Madame Rosa watched her down the length of her nose. “Yes. It’s a powerful elixir, and I cannot sell it to just anyone. Ye must agree to abide by the rules or ye cannot have it.”
“Very well.” Delilah hadn’t expected there to be rules involved, but now that she was here, she was willing to do whatever it took to earn the perfume. “What are the rules?” Too bad she’d never been good at following them. But she needn’t tell Madame Rosa that. And she would do her best to abide by these.
Madame Rosa’s bushy dark eyebrows descended over her captivating eyes. “First, ye can only use it during a night when the moon is full.”
Delilah swallowed. That seemed… not impossible. She nodded.
“Second, ye must be the only person to use it. Ye cannot give it to another.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Delilah said. Who else would believe her? Let alone want to borrow the elixir? Besides, she intended to keep it a secret, so no one would ask. Of course, that ruled out the possibility of her using it for future matchmaking assignments, but beggars should not be choosers. She wasn’t about to disagree with Madame Rosa’s rules.
“Third…” Madame Rosa paused. She leaned forward and peered at Delilah. “Ye must only use it once.”
Delilah frowned. “Once? You mean if it doesn’t work, I cannot try again?” That didn’t seem like a particularly useful feature. Delilah was known to make mistakes. What if she missed Branville’s eyes, for instance, and splashed it on his chin instead?
Madame Rosa’s eyes narrowed to slits. “It will work, lass. It will work. But after ye’ve used it once, it’s rendered impotent.”
Apparently, the elixir called for perfection and precision. Normally, that would concern Delilah, but she would just have to ensure she didn’t make a mistake with a magic potion called the Elixir of Cupid. Besides, she only needed to use it once. Once would be enough.
“Very well, I agree to all the rules.” Delilah fumbled with her reticule. “How much does it cost?”
“Do ye have any other questions, lass?” Madame Rosa continued, ignoring her question.
Delilah’s hands stilled on her reticule, and she thought for a moment. “Um, yes, I do. Will the person whose eyes are sprinkled fall in love with the first person they see? I mean… will I have to be the first person he sees in the morning? You see, that’s how it works inA MidsummerNight’s Dream, and I can’t help but think how much more difficult that will make the entire affair.”
The old woman chuckled. “No, lass, that’s only in the bard’s play. The real Cupid’s Elixir works differently. The person whose eyes are sprinkled will fall immediately in love with the person who sprinkled it, and no other, the next time he sees her.”
Delilah nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. This was real. At least it felt quite real at the moment. She would truly have the power at her disposal to make the Duke of Branville, or any man, fall madly in love with her.
“Very well, lass.” Madame Rosa pulled a tiny heart-shaped vial out of her voluminous robes. The vial glowed a bright pink color.
A tiny gasp of joy escaped Delilah’s lips. Oh, it had to be right. It was pink!
Madame Rosa pressed the vial into Delilah’s palm and closed her fingers around it. “Cupid’s Elixir is yours.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I’ll have you know I’ve just come from the doctor, and he has declared me completely healthy. Fit as a fiddle, he said.” Thomas sat next to Delilah in his new curricle. They were riding in the park.
Delilah was barely paying attention. Her thoughts were focused on the vial of elixir tucked inside her reticule. She’d had the stuff for nearly a day now, and she refused to let it out of her possession. It was silly, she knew. There was no guarantee that it would work. She may well have wasted her money.
As they’d left the shop yesterday with the elixir, Danielle had laughed and said, “What’s the worst that could happen?”Thathad set Delilah’s imagination into awful flights of fancy. She was keenly aware of the fact that all sorts of bad things could happen if she didn’t do what she was told and follow the rules. But shewouldfollow the rules. She would. It was true that catastrophes tended to trail her about, but not this time. Not whenit was so important. She would keep the elixir, use it once on Branville, make no mistakes, and if they were meant to fall in love, it would work. She’d convinced herself of it. She’d even discovered that a full moon was predicted for the night of her birthday, when they’d all be asleep under the same roof at Lucy’s estate. It was fate. It had to be. That was the last night she had left.
“Are you all right?” Thomas asked from the seat beside her. “You seem preoccupied. You aren’t feeling faint after your head injury, are you? There are many trees on this route. I wouldn’t want you to encounter another of the attack variety.”
“Shut up,” Delilah said primly. “And by the by, I cannot believe you made a jest about my needing to fend off attack trees in front of Branville at rehearsal last night.”
Thomas frowned. “He didn’t even laugh. I told you he wasn’t funny.”
Delilah fingered her reticule. She was trying to decide whether she should tell Thomas about the elixir. She’d promised Danielle to keep it a secret, but she’d absolutely burst if she didn’t tellsomeone. Besides, she never kept secrets from Thomas. Surely Danielle wouldn’t begrudge her havingoneconfidant. Thomas was the perfect person to tell. He’d think it was madness. He was much more likely to scoff at it than ask to borrow it. Of course, he would relentlessly mock her, but she might need some mocking. Perhaps he would convince her to pour out the contents of the little vial and stop being ridiculous. Perhaps then this constant worry in her throat would go away.
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I… have something.”
She opened one eye in time to see Thomas turn to her, a worried look on his face. “You mean like a fever?”
She expelled a half laugh. “No. No. Nothing like that. It’s in my reticule.”
Thomas glanced warily at the little pink satin bag that sat on the seat between them. “Is it alive? It’s not another bird with a broken wing, is it?”
