"Robert Vaughn, Mistress Bess," he smiled smartly. Her... accommodating nature seemed promising, and should things go the way he sought a room would be a cheap enough expense for a night's pleasure, especially if she brought that same liveliness as she had just demonstrated! She was warm besides him. The way her hip brushed his own as they walked only made him smile all the wider, vivid images of what else she might rub against him flashing though his brain.

"And as for travel?" Chuckling as she took his arm, he could only hope to further impress her. "Why, I've come all the way from the Americas, my dear! There and back again! And eschewing the wondrous entertainments of London, I have come back to my own here." He gestured vaguely back over his shoulder towards the Vaughn estate and its pompously named 'Grenmere Hall.' Leaning his head down close to her ear, and so taking advantage of a closer view of her charms, he whispered confidentially in her ear. "And allow me to say that for all my travels and the sights that my eyes have seen that left me stunned before God's creation, you are the most beautiful of all that I have seen."

Through the door of the inn and he was bellowing in full swaggering confidence, "Hallo the inn! A place by your hearth and good health to you, innkeeper. Two draughts of your best dark stout! And rum! Rum, my good man, rum! I have a great thirst and coin for it." The liquor was more for her than him, to drown any reservations she might have and give her a good warm glow. Oh, those rosy cheeks! He was of no real doubt that she was far from a blushing maid, but the spirits should bring enough of a flush to her face to make her look of it. Boldly he grinned at Bess in anticipation. "And a greater appetite to follow!"

The inn, as he expected, was mostly empty. What few travelers as there might would still be well upon the road, the London Season not quite ended yet. A few more weeks and he knew he would find this place packed elbow to elbow with gentry between and betwixt the city and their country homes, leaving him mourning for his lost serenity. Now, however, he and the lively maid upon his arm had near privacy. Townsfolk would be about their business this late in the afternoon. A few older men, long past the age for chores, gawked at them as they entered, but he paid them no real mind. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled forth a half-crown and tossed it negligently upon the bar. "And should any man here have marched beneath the King's colors, let him drink from my wallet this night!"