He lets Prior take over leading without protest, and although it means part of him can fall back on muscle memory, he still keeps a little of his attention on the dance just in case he needs to give direction again. But mostly, he's listening, picking up all sorts of little things that don't escape his attention despite being slightly drunk.

More of the accent, more certainty to James that Prior purposefully hides it, rather than his idiolect simply containing a few words or phrases that come out that way. The choice to purposefully hide an accent is one made for many reasons and isn't terribly uncommon, but it is interesting, and James wonders which--if not many--reason it is that Prior chooses to do so. Blending in, perhaps, attempting to fit into a part of society he wasn't born into, trying to gain status through mimicry of what those with power would want to hear.

Or perhaps James is projecting. Either way, he's too drunk to dwell much on those thoughts even if he wants to, and he doesn't; he's much prefers hearing how Prior talks about Sarah. These are the sorts of descriptions he'd been interested in, giving him a much better sense of who Sarah is, but also a little bit better an idea of who Prior is as well.

"She sounds much like my brother's wife, Elizabeth." James says this with a softness that makes it clear he's greatly fond of Elizabeth, and this is certainly a compliment. "And congratulations are in order, it seems, for your engagement."