Free Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill: (Georgian Series) by Jean Plaidy Page B

exquisite taste, superintended, of course, by the Prince himself. It was now beginning to look like a royal residence. His drawing room was hung with yellow Chinese silk; the dining room had been considerably extended; the ceilings heightened, the walls panelled and gilded, and columns of yellow and red granite added to give dignity. The ballroom in which he was now entertaining his guests was the most grand of all the rooms. Twelve lustres hung from the ceiling and the same number of branched chandeliers projected from the walls at intervals. There was an orchestra at either end of the room set up on platforms hung with crimson silk.
    Members of the highest families of the nobility were present, including the Prince’s special friends – Charles James Fox, Richard Sheridan, Edmund Burke, Mrs Crewe and the Duchess of Devonshire. The Prince led his aunt, the Duchess of Cumberland, in the minuet and talked with her about his recent visit to Brighton.
    ‘I vow,’ he said, ‘that as soon as the weather permits me I shall be there again.’
    ‘Then I am delighted that I introduced Your Highness to sea bathing. Has it proved beneficial?’
    ‘Undoubtedly. I find it invigorating. The place is small,however. There is scarcely one building in it that is not a hovel. But I like the sea. Now if we could have the sea here in London …’
    ‘Alas, even princes cannot divert the sea.’
    ‘No, but they might divert the town. Why not?’
    ‘A possibility.’
    ‘I like that place. I like it even more now that it has changed its name.’
    ‘Brighton. Charming. Well, if Your Highness decides to take advantage of the sea next summer, all the ton will do the same.’
    The Prince danced with other ladies – including Lady Melbourne who was such a favourite at this time. He paid the usual compliments, but he was thinking of next year’s sea bathing, and how amusing it would be to have a house in Brighton where he could entertain his friends. He talked to her of Brighton and she was as enthusiastic as he was.
    He danced with Georgiana. How beautiful she was on that night, always so different from all the other women, the true leader of fashion.
    ‘My dearest Georgiana,’ sighed the Prince, ‘how can you persist in being cruel to me?’
    ‘My dearest Highness, I am in truth being kind to us both.’
    ‘How could that be when you know that my most urgent wish is to have you love me as I love you.’
    ‘I intend to be Your Highness’s friend through life. It is so much easier to be a constant friend than a constant mistress.’
    ‘I would be constant for ever.’
    ‘Your Highness, I think Lady Melbourne is regarding you a little anxiously.’
    ‘You have but to say the word and there should be no one but you.’
    Georgiana laughed and did not take him seriously. Her husband the Duke was not interested in her, nor she in him; but Georgiana had no intention of becoming the mistress of the Prince of Wales. It was a position which she did not think any woman could hold for any length of time; and it was surely better not to set oneself on such a slippery perch. Their relationship was far more satisfactory as it was.
    ‘I see Charles is there with Sherry and Amoret. What a beautiful creature she is. I’m not surprised that Sherry adores her.’
    ‘All beauties pale before your own,’ said the Prince.
    And Georgiana laughed. ‘Exactly what I would have expected my gallant Prince to say. Sherry would not agree with you.’
    ‘He adores you, too.’
    ‘Dear Sherry, he is my very good friend. And Charles … I do declare his frock-coat is threadbare. How dare he come to Carlton House dressed in such a slovenly manner.’
    ‘Charles knows that he may dare what he will as far as I am concerned. It is not his coat I welcome but the man inside it.’
    ‘Right royally spoken. Fortunate Charles! I should have thought Lizzie Armistead would have taken better care of him.’
    ‘You must admit that he looks a little cleaner since being