“Is this where you want to put it?”
She nodded. “I think so. There’s enough space on this side, and it has the best view.”
He glanced around, noting the inky blackness above their heads, the faint, snaky outline of the Thames beyond the balustrade, and theglow of the streetlights lining the Embankment below. “Not much to see now, though.”
“Not at this time of night, no. But for luncheons and cotillions, there’s no better prospect.” She turned toward him, leaning one hip against the balustrade. “Is that why you’re up here, too?” she asked. “To envision my idea in its proper setting?”
“Actually, no. I came looking for you. I tried to catch up with you after the party, for I wanted to speak with you before I leave for the country in the morning, but the baroness cornered me, and I couldn’t get away.”
Delia sniffed. “Wanted to sing her daughter’s praises to you, no doubt.”
He grinned as he remembered her admission of jealousy earlier, but she gave him no time to enjoy it.
“So you came looking for me up here?”
“No, actually. I assumed you’d gone to your room, so I went there first—”
“Coming to a lady’s hotel room in the wee small hours? And when I recently accused you of this nefarious intention, you denied it, you liar.”
“I want to talk with you, not have an assignation.” Even as he said it, he thought of how he’d felt standing outside her room, the doubts and temptations that had momentarily flitted through his mind, and his throat went dry at the memory.
She sighed. “You really know how to flatter a woman, don’t you?”
“I’ve never been very good at that,” he admitted. “But to return to the point, I asked the lift attendant if he knew where you might have gone, and he told me he’d brought you up here. He was quite surprised by that, it seems.”
“I daresay. It’s not the sort of thing the guests would be inclined to do, is it? But why did you come in search of me? Hotel business, I suppose?”
He shook his head. “No, I wanted to talk with you about something else entirely. My sister,” he supplied when she frowned in puzzlement.
“Ah.” Her brow cleared and she gave a laugh. “Want to know if she passed muster with my aristocratic friends?”
“In a way. Is she sufficiently prepared to do the season, do you think?”
“Absolutely. The question is, will you let her?”
He made a face. “Do I have a choice?”
“Not really, no.”
He nodded, not surprised. He’d already accepted the inevitable fact that he was going to have to put his baby sister into the teeth of high society. He just hoped she would not get hurt. “I’m taking her back to Berkshire tomorrow. As you suggested, I’ll call on my new neighbors to pave the way for her so that she can make some friends there. In light of that, do you have any advice?”
“Don’t ever let them think they’re better than you. They’re not.”
That made him smile a little. “Are you saying that because you want me to know you’re not a snob?”
“No, I’m saying it because it’s true. But if you now appreciate that I’m not a snob, all the better.”
“Any other sage wisdom to offer?”
“No, but—” She broke off, considering, then she gave a nod. “Actually, yes; I do want to say one very important thing. It’s not advice, exactly. More like a warning.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Your sister is remarkably pretty, and very sweet. And she’s been quite sheltered for most of her life. She is also, as you know, very young. A scoundrel will be quick to see that.”
“I’m painfully aware of that,” he said with a grimace. “Thinking about all the rotters out there who’d take advantage of her has kept me up at night more than once.”
“I daresay. Any girl without a mother to keep a sharp eye on her every minute is a tempting target, but girls of Cassie’s temperament are especially susceptible to men of that ilk.”
