‘Do you not think so, Mrs. Vincent?’ His royal highness leaned close to her, smiling.

Jane straightened in her seat, alarmed that she had lost track of the conversation. ‘I could hardly dare to venture an opinion.’

‘You do your husband wrong, if you should not vouch for him.’

She would do her husband more wrong if her fears about the fish were correct, and yet to admit that she had been ignoring the Prince would not do. Jane sought for some answer that would serve. ‘But you see, sir as his wife I am over-partial to him and cannot be trusted to give an unbiased opinion. I must bow to yours.’

‘Then I will make it so, and trust that it give you some pleasure as well.’ The Prince Regent lifted the asparagus tongs and offered her a few delicate spears.

Jane nodded her assent, without having the least idea of what he would make so, while darting glances at the window where the fish appeared. If she unfocused her attention on the tangible world and let her vision slip into that realm of ether where the folds of glamour lay, she could study the thread as it flowed past. From watching others, she knew that such distraction gave her countenance a somewhat insipid expression which might be appealing on certain beauties, but not on her own unassuming plainness. It was too at odds with the sharpness of her features to be pleasing.

The knot went past. It had, as Jane suspected, slipped. What alarmed her more was that it showed every sign that it was on the verge of coming untied altogether. She tried to remember what she had fixed that thread of glamour around.

‘And have you been to the Continent before, Mrs. Vincent?’

The question brought Jane’s attention back to the table. ‘I have not sir.’

‘Then I suggest avoiding the north of France when you go, though I cannot remember where Mr. Vincent said his colleague lived. Still, I counsel against it, as well as parts of Spain and Italy. While Napoleon has abdicated, there are still factions that would seek to put his son on the throne. I think it shall be calmed by the time you travel, but you must let me make some arrangements for your tour.’

Jane was all astonishment. To the best of her knowledge, neither she nor Vincent had spoken of going abroad, and yet the Prince Regent spoke as if it were a certainty that they would go. ‘Sir—’

He held up his hand. ‘Mrs. Vincent, you must do me the favour of not using my honorific with every sentence. It does wear on one. In an intimate setting such as this, I would rather be reminded that I dine with friends than that I am Prince. I shall have enough of that tomorrow, and while it does have its merits, one enjoys it only for a time.’