Love Lightning Old Virgin
XXXVI CHAPTER

By the time Miss Dior had said goodbye to the last remaining guests, she felt even more tired than she had ever felt before at the end of a party. Everyone, except himself and, perhaps, Mr. Constantine seemed to be enjoying the feast, which he considered a bit of a solace to him for having missed a very unpleasant evening. Cherry is in a state she calls merry at the party the girl wishes the party could last forever! Miss Dior, who could hardly help but be amused, told her to go to bed, and was about to follow her when she found Anash preventing her, was clearly waiting for a chance to talk to her. Miss Dior stopped, looking in question, and Anash, he, unwittingly making his mistress' night unpleasant by revealing a smile from someone carrying the glad tidings that Mr. Arthur has arrived in Rouen, and hope Miss Dior sees her for a while before going to bed.

“Mr Arthur?” Miss Dior repeated in confusion. “Here? Gosh, what has happened that made him come to Rouen at this late hour?”

“Well, don't worry, Miss Caroline!” Anash said, in fatherly style. “It's just a toothache problem that Mr. Luke is having, and that Big Lady Dior thought it might be an abscess, so she wanted to take him to Mr. Westcott immediately. Mr. Arthur arrived twenty minutes before you went down to dinner, but when he saw you were having a banquet party, he said, he told me not to say anything to you about this until the party was over. Mr. Arthur was dressed in a riding suit, and had no evening wear, and did not wish to attend the banquet in a dirty condition. Which is of course very understandable. So, I told Jane to make the bed in the blue bedroom, Madam, and myself have brought her dinner, which I know is what you would want me to do.”

Miss Harrow, who had paused in her somewhat futile attempt to tidy up the living room to listen to this conversation, exclaimed, “Oh, pity Lord Arthur! If only I knew! I'll be right up to make sure she's comfortable I don't mean to say Jane's unbelievable, because she's a very reliable girl, but still! Little Luke, too! His father must have suffered, because there is nothing worse than the pain experienced during a toothache, especially if there is an abscess, as I know it well, for I will never forget the torment I felt when I was”

“Luke was the one who suffered from toothache, not Arthur!” sergeant Miss Dior, cut this monologue without manners.

“Well, I know, dear, but seeing the suffering of the child, inevitably makes a loving father suffer too!” said Miss Harrow.

“Oh, bullshit!” caroline said, and went upstairs to knock on the blue bedroom door.

He finds his older brother flipping through the pages of the magazine Anash has prepared for him. A bottle of brandy was placed on a small table nearby, and she held a glass, which, when her sister entered, contained it before putting it on the table and standing to greet her. “Well, Caroline!” he said as he greeted her by peeping her cheek.

“It looks like I have come to visit you at an inopportune time, right?”

“I certainly hope you tell me about this arrival, so that I can have time to prepare for your visit.”

“Oh, no need to worry about it!” abugn. “Anash has taken care of me very well. The thing is, there is no time to tell you because I was forced to leave Chateau in a hurry. I'm sure Anash told you why I came here?”

“Yes, I know Luke has a toothache,” Miss Dior replied.

“Truely,” Mr. Arthur nodded. “Her toothache suddenly worsened this afternoon, and we fear there may be an abscess forming at the root. Most likely, it was just a pus-filled boil on the gums, but for Majorie, the only solution was to bring Luke to Rouen so Westcott could examine it, and assess what it was best to do.”

Something in Mr. Arthur's attitude, which seemed like the attitude of someone happily repeating the words he had been trained in, made Miss Dior immediately suspicious. He said, “It doesn't seem necessary to take a child a long way to pull out a tooth. Sure it would be better to take him to Frome?”

“Ah, you're thinking of old Melling, but Majorie doesn't believe him. We're strongly encouraged to take Luke to Westcott. It's not good, you know, to ignore the advice of a trusted source. So I went ahead of the Majorie, to ask Westcott to do whatever he thought he should do tomorrow, and to ask you, My sister, if they can stay with you for a day or two.”

“Majorie and Luke,” clear Mr. Arthur, “And nurse, of course, to look after the children.”

“Did Majorie bring her baby too?” miss Dior asked, in a carefully controlled voice.

“Ya oh, yes! Well, Majorie can't take care of Luke alone and she can't possibly be expected to leave the baby without a nurse taking care of her, you know. But, they won't trouble you, Caroline! In this big house of yours, there must be a room for two little kids and their nurse.”

“True once! It's just as true that they won't trouble me! But, they would be very troublesome to my servants, none of whom were used to working in a house that had a nursery to serve. So, if you intend to charge your family to me, I beg you to also bring along the maid who serves the nursery in the entourage.”

“Of course if it is troublesome for you to receive my family”

“Very troublesome!” cut it. “You know very well there's a Cherry Constantine living with me, Arthur! I'm surprised you expect me to host Majorie and your children at a time like this.”

“I must admit, I think your own family deserves your attention more than Miss Constantine,”, said Mr. Arthur, offended.

“You have absolutely no right to my attention!” Miss Dior became angry. “Cherry not either! Or anyone else! That's why I left the Chateau and came to Rouen, to be the mistress in my own home, not being responsible to you or anyone else, for what I chose to do, and not be a spinster aunt! Especially not that! Like Miss Vernham, who was only valuable for the help she gave her sister, could be relied upon to look after the children whenever Mr and Mrs Vernham wanted to go have fun to Paris, but at other times it is very limited in its activities. He could not escape because he did not have the money to do so. But, I have so much money, and I did run away!”

“You're talking nonsense!” refute Mr. Arthur. “I want to know what demands were ever asked of you when you stayed with us!”

“Oh, no! But, if someone lives in someone else's house, he's bound to share the task at hand, and who can know how much longer before you and Majorie say, Oh, Caroline will take care of it! He has nothing else to do!”

“I really believe your common sense went awry!” exclaim Mr. Arthur. “All this scorn is just because I tried to ask you to give my wife and children a ride for a few days! Trust me, Caroline”

“You didn't ask me, Arthur! You made it impossible for me to refuse by arranging for Majorie to leave for Rouen tomorrow morning, and knowing I would be forced to allow them to stay here.”

“Well, I was forced to do a hasty act when Luke cried in pain,” he said sulking. “She woke up all night, so long as you know, and now you expect me to write you a letter in the mail, then wait for you to answer?”

“Same is not that! All I expect you to do, should I know about this, is bring Luke to Melling as soon as he complains of his toothache no matter what Majorie thinks of his abilities! God, how much ability does it take to pull out one milk tooth? I'm sure Dr. Tarporley would pluck it out quickly in the blink of an eye, and let Luke sleep well tonight!”