Thomas frowned. “What do you mean?”
She tugged absently at the strings to her reticulethat hung from her wrist. “Nothing is going right. Absolutely nothing.”
“Like what?”
Delilah tossed her free hand in the air. “Lavinia wants Berwick. Rebecca wants you. Emmaline wants Branville, and I’ve frankly no idea who Branville wants.”
“Not to worry,” Thomas said with a grin, “I haven’t entirely given up on my attempts at Lady Emmaline.”
Delilah blinked. “You haven’t?”
He shrugged. “You’re not the only one who enjoys a challenge. As to the others, why do you care if Berwick courts Lavinia?”
She fluttered a hand in the air. “It simply ruins the whole plan. That’s all.”
“What plan?” Thomas frowned again.
“The plan for Berwick to court Lady Rebecca.”
He shook his head in confusion. “Berwick is courting Lady Rebecca?”
“No, but we’d hoped for him to.”
“Why?”
“Because… because…” Her cheeks reddened. “Oh, it’s too complicated to explain.”
“Far be it from me to interrupt your and Lucy’s grand schemes, but it seems to me that as long as Lady Rebecca doesn’t have her sights set on Branville, what does it matter who she chooses?”
Two tiny lines appeared between Delilah’s brows. “It matters because she obviously fancies you, and you’re supposed to be distracting Lady Emmaline.”
Thomas chuckled. “I have many talents, perhaps I can manage to distract both of them.”
Delilah put a fist on her hip. “Don’t tease.”
“Who’s teasing? I may fancy one of them,” he replied with a sly grin.
“Yes, and that’s another thing,” Delilah declared.
Thomas pivoted to look at her. “What?”
“You asked Lucy to find you a match, and not me.” Her voice was small, and he could hear the hurt in it. It threw him so off guard he was momentarily wordless.
“Lucy told me you asked her to find a match for you this Season,” Delilah reiterated. “Why didn’t you ask me?”
Thomas blew air into his cheeks. He had to handle this carefully. He’d never considered the fact that it might hurt Delilah’s feelings if he didn’t ask her. “I thought perhaps you were too busy this Season chasing Branville around.”
“I’m not chasing Branville around, I’m…” Her face fell. “Oh,mon Dieu. I am chasing Branville around, aren’t I? He’s supposed to be courting me. Instead, I’m chasing him around like a lovesick fool.”
Thomas cocked his head to the side. He tried to keep the emotion from his voice. “Are you lovesick?”
“No,” Delilah replied miserably, “but for all the advice I’ve given others on the subject, I’m woefully unprepared for my own courtship. I obviously don’t even know what I’m about.”
Thomas cracked a grin. “What do you want to know? Perhaps I can help.”
The sound that came out of Delilah’s throat was a most unladylike snort-laugh.
“What’s that for?” His smile grew as he studied her expressive features.
