood upon a nobleman’s doorstep. Taking a deep and steadying breath, Glynnis knocked.