Love Lightning Old Virgin
Chapter XLIII

Great Lord Curtis immediately said he was leaving, stopping to express his anxiety towards Grand Madam Dior, and his hope that Rouen's air, was, as well as the affectionate attention that she knew very well would be received by Grand Lady Dior in the house of her sister-in-law, would soon restore her health back to the way it was before, she actually left.

Big Lady Dior said, when she was alone with Caroline, “How unfortunately did she do to you, dear! You shouldn't have asked for it because of me!”

“Yes, I know you have affection for her,” Caroline said, seriously shaking her head. “I'm sorry for refusing to help, but I think it's my duty to Arthur to keep such a handsome man away from you.”

“Shameful, Caroline! It's not worth it to play with that poor guy! Of course keep him away from me! How silly of you!”

“Not more silly than you, Darling.”

Big Madam Dior's eyes were directed at his face. “A...what do you mean?” she stuttered.

“Didn't you come here to keep Damien Constantine away from me?” Caroline asked him, a slightly insinuating smile scratched on her lips.

Big Mistress Dior's cheeks blushed. “Oh, Caroline!”

Caroline laughing. “Don't sound so pathetic! I know very well that this preposterous idea came from Arthur, not you.”

“Oh, Caroline, please don't feel upset!” Grand Madam Dior said in a pleading tone.

“I would never dare to guess I was so sure you would never do anything unwise. I asked Arthur not to interfere! Truly, I came to say that no one would persuade me to stay with you! I never nearly got into a fight with him because I know how upset you are about meddling like this!”

“I do feel annoyed, and really hope you don't give up on Arthur,” Caroline replied. “But, it can't be expected anymore, it seems. Oh, don't cry! I'm not mad at you, honey!”

Big Lady Dior wiped her tears, and said with a sob in her voice, “But, you are angry with Arthur, and I can't bear to see you angry so.”

“Well, that too can't be expected anymore.”

“No, no, don't say that! If you knew how anxious he was all along! How sorry he is for you!”

“I don't doubt that. We have great affection for each other, but we were never so sorry when we parted, as you know very well. His regret did not make him understand even the slightest bit of my nature. She continued to think of me as a childish girl, with no better thought than a fool, who was so ignorant that she always needed guidance, advice, prohibition, and the condemnation of an older brother who thinks he is much wiser than his younger brother, but if you're willing to forgive me for saying so, all this is just a matter of misunderstanding.”

These harsh words frightened the gentle Majorie, but she tried, bravely, to defend her beloved husband from his sister's condemnation. “You treated him unfairly, Honey! Really am! He always told people how smart you're with a watered brain, as he called it. She's very proud of your intelligence, and your beauty, but .. but she knows because how could she not know? that in worldly matters you are not as experienced as he is, and and his fear is that you may be deceived by a man who likes to have fun, that's the image of Mr. Constantine he described to me.”

“I wonder what makes poor Arthur so hateful to Mr. Constantine,” said Caroline, feeling very amused. “I will try to guess Mr. Constantine, at one time, giving Arthur one of his cruel reproaches. I remember Arthur telling me that Mr. Constantine was the roughest man in Paris, which was not hard to believe. He's certainly the roughest guy I've ever met.”

“Caroline,” said Big Lady Dior, slowing down her voice,

“Arthur tells me that Mr Constantine is a female player!”

“Oh, no! Has he disturbed your hearing with that term?” Caroline exclaimed, her eyes and voice filled with laughter.

“He did not disturb my sacred hearing with that term! That's what he meant, of course, when he said Mr. Constantine was a dangerous man he wouldn't have imagined he'd introduce me to, but when I asked him what he meant, the answer he gave was simply regretting my lack of subtlety of mind! Nah! You and I, Majorie, gained our first experience years ago, so let us, for God's sake, say that word in a casual manner! I would be surprised if a bachelor of Constantine's age had never been in contact with a girl of prostitution, but I was still more astonished at his apparent success in this! I guess it must be because of his wealth, because it's impossible because of his style of speech, because he doesn't have a good style of speech! Since our first meeting, he wasted a handful of opportunities to be so disrespectful to me, even to the point of telling me that Belevia need not fear him trying to tease me because he had no such intention.”

“Caroline!” Big Madam Dior gasped. “You must be kidding me! He can't say something so... so rude to you!”

“I hope I never had to meet him!” majorie replied with a scathing, insulted image of virtue.

“But, you will definitely meet her,” Caroline said wisely. “Remember his nephew and his guardianship are in my charge! He used to come to this house, to make sure that I would not allow the girl to encourage the friendship of wealth hunters like Denis Damitri, or to break the strictest limits of modesty. He doesn't think I'm the right person to look after Cherry, and doesn't hesitate to say that. He said he had always been very impudent: they became too polite when it came to their own female family members. I imagine it must be because they are too familiar with the tricks of the seductresses from their own experience. Anyway, honey, how could you protect me from him if you ran out of the room as soon as he was ushered in?”

Grand Madame Dior could not find an answer to this question, except to simply say, weakly, she had told Arthur there was no use for her husband forcing her to stay at Versailles.

