The feeling is mutual

I catch Simon sneaking back into the house the next morning, and he looks at me for a moment as he decides whether or not he is going to talk to me. "I am a rake, you have said it yourself."

"Yes. I am aware of that and I shall not hold it against you. I only wonder what your business is with Daphne." I lean against the back of my chair, sipping at my glass and raising an eyebrow. "Since I know you do not wish to marry or have children, I wonder why you should wish to court her."

"It is not anything I shall discuss with you, I am afraid." He rolls his eyes back at me as he removes his jacket from his shoulders, scowling a little. "You should not understand either way."

"Why? Because I am a woman? I am younger than you? Because I am not leading on an innocent and naive debutante even though I have no intention of ever seeing it through?"

"Exactly." He sweeps across the room and strides up the stairs, so eager to get away from me and this conversation. Suspiciously so, I deem it. Something else is going on and I intend to find out exactly what it is.

That morning I am invited to promenade with Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton, Daphne and Simon, and I am sure it shall not be a surprise to anyone when I tell you that Anthony is there too. He purses his lips tightly as he sees me, chattering under his breath to his mother and sighing. "I do not know why you insist on inviting her, mama. I do not know what you and Lady Danbury are trying to do but it is not going to work."

"If you are going to mutter, you might wish to do so a little more quietly, for I heard every word of that." I force a graceful smile, bowing my head. "Viscount Anthony, I can assure you that I wish to see you no more than you wish to see me. The feeling is mutual."

"You-"

"Come, Delilah! Me and you shall walk together for a few moments, I do wish to discuss my dress for tonight's ball with you." Daphne is quick to grip onto my arm and pull me away from the situation, as though she is sure that if she does not then either myself or Anthony shall begin getting rather impolite. "You two must learn not to hate each other so much. He is not going anywhere and I wish to be able to invite you to our home without worrying one of you shall start a boxing match!"

"It is not my fault that your brother is an short tempered ass. That seems to be a common theme amongst older brothers." I scowl a little but I do walk alongside her, as she smiles graciously at all of the men who look at her with bright and hopeful eyes as she walks past. "Any of these men shall want you Daphne. You do not want Simon, I guarantee that. He should be a horrible husband."

"He is merely courting me, Delilah. It does not mean we shall end up married or that he shall even propose!"

"He shall not propose."

"You do not know such."

"I do indeed know such. I know he shall never propose because he shall never wish to marry you. Daphne you must not waste your time expecting that you shall have wonderful promenades with him or that he shall send you flowers or... he is a rake and you should not spend your days on him for he is not worth them." I try to warm her but I can tell that nothing I am saying is meaning anything to her. She merely glances back at my brother, letting out a little sigh. "Right. I shall leave you to walk with him then."

I fall back and he scowls at me as he strides to catch up with Daphne and they fall into an instant conversation. Since Lady Danbury and Lady Bridgerton are talking, I do not have much choice in the matter but to walk alongside Anthony. "There is something not right about all of this."

"For once, I believe you may quite possibly be correct." He nods at another Lord as we pass them on the path, his voice low so no one else shall hear. "There is something wrong. Simon shall never marry, he has told me that multiple times previously."

"My thoughts exactly. I know he shall never marry nor sire an heir and so it makes no sense as to why he should get involved with Daphne." I find myself mimicking him, keeping my voice low as well so that we do not attract any attention with our conversation. "Why should he do such?"

"Perhaps he has changed his mind. Or perhaps he wishes to defile and ruin my sister." This seems to make him incredibly angry since the volume in his voice rises suddenly and I swear I see him clench his fists. "Hastings shall not marry, he has made that quite clear to me throughout our friendship. I do not like the thought of him embarrassing my sister."

"Neither do I. Despite what you may think, I like Daphne and I like... most of your family. With the obvious exception." I laugh a little, watching as he nods at the next noble man who strolls past us. "You are quite important, are you not? Or is it perhaps that they wish to be in your good books so they might also have a chance to defile your sister? Does Daphne even know what it should mean or why it is that you so insistently defend her from it? I do believe that that may even occur without her knowing that is what is happening since you insist on maintaining her... naivety."

"Cou do not speak of her like that. I do not know what you have been involved in in your lifetime, but I have kept Daphne well protected from such things. You shall not mention them to her or speak of them with her. It is not your place." This seems to truly irritate him, narrowing his dark eyes at me.

"You wish to keep her completely in the dark over these things? What? Until she marries and she must learn these things for herself? You men are allowed to do and speak of what you wish but a single word from me-"

"You are a lady and you should learn to act as such, you should not even think to discuss these things with me!"

"You are not my father nor my brother nor have any meaning to me whatsoever and so it truly, truly, and I mean this from the bottom of my very heart, it does not matter a single word that you say to me. Your words, they go into one ear and instantly out the other. They have absolutely no meaning to me." I shrug a little and continue to walk, smiling at him.

"As you said earlier, the feeling is mutual. All I know is that we must put a stop to this before it can go any further. We must ensure that nothing improper shall happen and that he does not have bad intentions."

"You are asking for my help?" I stop in my tracks, smirking a little as I watch him closely.

"I do not wish to but it only makes sense. You must speak with Daphne, I shall speak with Simon. You shall report back to me all that she tells you... see if we cannot figure out between the pair of us what exactly is at play here."

"You want us to work together like a couple of detectives?" I hesitate for a moment as I think about it, before nodding. "I shall help you but only if you shall gift me the remainder of that bottle of whiskey we had the previous night. I cannot stop thinking about it."

"Fine."