Page 48 of The Danger of Desire
Delia sighed. Brilliana wasn’t making idle threats. Once she made up her mind about something, she acted. And she’d clearly made up her mind about this. “Is there no way I can talk you into going along with my plans?”
“None.”
With an unladylike oath, Delia dropped onto the bed.
Softening, Brilliana came to sit next to her. “Come now, dearest, there are better ways to handle this. With the money you’ve already amassed, we can whittle away at the debt. I’ve been reading up on estate management, and trying to figure out if I could make some changes—improve our situation.”
“There’s not enough time for you to learn everything that my fool of a brother refused to teach us,” Delia said.
Brilliana stiffened. “Perhaps not. But still, you might find a nice gentleman to marry at your friend Clarissa’s house party, you know. And then you’ll be well out of this mess.”
“Without seeing you and Silas happy and secure first? No thank you.”
“Delia...”
“Look, you can make me go to parties and balls and flit about society with you and Aunt Agatha. You can even make me stop gambling in the hells. But you can’t make me marry some fool and leave you and Silas to fend for yourselves. I won’t do it.”
It was Brilliana’s turn to sigh. “Then I suppose we’ll be struggling through this together.”
Delia slanted a glance at her. “That’s not such a bad thing, is it?”
“Not for me, it isn’t.” Brilliana hugged her. “But I think you’re worrying for nothing. We might each find a nice gentleman at the house party, someone we can love, who will solve all our money troubles.”
“You’re not bothered that it’s being thrown by Clarissa, whom you keep avoiding?”
“I’m not avoiding her. Honestly, I don’t know where you get these ideas. I don’t even know her.”
“You’ll like her, I swear. Except her matchmaking can be annoying.”
“Undoubtedly,” Brilliana said distantly. Then she apparently shook off her odd mood, for she added, “And if you really want to gamble, I’m sure there will be games there. They won’t be for great stakes, but—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Delia said. “I’m not like Papa, or, apparently, Reynold. I don’t gamble for the fun of it. I could go my whole life without ever gambling again. I don’t need any sort of stakes to enjoy playing cards.”
Then it dawned on her. Clarissahadhinted that she was inviting a number of eligible bachelors to Stoke Towers. No doubt they would be men of rank.
Delia’s eyes narrowed. And who was to say that the tattooed lord might not be among them? So she didn’t have to give up her efforts to find him. Perhaps Clarissa’s house party wouldn’t be a waste, after all.
“All the same,” Brilliana said, “you ought to relax and enjoy this party. Who knows when we’ll have another chance to live so lavishly at someone else’s expense?”
“True.” And who knew when she’d get another chance to find Reynold’s nemesis?
She would simply make sure she got a glimpse of the wrist of every fellow there. Not even Brilliana or Warren could stop her from doingthat. And if she happened to play a few games of cards along the way to trap a card cheat, then so be it.
Twelve
Warren’s carriage pulled up in front of Stoke Towers long past the dinner hour. That was sure to earn him a tongue-lashing from Clarissa, but he didn’t care. He had only come to their house party to make certain all was well with the Trevor ladies. And to discreetly pay Delia the thousand pounds he owed her. He might not even stay once that was done. There was no need.
Because Delia hadn’t shown up at Dickson’s last night, which meant she’d come to her senses. Either he had frightened her off, or stealing her pistol had made her cautious, or...
His advances had alarmed her.
If they had, he ought to be happy about it. Yet he wasn’t. He didn’t like thinking that their kisses and caresses might have made her wary of him.That she might be avoiding Dickson’s to avoidhim.Because that smacked too much of what had happened to Clarissa.
Damn it, it wasn’t the same. Delia had been willing. She had practically thrown herself at him. She had been wet for him, had wanted him.
And the feeling was so mutual that he’d barely stopped thinking about their encounter ever since it had happened. He kept wondering how it might have felt to have her mouth on his chest, her hand on his cock, her—
God, he had to stop this madness! As soon as he was sure that Delia had attended the party and was behaving herself, and as soon as he managed to give her the money he owed her, he could leave.
