“What? Don’t you think he’s eligible?” Worry skitteredthrough Delilah’s middle. She needed Lucy’s help to accomplish this feat.
Lucy blinked rapidly. “Yes. Of course heiseligible.”
“He’s also rich and handsome,” Delilah added, carefully watching Lucy’s face.
“I hear he’s funny too,” Lucy continued.
“I don’t think he’s particularly funny,” Thomas interjected, a frown on his face. He stood and made his way to the window, looking out with great interest at something, as though the discussion did not hold his attention one bit.
“What’s wrong with Branville?” Delilah asked Lucy, pointedly ignoring Thomas’s remark.
Lucy glanced away, a hint of guilt in her eyes. “I… simply had no idea you would set your sights on him. And there… may be a problem.”
“A problem? What problem?” Delilah’s heart thumped faster. She leaned closer to Lucy and searched her face.
Lucy bit the end of her fingernail. “I recently learned that this Season’s most eligible debutante, Lady Emmaline Rochester, has set her sights on Branville.”
“Oh, no!” The sick feeling grew in Delilah’s middle. Lady Emmaline Rochester was a diamond of the first water. She’d been cleverly entertaining a variety of suitors all Season and hadn’t yet appeared to settle on any one of them.
“If I were you, I’d let her have him.” Thomas’s voice was grumbly.
Delilah sank to the nearby settee, still grasping the fairy wing. “I wish I had known that before I spoke with Mother this morning. I sort of… that is to say, Ididpromise her I’d secure an offer from Branville.” She bit her lip. “By my birthday.”
“Merely because he’s purported to be the most eligible bachelor of the Season?” Thomas uttered a sound of derision in his throat and turned from the window to face her.
Delilah nodded miserably. “You know how I get when Mother issues a challenge. She said I’m to marry Clarence Hilton if I cannot secure a better match.”
Thomas clenched his jaw. “You cannot be serious.”
“Not to worry.” Lucy folded her hands in her lap. “These things always have a way of working out. For all we know, Lady Emmaline is not Branville’s sort.” But a hint of concern sounded in her voice when she added, “When is your birthday again, dear?”
Delilah placed a hand on her roiling belly. She was certain she would cast up her accounts. “July twenty-first. The same night as our performance.”
“Excellent.” Lucy lifted her chin and presented a confident smile, the authenticity of which Delilah utterly doubted. “That will be plenty of time. You’ll have me, Cass, Jane, and all of our other friends helping you. You cannot possibly fail. Besides, you know how much I love a challenge.”
Delilah searched Lucy’s face for the truth behind the bravado. “What about Lady Emmaline?”
Lucy shrugged. “What about her?”
“She’s gorgeous and accomplished,” Delilah replied.
“So what, dear?” Lucy blinked at her.
“So… I’m… not. That’s quite a large problem, don’t you think?” Delilah crossed her arms over her chest.
Lucy waved a hand in the air again. “Problems, large and small, have never stopped us before. We mustn’t allow this one to. Be bold, I like to say.”
“You two never fail to amaze me.” Thomas threw himself into the chair again and blew out a breath of mild disgust.
“Thank you, dear.” Lucy patted Thomas on the shoulder.
“I didn’t mean that as a compliment,” Thomas replied.
She winked at him. “Perhaps not, but I took it as one. I think all statements should be taken as compliments whenever possible.”
“But I’m hardly competition against LadyEmmaline,” Delilah said. “I’m inelegant, impatient, clumsy, and—let’s see, what else does Mother say?—oh, yes, ungraceful.” She counted off each fault on a finger.
“Rubbish,” Thomas mumbled.