“There is absolutely nothing,” Caroline agrees. “But don't let the ivu thing make you sad, honey! I hope I don't have to convince you that I'm always happy to receive you at my house.”

“Caroline Dear!” said Big Lady Dior, completely moved, and wiped away the tears that flowed again from the corner of her eyes. “Always very good! Much better than my own sister! Believe me, one of my heart's wishes is to see you married and happy with a man who deserves you.”

“Curtis?” ask Caroline. “I don't think I know anyone more worthy than him!”

“Ow, no! I really wish he could have you, but I know there's no chance of that: you find him boring, and a bully, and I sometimes think you refuse to see all his good qualities.”

“Oh, no! He has many good qualities, but the sad reality is that no matter how much I may honor the good qualities of a man, it does not cultivate in me the slightest love for him. Either I will marry a man who has many vices, or remain single which is the most probable destiny for me! We don't talk about my future anymore. Tell me about yourself.”

However, Grand Madam Dior said there was nothing to tell. Caroline asks him if he really intends to follow a series of steam baths from Russia, which instead make him giggle. “Oh, no, and that's what I told Arthur.”

“Well, he's counting on me to persuade you to do it. I told him that I considered it impolite to do such a thing. Do you really feel unwell?”

“No, no. I mean, I do feel a little flu, but there's nothing to worry about. And, of course, I'm deeply troubling Luke, who has made me look old and bad. I'm sure that's what got Arthur the chance to do one of his habits. Maybe I can even drink water just ... just to please her! Anyway, nothing to lose to me.”

“Unless the water made you feel as sick as I felt, on the only occasion where I decided to drink it. We'll see soon! Ever since Cherry stayed with me, I visited the Pump Room almost every day, so she could meet her new friend, who accompanied her mother to the pump room. I thought you'd met Mrs Stinchcombe, didn't she ever come to dinner here when you and Arthur visited me last year?”

“Oh, yes! Very nice lady! I remember him well, and would love to see him again. But, this Cherry! Where is he?”

“You will find him soon. He went for a walk in the Sydney Garden with Stonehenge and Edith Stinchcombe. He and Stonehenge have become almost inseparable friends, for which I am so grateful! I love the boy so much, but I admit, I found it boring to go anywhere with him. The activity of escorting someone is not an easy task, I guarantee.”

“Indeed no! I was shocked to hear that you accepted responsibility without being asked to look after Miss Constantine. You're too young to be any girl's bodyguard, whoever that girl is. Arthur thinks you should give him back to his aunt, and I have to admit I don't want to feel like he's got a point. I didn't mean to say the girl was unpleasant. Arthur was surprised by his manners which, as he told me, were excellent, but how much responsibility you had to shoulder, dear! I can't like it because of that.”

“Well, if she had to be with me at all times, I wouldn't like her either,” Miss Dior admitted. “She was a nice innocent little girl, never attended a high society gathering that she called “adult parties until she came to Rouen, and soon became popular. He's made the boys, I don't know how many, chasing him, and it makes me need to watch him more closely. Worse still, he's an important heir, a ripe bait for wealth hunters. Fortunately, Cheltenham's family - a nanny loved by her daughters - even Cherry liked her, but she hated all the nannies before so I could put Cherry under her watch when it was time to take a walk, or buy cheap jewelry in town. I just hope the Cheltenham stay at Versailles, but they don't live there. They had a house in Laura Place, so I had to drive Cherry when she visited them. But, Mr. Constantine gave me permission to hire a servant for him, who I think can be trusted to carry out my duties when needed

“But, Caroline, how important is escorting girls in Rouen? Well, even in Paris, my sisters told me this one day it is very common to see two girls walking together without a servant!”

“Two girls, yes,” said Miss Dior. “But, not a girl is alone, I guess. Mrs Cheltenham is a generous parent, but I'm pretty sure she won't allow Stonehenge to come to Versailles alone. And, in Cherry's case? Nope, no! No way! Although reluctantly, Mr Constantine has entrusted the girl to my supervision until he cleared up other plans for her, and how terrible the hardship I would have had if I let the girl get hurt!”

“Mr Constantine has no right to impose such responsibility on you!”

“Indeed. She had no other choice but to entrust the ivu girl to me because she herself, as she told me harshly, had no inclination to nurture, she said, and it is not rare to assume its own responsibility for Cherry. I appreciate that she has enough sense of responsibility for her guardianship to put the girl in the temporary guardianship of a very respectable woman, whom I feel confident is who I am! But, doing so was unfortunately contrary to his disposition, and I guess nothing will give him more satisfaction than my failure to keep Cherry out of any danger that threatens an inexperienced heiress when her first public appearance comes after finishing school!” He stopped suddenly, and, after weighing for a while, said, “No way I judged it unfairly. He will certainly get the satisfaction of knowing he was right by doubting my ability to take good care of Cherry, but I judged him correctly if I thought he would be really unhappy if Cherry was hurt.”

“I hope you never meet her,” sigh Big Lady Dior.