Delilah rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not alive. Why would I keep an animal in my reticule?”
Thomas shrugged and grinned. He turned his attention back to the road in front of them. “I’ve known you to do more outlandish things than that.”
The man had a point, but she wasn’t about to admit it at the moment. Instead, she gathered up her reticule and opened it. She pulled out the little vial and cradled it in her palm, presenting it to Thomas.
He glanced at it looking entirely unimpressed. “What is that?”
“It’s… perfume.” How exactly could she explain this ridiculousness?
“What does it smell like?” he asked.
Delilah cocked her head to the side. “I don’t know, actually.”
His brow furrowed. “You bought perfume without smelling it?”
Delilah stuck her nose in the air. “The smell is not why I purchased it.” She made a mental note to sniff it later.
Thomas frowned. “Are you certain you’re feeling well? I’m not convinced youdon’thave a fever. Or a head injury.”
She scowled at him. “It’s… special perfume. An elixir, actually.”
“A what?” Skepticism lined his features.
“Elixir,” she repeated, doing her best to keep her voice perfectly calm and even. The more normal she pretendedthis was, the less mocking he might be. “It’s called Cupid’s Elixir.”
Thomas took a long, deep breath. Then he rubbed one eye with his gloved palm. “Please tell me you didn’t pay much for it.”
She bit her lip and looked at him sidewise. “I’m afraid I did.”
He took another breath, but kept his eyes on path ahead of them. “Delilah, I’ve told you, there are people out there who’ll spin any tall tale to separate you from your money and—”
Delilah lifted her chin. “This wasn’t a vendor on the street, Thomas. Danielle took me to see her.”
“Her who?” His profile remained hard with suspicion.
Delilah stared straight ahead at the backs of the Thomas’s perfectly matched horses. “A Roma lady. Madame Rosa.”
Thomas closed his eyes briefly. He shook out the reins. “I can only imagine what she told you thiselixircan do.”
Now, Delilah was beginning to enjoy this. “Care to guess?”
He slowly shook his head. “No, actually. I don’t care to guess.”
She carefully tucked the little vial back into her reticule. “Very well, I’ll tell you. You sprinkle it on the eyes of your true love while he sleeps, and the next time he sees you after he wakes, he’ll realize he’s in love with you.”
Thomas closed his eyes for a longer period this time. Then he opened them, sighed, and shot her a dubious glance. “Really? A love potion?”
“That’s right,” Delilah replied with a firm nod. If he was going to turn mocking, she just might get defensive.
“I suppose you plan to use it on the poor, unsuspecting Duke of Branville.”
“I don’twantto use it on the Duke of Branville,” she replied, tugging the strings of her reticule closed. “I’d much prefer our courtship to progress the normal way. But I will use it if I must.”
Thomas shook out the reins again. “I’d no idea the lengths you’d go to in order to secure a match. What does Lucy say about this?”
Delilah bit her lip again. “I, er, haven’t told Lucy.”
Thomas frowned. “What? Why not?”
