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Chapter Five
Remi was determined to leave. Carmen saw that in her eyes, and she couldn’t do anything to stop her, either. “Where will you go?”
“He has an apartment set up for me,” Remi said. “I lived there when he took me as his mistress.”
“Are you certain you want to return back to him?” Lily asked. “The man hurt you.” She motioned at the various injuries all over her body. Carmen knew that Remi wasn’t happy here. Her eyes grew sadder and sadder every day in the past week that she had been there.
“Yes, I’m certain,” she said.
Carmen took out her purse and handed some coins to her. “Take this. You may need it.”
Remi took it gratefully and then with one last look at both of the women, she left.
“Why did you let her go?” Lily asked.
Carmen shook her head. “Anybody who wants to stay here has to choose to do so on their own. We respect everybody’s choices and freedom, otherwise how are we different from the men?”
“She’s right,” Elaine said. “We’re all here because we want to be.” She was carrying a big pot that she promptly deposited on the counter. A few other women carried in plates to serve lunch. They all ate together on the floor since they didn’t have a table wide enough to fit them all at once. Some of the old furniture that they had managed to acquire was given away from the workers who were repairing the main hall.
“And we’re happy,” Willow said. “Carmen saved me from literal hell. If Remi wants to go back to it, there’s not much we can do about it.”
“Let’s not be that harsh,” Carmen said. “She loves the man.”
“And love makes a fool out of us all,” Lily said with a dreamy sigh.
“Who do you love?” Elaine asked, looking at her with interest. Lily smirked. “It’s a secret I would like to keep to myself.”
Carmen checked the watch. She had to check up on the workers before she left for the Duke’s residence.
“Won’t you have lunch?” Queenie called out when she was leaving. Queenie, at sixteen, was the youngest amongst them and had been the victim of an alcoholic father who had sold her off to a much older man. When she had managed to escape, she had come looking for Carmen because she knew who would help her. Carmen never turned away anybody from her doors. That’s why Carmen had decided to look for a bigger place to live in the first place.
“I’ll have it later,” Carmen said. She walked away from the room, took a winding staircase and crossed a long hallway to get to the other wing of the building, which was in relatively better condition. She looked around in the dome-shaped amphitheater. The seats from the old theatre had remained and could hold about fifty or so people at once, but the stage was being reconstructed from the ground up.
The workers were carrying around logs of wood. Open rafters raised to the roof of the theatre while a chandelier was slowly being roped up that provide the light for the small stage. Sunlight streamed in through the slat windows which had been opened to clear the mustiness of the hall. She could almost imagine the pianoforte center stage as her fingers moved nimbly over the keys.
“Everything all right?” Carmen asked one of the workers nearest to her. She hadn’t hired a contractor. Instead of spending extra coins to have a man boss her around, she had decided to oversee the renovations herself.
“Yes madam,” he replied. “I estimate that our work will be done in about three weeks!”
Carmen beamed. “That’s great news.” They were right on track for the opening. After the last street show, they had managed to garner some attention from people who looked eager to come see them perform. The ticket prices were nominal, and it was done so that people of all classes could attend it without the cost burning holes into their pockets. She and Lily had already calculated their overhead cost and figured that if they managed to secure patronage of at least two well-established people of the ton, they could make it work. Alas, it was easier said than done.
“I hope not everyone who comes to see us is like him,” Carmen muttered to herself. She hadn’t forgotten the man in the carriage, and neither did she forget his daughter. But it was him that she was vexed at. And to think that she had found him attractive! Carmen shook her head at the silly thought. She had sworn off men a long time ago and everything she saw them do made her hate them with even more determination.
She opened the sleeve of her dress and traced the scar. Her heart shuddered as she remembered everything that had happened to her before she had finally managed to run away to London. On her worst nights, he wasn’t too far away from her and he always managed to find her…
Carmen pulled herself out of the horrible thought when she heard a commotion in the distance. She walked to one of the slated windows and saw the same constable who had showed up at their door last week. This time, he was accompanied by two other men. She recognized one as her landlord immediately and the other was a stranger.
She frowned.What was he playing at?
She walked out of the building where she saw Lily, Elaine and a few other women on the steps speaking to the constable. “You can’t do that!”
“I have the papers right here,” the constable said. “It says so clearly. The establishment has been sold.”
“Who bought it?” Carmen said. Everyone turned around to look at her as she approached from the other set of doors, the one meant for the guests coming in for the concert.
She looked at her landlord who looked away in shame. He had been sold for a few coins, and she expected no better from him. Men were synonymous with disappointment. “I asked you who bought it!”
The constable gave her a smug look. “The Duke of Davenport. He’s one of the richest men this side of Thames.” Carmen was least interested to know about his title or wealth. She was more curious about the man himself and why he had chosen to buy this place.
