Delilah nodded resolutely. “Fine, but in the meantime, what am I supposed to do if Thomas sees me in the morning and is madly in love with me?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Delilah tiptoed to the entrance of the breakfast room early the next morning. Despite her anxiety, she was hungry, and she’d been told by a reliable source, namely Cade, that Danielle was in the room. She couldn’t risk running into Thomas, however, so she was hovering outside the door, trying to work up the nerve to peek inside, when Lucy’s voice rang out from within. “It’s all right, Delilah. He’s not here.”
Delilah expelled her pent-up breath and made her way into the room, where she took a seat next to her friend. The only people in the breakfast room at the moment were Lucy, Cass, Jane, and Danielle. A servant rushed to place a napkin on Delilah’s lap and pour her some tea.
“Who’s not here?” Cass asked, blinking interestedly at Delilah.
“Thomas.” Lucy took a sip of her heavily sugared tea.
Cass furrowed her brow. “Why does Delilah not want Thomas to be here?”
Lucy waved a hand in the air. “It’s an excessively long story.”
“Excellent.” Jane grabbed a teacake from the plate in the center of the table. “I love excessively long stories. The excessively longer, the better. As long as they’re entertaining, of course.”
Delilah glanced around the room at the sparse company.
“Most of the men have gone off on a ride together,” Lucy explained as if she’d read Delilah’s mind. “Thomas went too.”
Delilah let out a sigh of relief. She picked up her teacup and took a sip.
“So who is going to tell me this excessively long story?” Jane pushed up her spectacles on her nose.
Delilah gave Lucy an apprehensive glance.
“It’s more complicated than you know,” Lucy said to Delilah.
Dread swam in Delilah’s belly. “How so?”
Danielle crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Delilah. “You didn’t mention you gave some of the potion to Lavinia.”
Delilah winced. “She told you?”
“You don’t understand,” Lucy continued, buttering a slice of thick, brown toast. “Apparently all hell broke loose in this house last night.”
Delilah set down her cup. “What do you mean?” The dread was swimming faster now.
Lucy finished buttering her toast and set down the knife. “Apparently Lavinia tried to use the elixir on Lord Berwick, and while she was at it, Branville found her gallivanting around the bachelor’s quarters in the middle of the night. He demanded to know what she was doingthere, and she gave him some of the potion to keep him quiet. He wanted to use it on Lady Rebecca.”
Delilah gasped. “No!” In her wildest imaginings, she hadn’t guessedLaviniawould have given some of it away. She cursed herself for the thousandth time for not following Madame Rosa’s rules.
“Yes,” Lucy replied, taking a bite of toast.
“You’re not making any sense,” Jane said, nibbling on her teacake. “What potion are you talking about?”
“Care to explain?” Lucy said to Delilah.
“I really don’t care to, no.” Delilah took a piece of toast from the plate in the center of the table, but she just stared at it. She couldn’t eat. She was no longer hungry.
Danielle took a deep breath. “I’ll do it, then. Delilah and I purchased some perfume from a Roma woman in London. It’s purported to make the person whose eyes you sprinkle it upon fall madly in love with you the next time they see you.”
Jane snorted. One dark eyebrow arched over the rim of her silver spectacles. “You’re not serious?”
“I’m entirely serious,” Danielle replied, taking a sip from her teacup.
“You paidmoneyfor this?” Jane continued, directing her remarks to Delilah. “Real money?”
