Darting to the George (lunch April 18th)

[Charles Whitehurst]

Back in Chelsea again, Charles was arriving at the George to meet Ablemarle and Buckingham for a game of darts. Arriving fashionably late, he was hopeful that the two Dukes were already arrived, so that he'd not have long to wait.

Assured that he would get attentive service, given the last time he had come to the George Inn (in which he threatened to have the innkeeper arrested and his establishment closed if the innkeeper did not testify again Count Ravenna), Charles tried to enter as inconspicuously as one can in a bright scarlet uniform.

[Hope]

As was ever the case when one or more Dukes were out in London, gaggles of optimistic girls gathered to hawk their wares. Buckingham was currently stood with his arms around a buxom pretty, guiding her hand which held on to a dart - teaching her to make it fly to the target.

"Langdon!" Chris waved him towards their table, where a further three women stoked his ego in laughing brightly at his jokes, while one sitting nearest stoked another ego under the table. "More ale, more meat!" he called out for service for Charles, setting the women to laughter again. (Though one did indeed rush away to fetch a drink and place of stew for Charles.)

While Buckingham was still distracted feeling up the maid, Chris warmly greeted Charles, speaking in a loud voice over the general din of the busy Inn. "Bloody glad to see you made it Charles, you have been looking like hell this week. You need to take life a bit easier old man."

[Charles Whitehurst]

Charles was glad he had come. The life epitomized by the two Dukes was just the life he had dreamed about. What could be more fun than being surrounded by female admirers, all wanting to associate with you? There was a quiet sigh as he took in the scene.

Moving to join Ablemarle, he replied, "it's been a hard week, yes." It was an excuse to have a drink and attempt to surround himself with female admirers too. As for taking it easier, things weren't all that difficult. To man like Charles, he enjoyed adventures and rescues. They sure beat filling out reports back at the barracks.

Saluting the two Dukes with a lift of his hat, Charles plopped down next to Chris. "Ladies," he addressed the assembly with a smile, hoping to deflect a few from the older men. "Just what sort of meat were we discussing?" He hoped that sounded witty, as it had a sexual meaning as well.

[Hope]

Chris laughed at Charles quip. His easy and relaxed inclusion of Charles to his table gave the women all the reason they needed to include him into their adoration. Any man with the Duke's favour must be someone notable enough, and likely more attainable than the Duke himself. This was Amy's theory anyhow, as she slid herself onto Charles lap. "Sausages milord, as if there is any other meat as juicy?"

These were no classy breed of ladies.

"You're and absolute tart girl, what is your name again, I think I am in love!" Chris hooted at the girls reply to Charles.

"I'm Amy, milord." she thought not to remind the Duke that she'd told him this already

"Will you really take us to the palace your Grace?" the girls hovering near Chris reminded the Duke to his prior claims. "Well that depends..." Chris smiled broadly as he thought about his terms.

"He's lieing isnt he." Amy whispered to Charles, "Dukes don't know how to tell the truth, but you, you're a Lifeguard. You're be a man of your word wouldn't ya? If you said you'd take me to see the palace, you really would wouldnt ya?"

[Charles Whitehurst]

Charles preferred the company of ladies to tarts, but one got admiration from whatever source might be at the ready. Amy was no exception. There was a slight bit of disappointment that Amy did not seem to know him as anyone more than a toady of the Duke. Modesty forbid him boasting about his own exploits. Of course, if he had too many mugs of ale, the modesty might become fleeting.

"A gentleman and a member of the Guard would never speak falsely to a lady," he declared. "Unless it was in good fun or for her own good," he added in a caveat. He flashed the girl a smile as his sober eye sought to size up the woman on his lap. There was the hair color and the eye color that was important. The shape of the nose was important too. Having a girl younger than himself had a special appeal, though he was young himself.

When Amy asked if he would make good on a promise to take her to see the palace, Charles looked at Chris, hoping to amuse the man. "I guess I would have to say ... well that depends," he laughed as he used the same answer as the Duke. It seemed the best answer, of course, because it encouraged bargaining.

Women like Amy had but one form of currency. The lesser of it was a kiss. The greater denomination was a frolic in bed. He supposed that groping, like the Duke of Buckingham was doing, was a third denomination. "What part of the palace might you like to see?"

