“Yes, we need it immediately,” Delilah breathed, searching the old woman’s face.
“Settle down, lass,” the old lady said. “First ye must remind me what potion I sold ye.”
Panic clawed at Delilah’s insides. Madame Rosa didn’t remember her. Delilah forced herself to take three deep breaths. Of course the old woman wouldn’t remember her. Madame sold potions to ladies every day. Madame Rosa was memorable to Delilah, not the other way around.
“I’m Lady Delilah Montebank, and this is my cousin Danielle. You sold us a vial of Cupid’s Elixir.” Danielle had come to sit on the other chair in front of Madame Rosa’s table.
“Oh. Yes.” The old woman pursed her lips and shook her head. “I’m afraid I cannot help ye then.”
“What?” Delilah’s voice went up an octave. “What are you talking about? You must help us. There must be an antidote.”
“Antidote,” the woman repeated strangely as if she’d heard the word for the first time. “Do ye know what antidote means, lass?”
Delilah clasped her shaking hands in her lap. Madame Rosa wanted to talk about the meaning of words at a time like this? “It means it will fix what happened. Do the opposite, perhaps?”
“It comes from Latin,” the old lady replied. “Antidotum. Meaning remedy against poison.”
“Yes, that’s what I want,” Delilah replied. “The remedy against it.”
“No.” Madame Rosa shook her head. “Ye see, Cupid’s Elixir isn’t a poison, lass. There is noantidotumfor it.”
A chill spread through Delilah’s body. “There must be some way to fix it. To reverse what it’s done.”
“Did it do its work?” Madame Rosa asked. “Did it bring true love to the heart of the one whose eyes were touched by its essence?”
“Yes,” Delilah said flatly, “but I accidentally put it on the eyes of thewrongman.”
Madame Rosa’s soft laughter filled the stale air of the room. The Roma woman was laughing. This had to be the worst moment of Delilah’s life, and the woman was actually laughing at her. Delilah hung her head.
“There’s nothing funny about this,” she whispered. “I’ve made an awful mistake. I’ve ruined someone’s life.”
“No, no, lass,” Madame Rosa said, shaking her head again. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Delilah pulled her handkerchief from her reticule. She wanted to rip the thing in half. “I’m afraid it is. You don’t understand the situation.”
Madame Rosa smiled up at her, exposing her mostly toothless grin. She reached over and patted Delilah’s face with a papery hand. “There is nothing I can do,” she said. “Verus amor nullum facit errata.”
Delilah stood. The room seemed to be closing in around her. She’d no idea what the old woman had just said. She barely paid any attention in her Latin studies—the subject had bored her senseless. Something aboutthe mistakes of love. But whatever the lady had said, Delilah was clear on one thing: Madame Rosa obviously had no intention of helping her. She spun toward the door. “Let’s go, Danielle. We’ll find no assistance here.”
Danielle nodded, stood, and quietly followed Delilah out of the shop.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Delilah spent the ride to her mother’s town house staring blankly out the window. “I cannot believe she wouldn’t help me,” she said to Danielle, who sat beside her and patted her hand.
“She said there was nothing she could do,” Danielle offered.
“Absurdité. There had to besomethingshe could do. If the Roma have a potion that can make a person fall in love, why in heaven’s name do they not have a potion that can reverse the effect?”
“I’m not certain these things work that way,” Danielle replied softly.
Delilah sighed. “Obviously not. I’ve been such a fool. How am I going to explain this to Thomas?”
The coach pulled to a stop in front of her mother’s house.
“Don’t worry about it tonight, dear,” Danielle said. “Get some rest. Things may look better in the morning. Sleep tends to fix many problems.”
Delilah gave a vague nod. Sleep sounded good. She could only hope her mother had already retired for the evening. She couldn’t face the woman tonight.
