Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [58]
Since he did not spend the nights now taking his pleasure with a woman, he tended to fall asleep the way most people did. That left the days for doing other things. He was having some trouble recalling just what those things might be.
“What is this business that you are about, that is important enough to draw you out of your luxurious cave?” Hawkeswell asked. “I only fell in with you because I wanted to witness the show. It is even better than I thought. We may have a crowd following us soon.” While he talked, he played to the onlookers like a circus master, smiling and nodding left and right, approving their bad behavior. Amazing, isn’t it? Your eyes are not deceiving you, it is truly he!
“You can leave at any time now, Hawkeswell. I did not invite your company.”
“And miss this? Although if this business you are about is lengthy, I may have to depart before the final act. I have a meeting at the White Swan this afternoon.”
“If you must know, I have several errands to attend to, and they will undoubtedly bore you as much as I expect them to bore me.”
Hawkeswell said nothing. His silence became so resonant that Castleford looked over at him. Hawkeswell was watching him with a confused expression.
“Errands?” Hawkeswell finally said.
“Appointments with tailors and such.”
“You never have appointments at tailors’ shops. Tailors have appointments in your dressing room. You have three valets when one is plenty for most men, just so you do not have to be bothered with anything resembling an errand.”
All that was true, but he had to do something with all this time burdening him.
“I think the only appointment you should have today is with a physician,” Hawkeswell said. “Or one of your soiled doves, so some regularity returns to your habits and you relinquish this farce of temporary reform.”
“It is a hell of a thing if a man cannot ride his horse before noon without having a friend insult him by assigning virtue to his character when none exists.”
“I accused you of no virtue. I said it was a farce of feigned virtue. Do you deny that your unusual behavior is directly the result of being unable to conquer Mrs. Joyes without such excess? That once you do conquer her, you will return to your whoring and drinking?” Hawkeswell scolded. “Why not just give up, admit there is one woman in the world who finds you beyond the pale instead of intriguing, and go back to enjoying your life?”
Why not indeed? Castleford chose to ignore the questions, but it was not as if he had not asked them of himself.
He had no intention of giving Hawkeswell any reason to gloat about the lack of progress with Mrs. Joyes. Quite the opposite. So he made his first stop Phillip’s jewelry shop.
Hawkeswell trailed him inside, which meant Hawkeswell had the fun of seeing the proprietor fluster, flush, and almost faint at the sight of one of his most august patrons crossing his shop’s threshold for the first time in the history of his patronage.
Hawkeswell hovered at his shoulder while the ear bobs were unveiled. They impressed Hawkeswell, which meant they were sure to impress Mrs. Joyes.
“Perfect,” Castleford said. “Be sure to add an appropriate amount for the speed with which you completed setting them.”
Phillip began to wrap the handsome box. Castleford lounged in his chair. Hawkeswell gazed over with a scowl.
“Are those for Mrs. Joyes? They must be worth a small fortune.”
“A goodly size fortune, actually.”
“She may be insulted. She may think you are trying to buy her.”
“Women are never completely insulted by diamonds. A little, perhaps, if it is a woman such as Mrs. Joyes, but my experience is that they overcome their suspicious interpretations with unseemly speed.” He accepted the little package from Phillip. “Besides, she has already accepted them, so she cannot be insulted now.”
That impressed Hawkeswell even more. So much that when they left the shop, Hawkeswell did not go his own separate way.
“Do you plan to follow me to the tailor too?” Castleford said.
“Weston may have apoplexy when you walk