[Hope]

Amy's hair was a dirty blonde, and her eyes a muddy brown, while her nose would have been quite perfect had it not been broken some time ago so that it had a kink to it's smooth line. Yet for all her flaws she was youthful, perhaps 16 and with a rosy pinkness to her cheeks that spoke of good health. "Depends?!" she laughed to Charles reply, while her 'sisters' laughed also.

"Ooh but they are cagey ones!" One of Chris' admirers declared.
"I dont dare ask what it depends upon." the other quipped.
"Well, I am game." Amy dared claim.

Chris meanwhile was laughing heartily, his eyes bright towards Charles with the compliment of his mimicry.

"What ought we hold out for Major? I dare say that each of our ladies has her own special talent."

Amy slid her hand into Charles Jacket and murmured, "I'd like to see the Kings bed."

The Innkeeper kept an eye upon the Life guards, ensuring that they received the highest level of service, he thought it a good omen for the Inn that the new commander of Lifeguards thought to make himself at home here. The bowl of stew along with another loaf of bread arrived quickly for Charles - Chris had not eaten any of his stew yet, and Buckinghams cooled half eaten.

[Charles Whitehurst]

Charles did not just have eyes for the girls, though he appeared to be pre-occupied with them. In fact, he was looking for signs of anyone he recognized from Ravenna's gang, or any unsavory character paying too much attention to the trio of lords.

Though Amy looked to be a healthy girl, Charles was wary of women that might have been well-used by other men. One encounter with the wrong girl and he might be taking mercury baths the rest of his life. The fear of pox was strong in him. He assumed ladies were more discreet in their choices of lovers and were less likely to contract the pox. It was one more example of his naivete.

"We should hold out for something in trade I think," he announced in a sporting tone. "If they wish to see something in the palace, they should show us something in return." The suggestion certainly had bawdy implications, but he could claim to have had an innocent meaning if they were offended.

Amy was a bold one, asking to see the King's bedroom. Taking a swig of ale, he challenged her in return. "The only women allowed to see the inside of the King's bedroom are the ones who stay the night," he jested. "Now maybe I could show you a bed that the King slept in instead," he offered. "There's probably one in this inn even. I know the one at Newmarket certainly," he added, hoping she might recall that he had a certain fame associated with Newmarket.

Meanwhile, Charles spared a glance at Buckingham, wondering after his style with tavern wenches. He had gone to a baudy house with Chris and James Morris, so he had seen both in action, so to speak; but, Buckingham had his own legend with women, so he sought to learn what he could.

[Hope]

The Inn seemed full of cheer, and devoid of clusters of shady faces Charles was upon the lookout for.

"Trade? If you wanted trade you might have gone to customs house!" said one
"He means bartering." said another
"Ooh I see..."

Amy was disappointed with Charles counter offer - she'd never been to Newmarket, let alone had spare money to bet on the horses. "His Nell was just a... lady of the street, like me. Mabbie he'd like to take me to his fancy bed? Put me in a fancy house, with fancy clothes to wear."

"Langdon!" Buckingham then boomed as he saw who had turned up, he'd grown bored of the girl whenhe'd felt through her skirt to her thighs, and discovered them scrawny. Moving towards the table, and brushing aside the common lasses as though he were a bowling ball and they were expendable skittles, he landed opposite Charles. "Chris said you were to come today. What, have you finished cleaning up the streets of London so early?!" he laughed, and waved his arm at the women, "Give us some room to bloody breathe."

Amy and her ilk shuffled reluctantly shuffled away, though were poised ready to return once the mans mood became favourable again.

Leaning forwards upon one elbow Buckingham spoke in a loud whisper, "Course, you have heard what Baptists conjured up haven't you? It's his effort to buy London a breath of air - to distract Landgon here from his endless stream of arrests."

[Charles Whitehurst]

The counteroffer posed by Charles was not intended to be very serious. In fact, it was mostly done to amuse Chris and Buckingham. It was what young men did to make their elders think they were witty and fun.

Charles had no desire to parade various women through the King's quarters and get in trouble thereby. "I suppose we could let His Majesty know you are interested in wearing fancy clothes," Charles jested. He supposed the King might even like spending a night with one or more of these female mistresses in the making. It was said that Buckingham, May, Arlington and many other men close to the King had earned favor by introducing him to pretty young things whose sweets he might taste. Might Charles do the same/

Such thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Buckingham. "Good day Your Grace." He allowed himself to be in a good mood as he sipped his ale further. "The streets of London shall never be safe milord. A soldier's work is never done." It was then that George mentioned something about Baptist may having a plan to distract him. "What are these plans?" he asked cautiously, expecting to be the butt of some joke.

