Love Lightning Old Virgin
Chapter XXIII

Miss Dior, after observing with abominable satisfaction the impact this garbled remark had on Mr. Constantine, interjected by saying, “I have no sympathy for you, Belevia! Really, I think you deserve to be a fool by walking home instead of calling the train. About

“your sudden arrival', I'm glad you did because I wanted to introduce Mr. Constantine to you. He's Cherry's uncle. Mr. Constantine, Miss Harrow is my cousin, who is kind enough to be willing to stay with me.”

Mr Constantine was kind to Miss Harrow by bowing for a while, but speaking to the hostess, with a glance of a jaily smile, “Attending you, Madam?”

“Persis so!” miss Dior said, refusing to react to this temptation.

“You surprised me! I didn't think women your age would realize the need for an escort! Your name is Caroline? A change from, I'm sure, Agnes, but I love it! The name is suitable for you.”

“Yes,” exclaimed Miss Harrow, ready to defend her protected person, “for sure I do not know why you can like her, not that I meant to say it wasn't a very good name because I thought it was a very good name, but if the name was a change, it was a change, that name cannot be considered suitable for the esteemed Miss Dior, which I make sure is not changed in the slightest.”

“Thank you, Belevia!” miss Dior said, overflowing with excitement that is hard to resist. “I know I can count on you to prove my good reputation!”

“You can indeed count on me, Caroline Dear!” miss Harrow said, deeply moved. He widened his eyes towards Mr Constantine through tears that began to drip, and added, recklessly, “Before leaving, I will tell you, Sir, I will tell you, I guess you're so brazen about vilifying Miss Dior!”

“No, no, Belevia,” said Miss Dior, trying to speak with the proper composure, “you are being unfair to her! I guess he didn't mean to vilify me even though I admit I wouldn't be ready to dabble in such an uncertain possibility!”

“Based bees!” mr Constantine said, looking pleased.

Miss Dior flickered towards him, and gave rise to a twinkle of a reluctant smile in the man's eyes. “Let's not talk about my nature anymore! You've come to Rouen with discomfort to meet your nephew, but, it's a pity, he's not here at the moment. So, what's to do? You may not want to sit around here, forced to wait until he returns.”

“No, for God's sake, it won't! I swear you don't want me to do that either!”

“No, certainly. You'll be very disturbing to me. Maybe it's good if you have dinner here tonight.”

“No,” she said steadily. “You are very kind, Madam, but it would be better if you take her to dinner with me, at York House. I stayed there, and they seemed to have a good meal. I'll look forward to your arrival both at seven unless you prefer it over other hours.”

“Oh, no! Please do not expect me to participate. My waiter will drive Cherry to York House, and I feel confident I can count on you to bring her back tonight.”

“It absolutely cannot,” he said. “Your presence in any discussion about the future of Cherry is indispensable, believe me! I'm really expecting you to come to dinner with us. Don't disappoint me.”

“Nah!” miss Harrow said, with a very clear denouncing tone, as soon as Anash escorted Mr. Constantine out of the room. “How disrespectful is that guy, I must admit! Surely, Mr. Arthur warned us, and I really hope, dear Caroline, you won't have dinner with him tonight! How insolent he has invited you if you can call it an invitation, though I have never heard an invitation so improperly delivered. I guess you must have given him a scathing reproach, and I'd be surprised if you didn't!”

“Well, I did think of doing so,” Miss Dior admitted. “But, since he is, as you said very precisely, someone who is very disrespectful, I am not sure he will not reciprocate. I think it's been my duty to go with Cherry, at least to prevent the girl from falling out with her.”

“I make no effort to hide the fact that I think you do not owe any obligation to the girl,” Miss Harrow said, trembling with anger. “But I have an obligation to you, and don't tell me I don't have one because I won't listen to you! Lord Arthur and the honorable Lady Dior entrust you to my care, and though Lord Arthur did not say so, he intended so, and it was Great Lady Dior who said so. Just when I was about to get on the train, or if it wasn't then, when I was in the front room, or maybe in the sitting room in the morning, because she felt a little cold, she felt a little cold, and therefore not going out of the house even though I wanted to, but I begged him not to come out because the weather was very bad, which you must have remembered, so we split up in the front room”

“Maybe it is in the sitting room?” Miss Dior added.

“Can be: I'm really not sure, but it makes no difference. And, he said it clearly, when he said goodbye to me, or maybe after saying good-bye. Take care of him, Cousin Belevia! Means you, of course! And, I promise to take care of you, so I will keep it.”

“Thank you, Belevia, I believe I can count on you to help me if I ever find myself in trouble. But, right now I'm not in any trouble, so please, I beg you, straighten your hat, and trim your hair again! Your hair looks so tangled!”

“Caroline,” said Miss Harrow, lowering her tone, “that man is not worth knowing!”

“Omong empty! I thought Mr. Arthur said that to you, but what evil do you think he will commit, I can't guess. Do you suspect he's planning to use my kindness? If so, you are very wrong! He doesn't even like me!”

Miss Harrow was so shocked by this remark that she let out a soft shriek, and staggered away to her own room to write a restless letter to Mr. Arthur Dior, the one in which Miss Harrow assures that the man can count on her to do as much as possible to end this very unwanted friendship, and (in the same sentence) warned Mr. Arthur that Miss Harrow was worried there was nothing she could do to stop her beloved Caroline being stubborn.

When Cherry came home, it took a few minutes before Miss Dior could tell her the news of her uncle's arrival. Cherry was eager to tell at length the whole expedition detail that day. However, he finally stopped to catch his breath, and the visible changes in his facial water the moment he heard the ominous news almost felt laughable. The sparkling sparkle in his eyes instantly went out, a smile disappeared from his lips, he turned pale, and********* his hand. “He came to take me away! Oh, no, no, no!”

“Don't be that stupid girl!” miss Dior said, laughing at her. “I don't think he had any such intentions, though that might have been his original goal. But, until I told her what the real problem was, she didn't know Oliver's husband and Lady Raina were trying to match you up with Archard. You don't have to be afraid that he'll help them launch that noble plan because he's definitely not ready. He was very upset partly with them, and partly with you because you didn't write him to tell him this. So, when you see him, don't make him angry by looking at him or being arrogant! To me, he looks irritable as well as rude, and there's no point fighting with him, you know.”

“I don't want to meet him!” firmly Cherry, her tears began to glow.

“Now you're stupid all of a sudden, baby! Of course you have to see him! I'll take you to dinner with him at York House tonight so we can, the three of us, talk about what to do with you. Oh, don't look so anxious, you ludicrous girl! I promise I won't let him bully you!”

It took a long time before Cherry could be persuaded to agree to the plan, and she eventually agreed, it was obvious when he sat next to Miss Dior in the carriage that he did not accept this plan at all. Her charming little face looked sad, her eyes were full of anxiety, and it was not hard to guess she felt fear towards the uncle.