Lucy pulled the silver spoon from her teacup and set it on a nearby napkin. “You’re making no sense, dear, and that’s coming from someone who is often told by others that she’s making no sense. If you want Thomas, I don’t see why you shouldn’t have him.”
“Haven’t you been listening? Thomas doesn’t truly love me.”
Lucy arched a brow and expelled a long breath. “Wait. I admit it’s not usually my way, dear, but perhaps we should look at this predicament logically. Does Thomas meet your criteria? Your list, I mean.”
Delilah froze and blinked. “I’ve never considered it before.”
Lucy nodded. “What are the qualities, dear? Remind me.”
In all the confusion over the past weeks, Delilah had completely forgotten about her list of future-husband qualities. But Lucy was entirely right. She could indeed apply the list to Thomas. She ticked them off on her fingers. “Thomas is eligible, kind, intelligent, funny, healthy.” She cleared her throat. “And I’ve recently discovered he’s quite handsome and kissable.”
Lucy lifted her teacup to her lips. “Sounds perfect to me. He’s also fiercely loyal to those in his inner circle, dear. You are both quite alike that way.”
“But he loves me because I drugged him,” Delilah answered miserably.
Lucy tilted her head to the side. “Perhaps.”
Delilah winced. “There’s one more quality on my list that I didn’t mention.”
Lucy pointed her nose in the air. “What is it, dear?”
Delilah swallowed. “Forgiving.”
Lucy took a sip of tea. “You know what I always say, dear.”
“Be bold,” Delilah said in a voice that was anything but.
“That’s right. So what do you intend to do?”
Delilah smoothed her skirts and rose from her seat. “I need to make this right.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The carriage pulled to a stop on Lombard Street in the pouring rain. The coachman opened the door for Delilah, but she didn’t wait for him to pull down the stairs. She nearly jumped into his arms, forcing him to lower her to the muddy ground. She lifted her skirts and rushed down the street, mud splattering her stockings and gown. Her hair melted into her eyes, and she swiped it away with one hand, but she kept running until she made it past the little white gate and stood before the green front door to Madame Rosa’s shop.
She knocked heavily, but didn’t wait for an answer. She pushed open the door and lunged inside, breathing heavily, heart hammering, hair plastered to her head. She glanced around the darkened, sweet-smelling shop. A few candles burned here and there, illuminating the space enough for her to see that Madame Rosa sat at the little table in front of her perfume vials. The old woman looked up at Delilah, but didn’t appear to think anythingout of the ordinary about a young lady arriving wet and muddy on her doorstep.
“Madame Rosa,” Delilah called.
“Come and sit, lass,” the old lady said. “I’ll get ye some tea.”
She stood slowly and, using her cane, shuffled off behind a curtain in the back of the shop. When she returned, she held a teacup in her free hand and had a shawl slung over her shoulder. She resumed her seat and propped her cane against the side of the table before handing the teacup and the shawl to Delilah, who had settled onto one of the rickety wooden chairs in front of Madame’s table.
“Ye’ve come again,” Madame Rosa said, her eyes searching Delilah’s face.
Delilah pulled the shawl around her shoulders to keep herself from shivering and took a tentative sip of the strong herbal tea. “You remember me?”
“Of course I remember ye, lass. Ye wanted ta reverse the effects of Cupid’s Elixir.”
Delilah nodded. “You told me it couldn’t be done.”
“And so it cannot,” the old woman replied.
“There must be something, Madame Rosa. Some way to fix it.” Tears choked Delilah’s voice. “Something I can do.”
Madame Rosa’s eyes filled with sympathy. She reached out and patted Delilah’s hand. “Tell me, lass. What happened?”
Delilah forced herself to take another calming sip of tea. “I sprinkled the potion on the wrong man’s eyes. When he awoke, he told me he was in love with me. Since then, I’ve come to love him too. Only I refuse to marry him if he only loves me because of the potion. I cannot live a lie.”