[Hope]

"Oh yes!" Chris piped up, "I've bet twenty pounds that he wont manage it!"

Buckingham gave a flick of his eyes, "Is there anything you haven't got a bet on?"

"Well." with brighter eyes and in a playful mood, Buckingham continued, "A few of us were talking about your resistance to the ladies - here you are with fame and fortune of your Horse riding and such - and yet still you've not let a lady catch you. May, ah yes, he fancies himself as matchmaker extraordinaire - and called up the challenge to himself that he could 'set you up' where the fates had failed you. He's made a list, " wink, "and I'd expect he's checked it twice. You, Major, have a full menu of ladies breathlessly awaiting you next week. Really, I am surprised he's not come to tell you about it himself."

[Charles Whitehurst]

Blazing cannons! "Gentlemen, your concern for my welfare is touching; but, I am too young to be married. I can only hope that you did not bet on some lady persuading me otherwise, for she does not exist. No sir, it is the soldier's life for me. Someone has to keep the streets safe from blackguards and rogues. A wife is but a bridle to a stallion ... hence the closeness of the term bride and bridle methinks," he offered playfully, surprised that he could think up such a thing on the spur of the moment. It caused him to be pleased with himself as he took another sip of ale.

"So, I shall politely decline Master May's inquiries on my behalf. I can do quite well enough on my own thank you." Of course, it made him wonder what sorts of ladies the man might have in mind for him. There was no one at court that had enough wealth and prestige to weaken his resolve, or so he told himself.

"You should feel ashamed gentlemen that you have wasted the time of so many, and given false expectations to so many ladies. There is no hope that I shall be married any time soon." His voice was as unwavering as his mindset.

[Hope]

"Bride - bridle - I like it!" Chris hooted with laughter, Charles was not near as stuffy as he'd thought.

"Ah well, that puts paid to that." Buckingham sighed, regrouped his spirits, and then cheered, "Here's a toast to the carefree life of bachelors, long live us all!"

"Here here!" Chris piped up, it seeming forgotten to the men that they had any ties of marriage. "Perhaps I shall take out these beauties he has gathered, I fancy I have a few hours spare."

"Steady on!" Buckingham called, "As your senior I claim first dibs! It's been too long since I had a virgin, and I don’t think I've ever had another one every day of a week."

[Charles Whitehurst]

Lifting his mug, Charles was only too happy to salute the life of a bachelor. He could only wonder what Amy and her friends might think of this exchange.

As the other two men started to place claims on the unknown ladies, Charles found himself a bit uncomfortable, especially in front of the female audience with all this talk about debauching virgins. "Gentlemen," he uttered as he tried to stay their enthusiasm with a raised hand, "let us not forget we are gentlemen. These are ladies we are discussing. They should be treated with respect and honor," he proclaimed. Not like the whores assembled here in front of us. Obviously, he could not give voice to those thoughts.

Though Charles had no qualms about having sex with ladies, it was always with their invitation, and never designed to rob them of their innocence. There was a difference.

[Hope]

Charles cautionary words took a limited effect, Buckingham quit using the word virgin.

"It could not have worked out better, though dont either of you tell May - I dare say he's made ridiculous promises to parents and guardians from here to Bristol, promising they will be in safe hands. Now dont you worry Major, I shall do your reputation no harm, I'll be gentle as a lamb." he winked. "Now, how about a game of darts!"

Chris swigged back his drink and stood, biting his tongue from suggesting that they make the game more interesting with a few bets. Putting hands on his hips and stretching out his back, he then shook out his shoulders in a limbering movement.

Amy moved forwards again as the Dukes moved away, "Will you still take me to the bed the King slept in? We could go now, I'm free."

[Charles Whitehurst]

"Surely you are suggesting that you shall pose as myself," Charles sought to clarify. Perhaps this was all one giant prank. "We do not bear much likeness I fear, except in the regard shown us by the fairer gender," he jested. It took but a moment for Charles to determine that his reputation would not suffer, for only a fool would think some 50 year old Duke was a 21 ... soon to be 22 year old Major.

As he stood to stretch for a game of darts, Amy approached with her offer. A speculative eye appraised her, wondering whether she was clean. She was young enough to hope it, and healthy enough to suggest it. "Give me a moment," he asked of her before taking his leave and approaching the innkeeper. The rotund man would remember Charles well from the prior interrogation. He assumed that George would be in a mood to accommodate whatever the Major wished.

