Real love, harsh commitment

Chapter 71

"Delilah." Williamson spoke, "I believe I will use the gem I have brought now."

Delilah sighed, she had been pulled aside from afternoon tea with her fiancee to hear Williamson's declaration of an engagement to the now-arrived Miss Edwina Sharma. She couldn't be more unconvinced that he was unhappy.

"So you're quite set on your decision, then, I take it?" Delilah asked.

"I have made my intentions clear." Williamson nodded.

Delilah nodded sullenly, "You must know there is no need to hurry on such a momentous occasion. Look at me and Anthony, it took more than a season and a summer for us to become engaged."

"Deilah you have failed time and time again to talk me out of this-"

"The Sharma's have barely unpacked their things. You should take the opportunity to get to know one another." Delilah urged.

Williamson shook his head, "Mm. Unnecessary. Miss Edwina will make the perfect Lady, to be sure."

Delilah frowned, "I hope you are searching with a clear mind."

Williamson scoffed, "You have wanted me to marry so our arrangement was hereby terminated and now you wish me to postpone an engagement?"

"I only wish you to be certain, I want you to at least be happy," Delilah argued.

"Why do you wish me to be happy, you have been so tense since we got here it is as if you want me to reconsider and marry you."

"I never said such a thing. You have no idea what has happened here. I am tense for reasons other than an arrangement we both agreed was over now remove yourself, Williamson, from my vicinity!" Delilah yelled.

"What has happened here-"

"My father died!"

Williamson took a step back, "Delilah."

"No." Delilah panted, "No. Do not speak to me."

Delilah sobbed softly into Anthony's arms before suddenly he was gone and wrapped in questions and demands becoming on the spot the new Viscount. Delilah watched in agony before she was swept away in the crowds of staff and to the window where she and her father had previously been only hours before.

Everything was happening so fast, everything was happening so quickly.

She couldn't breathe, the house felt too heavy. She couldn't see, her feet blindly carrying her. It was a weight in her chest that had no boundaries and pushed everything up until she felt the rain beating down her back and her head thrown forward as vomit mutilated her throat and deprived her of her senses.

She sobbed in the rain. Delilah cried in the spot where her father had failed to breathe.

 Delilah refused to speak to Williamson, and he had given up retiring to his quarters to mope over whatever it is men decided to mope over. She joined the Bridgerton family in a lovely game of Pall-mall.

"This will teach Colin." Daphne spoke, "Last time, he put the wicket behind the goat barn."

Kate nodded in confusion, "What exactly are the rules of this game?"

"Kate, Pall-mall is less about the rules and more about the goal. Which is, of course, to hit your ball through each wicket. The first player to send their ball through the last wicket wins." Delilah explained.

Kate smiled, "Simple enough."

"Though," Daphne began, "if you are feeling devilish, you can use your turn to knock the opponent's ball as far away from their next wicket as you would like."

"Why waste a turn if the point is to get one's own ball through the wicket?" Edwina asked.

Kate shrugged, "To infuriate your opponent, I gather?"

"Precisely." Delilah smiled, "It is a poor player who plays the game, and a wise player who plays their opponent."

 Kate smiled looking around at the expansion of the Bridgerton grounds with a smile, "I believe I shall rather enjoy this game."

Delilah smiled at her before suddenly giving a big "o" with her mouth, "Now, Benedict is a solid shot, but he always avoids conflict. Colin is crafty. He will strike when you are least suspecting. Eloise concentrates entirely on defeating her older brothers. You want to hope she becomes so enraged, she forgets about us. Daphne is sweet until you turn a blind eye, I will not reveal my own tactic. And, Anthony."

Kate looked at her as she paused, "What about Anthony?"

"A most ruthless, calculated, and furiously good player. I myself would enjoy beating him. I feel today will be a battle between the two of us. We have always competed since we were young." Delilah explained.

"You love him," Kate stated.

"Yes." Delilah smiled, "I do."

Kate looked at her for a moment, "How ever did you find a man in him?"

 "Because of this game, I realized for the fact that he is not afraid to lose to me no matter how mad he gets."