"Sir," he began with the innkeeper. "I know you have run this place for many years. I understand that the King has stayed here in his travels to and from London, at times. Is this true? I have something of a wager with a young lady over there. If you believe that the King slept in one of these beds, I would be obliged to borrow the key for a short time so that I might show the room to this girl who wishes to see a bed upon which the King has slept." Of course, if the innkeeper was willing to play along and claim that the King had slept in a now empty room, that would be just fine with Charles. He'd need only an hour or less.

[Hope]

Buckingham laughed, the idea was ridiculous of course. "No, I shall be your proxy - for surely the good Major does not want to disappoint so many ladies all in one week." he was still chuckling to himself as he threw his first set. His laughter affected his aim and he got 4/2/7 in the outer ring.

~
George the Innkeeper nodded as he looked form Charles towards the girl he mentioned. Now was his chance to repay some of the inconvenience that Charles had given to him. Or, he could blaze a new trail with the Lifeguards of London. "That would be true Major, in fact, the room is empty right now if you wanted to show her the bed where his majesty has laid just a few hours ago. It might even be warm still." he winked to Charles, and turned to unhook a room key.
~

"Thirteen." Chris announced as he pulled the darts from the board and poisoned himself for his own turn. "Speaking of unlucky numbers, remember that chest I brought at the auction last year, well there's something bloody odd about it. It's been in my office, I've been meaning to get it taken up to the attic you see - but every time I turn around it's pushed into the centre of the floor. I push it back against the wall. And then, there it is again?"

He looked to Buckingham and shrugged his shoulders. Throwing his darts he got a 2(inner ring)/5/9.

"Double two, five and nine is eighteen points. Charles? Your turn..."

[Charles Whitehurst]

The innkeeper was playing along too easily. The girl would not believe that the King had just quitted the room. In fact, she might have been at the inn for the last couple of hours. "I think," Charles began earnestly, "you mean that the King may have slept here in the last fortnight, or month or two, as opposed to hours. I would not want to exaggerate a claim to an impressionable young woman." He wanted to sound gallant about it, while signaling the man to come up with something more believable, so that he might testify to it.

He was about to report to Amy her good fortune when Chris and George called him over to throw darts. Against such old hands, Charles would need a good deal of luck.

"Fine, you tell May that you volunteer as my proxy and see what he says," Charles offered lightly with a smile. He was beginning to think that the two Dukes were just pulling his leg with the story about May. Why would the King's privy purse wish to match him? It was crazy. He was a fool to believe it.

"I did not attend the auction," Charles confessed. He had no money to spend back then. "What was inside it?" he asked Chris, hoping to buy himself enough time to focus on the game of darts. Steady aim first, and then a snap of the wrist. It was like handling a weapon. The darts tossed, Charles looked to ascertain his score.

Once the score was announced, Charles made his disclosure to the Dukes in a quiet conspiratorial whisper. "Gentlemen, if you will excuse me, this young woman asked me to show her a bed upon which the King slept. It has been confirmed to me by the innkeeper that the King has slept in one of these rooms. So, I shall take her there to win a wager. I do hope that you can carry on for a while without me."

[Hope]

Bloody Lifeguards. George was made further sceptical as Charles used some set of legal rules for lieing acceptably. "Yes, it's like you said." he uttered suddenly wondering if it was some sort of trick that the Major was playing that would come back and bite him on the ass one day. He could hear it now - Charles testifying that Georges testimony could not be trusted because he'd heard him lie about where the king had slept. George was decided not go go in any deeper, but merely nodded to what ever Charles wanted. No-one ever went to prison for saying nothing, did they?

So then Charles took up his turn, 7/3(inner)/2

"In it, ah... some linen, and there was something else too, ah that's right, some packets of seeds. Odd huh? Wasn't worth what I paid for it that's for certain. Seven and double three, and two is fifteen points. Lost your lucky streak huh Charles?" Chris replied.

To which Charles proved him wrong. "Sure, he help that girl get rid of her curiosity." Buckingham laughed.

While Chris looked over at the girl Charles was planning to take away, and nodded in silence.

[Charles Whitehurst]

The innkeeper had played along, but not as vociferously as Charles might have liked. He had thought it quite likely that the King had stayed at this Inn one night since the Restoration. After all, it was the logical placeto stay before arriving in London from the west.

Charles was less lucky with darts than with cock fights or dice. Still, one could not be lucky at everything, could they? "Bother," he mumbled as he lost. There had been no wager announced, so Charles treated it as a practice.

"Maybe the seeds are growing inside the chest and causing it to move," Charles offered Chris in jest, with a crazy use of physics. More likely, some servant kept moving it when they cleaned around it.

When Buckingham remarked on Charles' luck with the girl, he gave a victorious smile to the two. "I suspect that both of you may be getting lucky too. Am I right?"

It was then that he excused himself to approach Amy. "The innkeeper confirmed to me that the King has slept here, so we do not need to travel to Newmarket. Ask him if you want. He's given me a key. Do you want to have a look?" It was hard to keep a serious expression struggling the playfulness that he felt in besting the girl with her simple request. Already he was moving to number 13, expecting Amy to follow. He observed how the other girls reacted to his challenge.

[Hope]

"Here? But..." Amy was not about to tell the dashing Lifeguard in his fine red uniform that she'd already seen nearly every bed in the inn. "Are you sure?" she hesitated a moment longer, before deciding what the hell, and sliding her hand into his.

"Whoohoo!" her 'sisters' in the trade hooted as the pair went off upstairs. Amy turned around to wag her finger, before running on ahead of him up the stairs. "Being a Life guard, you must see the king all the time don't you?" Amy called to him as her mind raced with trying to think how to turn this into a life altering event for her.

Chris meandered over to the Innkeeper, and asked for the room next to Charles.

[Charles Whitehurst]

Charles was still not sure if Amy was a harlot. He was naive and innocent about such things at times. He tended to see the good in women, thinking them made of better stuff than men. It was how gentlemen were taught to think of ladies.

So, her reluctance to follow was seen more as a resistance to admitting that he had bested her on a dare. He was still not sure if he planned to have sex with her, as he had a great fear of the pox. Just getting her alone in the room was a victory of sorts in the eyes of the two Dukes, or so he hoped. He wanted to be seen as a regular guy to his male friends.

"Yes, I see the King all the time. I can walk into his apartments at any time. I am second in command of his bodyguard after all. The Duke is the commander," he added in a moment of humility. Charles was only too happy to enjoy some vicarious fame from the King.

Opening the door to the room, Charles peered in. "I've not been in one of these rooms before." He was truthful in that as he waved her inside and shut the door. "Have you?" It was a polite way of asking if she had been with men in a professional way.

[Hope]

"You are important." Amy remarked simply, "Of course, I knew you were soon as I saw you. You've got that look about you, the same look at what the Dukes have got. But. Different." She lingered about the door, noticing how he suddenly didn't seem so eager. "What's up Major, dont you want to do it after all?"

"Ha... you trying to ask if I'm a virgin?" she guessed as he asked her if she'd been in one of these rooms before. Men always wanted virgins, she could not figure why. She'd hated it the first time, sex was something that got better the more times you did it - why would men want to revisit the worst time over and over again? "I'm almost a virgin, is that good enough?" she smiled, and walked into the room.

Being a practical girl, and not seeing anything about him that hinted at being keen for it, she sat down on a chair in a room that might have been any room in any Inn across England. "So, was it just a story then? You dont like the Dukes huh? You wanted to take a break from them, and make them think you were a mans man."

[Charles Whitehurst]

The flattery was welcome, even if it did seem a bit forced. Admiration, in any form, was a tonic.

One need not ask a male, going on age 22, whether he is up for it. Especially if, like Charles, one has been enjoying spirited sex with multiple women for only about five months. The newness and variety of the acts made sex as addictive as opium to Charles. He would argue that it was but a very pleasant past time.

No, the larger question was how could a man express reservations to a whore about her health without insulting her. Charles was a gentleman and did not believe that one should insult the lowest class of women ... especially if they were pretty. He would not be the first young man to find himself in such a dilemma. Now, how was he to get out of the awkward situation?

Rule Number One -- lie. Lying was not gallant, except to protect a lady's feelings. Amy was no lady, but his motives, as explained above, were the same. "No, I want it," he replied a bit too awkwardly. That was really not a lie after all. Yes, the awkwardness was the attempt to stretch out his answer so that he could come up with a better reason for his hesitation. Fortunately, she offered him an opportunity to concoct something by asking if he disliked the Dukes. "No, I admire both Dukes." That, too, was true. Think Charles! There was a rising sense of panic in him. "Though, as much as I like the company of Dukes, I like the company of ladies better." That sounded suave didn't it? He even offered her a smile that he kept at the ready.

"No," he replied to her accusation about virginity. In truth, Charles did not want a virgin. Amy might be surprised to know that. He could not accept easily deflowering a girl. It was one of his rules to protect his honor. He did not know that he had done so to Samantha at Newcastle. No, he wanted an almost virgin, like Amy offered. He even gave her a chuckle at her story about being one, as it expressed his wishes better. What he wanted, in a common girl, was that she was clean. Harlots consorted with men of differing health and there was a fear that them might contract the pox from one of them, especially the sailors. "Yes, that is good enough."

Now came the lying part. "The reason that I asked was that I wanted to get you alone to talk about whether you might like coming to a party I am planning for the two Dukes and a few friends. I was thinking about getting a group of pretty girls like yourself to come and ... ah entertain us. Maybe you'd be in costume even. I might need a handful of the prettiest girls like yourself .. that are near virgins," he laughed. "But, above all, they must be clean and healthy." By mentioning it in the case of the other girls, he hoped not to offend her. "If a guest got some kind of pox at one of my events, they would hold me responsible ... having a terrible outcome for all involved."

Trying to move along quickly, he asked, "might you be interested? There could be a bit of gold in it for you and the other girls you deem worthy enough. It might even lead to other ... opportunities with men in power."

Really, he was just interested in her own announcement about being healthy. But, this might achieve that in a roundabout way. Of course, now that he had concocted the idea, the party was sounding like a more intriguing possibility.

[Hope]

"Funny that." Amy grinned as Charles said he liked women company over Dukes, she felt appeased that he had not just used her to get away after all.

And then he dazzled her with an offer she'd never dared to even dream about. Her eyes widened, and she gasped appreciatively, "Would I ever! And in a costume, a fancy costume that makes me look alluring? Maybe velvet?" She hoped she was not asking for too much - she'd always wanted a velvet dress. "I can find some other girls that woudl be game. You'd promise that woudl be no rough stuff though wouldn't you?" The gang of 'Young dukes' had brought a dark reputation upon such men, who thought it fun to bash innocents for a bit of sport. That gang had disbanded, but it woudl take far longer for London's memories to forget the crimes of men who were above the law.

"I could promise you that you wont get the pox from me any case." she crossed her heart.

[Charles Whitehurst]

She bought the story hook, line and sinker. It made Charles smile in pride. He was getting good at this lying business. First it had been Eleanor. Now it was Amy. Did it just work on whores? Maybe I should test it on others ... just for practice of course.

"You need no fancy costume to look alluring," he flattered her with a gallant smile. A flatterer did not differentiate in the social standing of a woman when it came to flattery. Every woman, regardless of standing, appreciated flattery as much as he. It was also the duty of a gentleman to dispense flattery liberally.

"May I tell you a secret?" he offered conspiratorially, knowing he had won her trust already. He needed to dispel notions of expensive costumes, just in case he decided to go forward with the idea. "The Dukes and me have cut a swath through the ladies of court. We've had Duchesses, countesses, baronesses, and ladies draped with silk and jewels. For us, it is but an every day occurrence. When it comes to ... fun, we men look for variety." All the while he was spinning his reasoning, he was thinking of the next sentence. The ideas were coming forth with but seconds of thought.

"So, for us, we think it fun to sport with country maids. It might be like Newmarket in London. We all enjoyed the farm girls and milk maids that threw themselves in our path. Rarely have we such a treat. So, I thought maybe we might have some of the prettiest and cleanest girls that you can manage and pretend to be country girls. We might have naked races and riding, to parody the races at Newmarket. I will allow no man to harm you. I expect no rough-housing. But, do not fret. I will see that you get enough coin to buy a fancy velvet dress for yourself, and maybe a spot of jewelry too," he assured her. Privately, he marveled at his ability to come up with an idea for a party that sounded like fun, all on the spur of the moment. In fact, it rather excited him. Might he convince some ladies to attend incognito as farm girls?

"I want you, Amy. And I want only the best and prettiest of every young girl you know. If you are to be country maids, I want no women over 20. How many girls do you think you can recruit? I shall want to inspect each one for suitability before finalizing anything. I could go to Madame Derrier to supply courtesans for this event; but, I'd rather help you and your friends earn some coin first." And, they'll be bloody cheaper.