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Chapter Seven
Carmen opened her eyes. The little girl was gazing at them with her eyes wide. Immediately, they sprang away from each other. While Arthur coughed into his hand, Carmen found something very interesting to notice on one of the bookshelves.
“I apologize for coming in here without permission, but I heard her voice and had to come see her,” she said, looking at Carmen. She smiled at her and Carmen automatically smiled back. Her heart ached. The little girl reminded her so much about someone she had lost years ago. If she grew up healthy and hearty, she would be the same age around her.
“That’s fine, Nora,” her father said gruffly. “Did you have your breakfast?”
Nora, so that was what her name was.
She nodded enthusiastically and then her eyebrows drooped. “It sounded like you were arguing.”
“We weren’t,” Carmen said, trying to assure her.
“He was being mean to you, wasn’t he?” Nora asked in a small voice. “I apologize on his behalf. But don’t let that color your impression about him. He’s a good man.”
Carmen highly suspected that he had a bone of niceness in him, but she nodded anyway. It was obvious that the little girl adored her father and he seemed to treat her well.
“Nora,” the Duke said abruptly. “You must return to your governess immediately. It is time for your lessons.”
To Carmen’s surprise, Nora ignored her father’s words and walked up to her. “What’s your name, lady?”
She had the urge to tell her that she was no lady, but instead she bent to her level and said, “My name is Carmen, dear.”
* * *
Her name was Carmen. Arthur had thought about her every single day in the past week. Try as he might, he just couldn’t put her past his mind. He assumed that it was because of the music hall, but now he knew it washer.
“I’ve been looking forward to your music hall very much. I even convinced my governess, Mrs. Cooper, to go with me!”
Carmen glanced up at him with a question in her eyes. Arthur cleared his throat, uncomfortable under her gaze. He could almost wither at the way she was looking at him. “I see,” she said shortly.
Nora clapped her hand together, giddy with joy. “I can’t wait. When do you think we can have a date for the opening? I would want to visit as soon as possible. You see, I like music a lot and—”
“Slow down, Nora,” Arthur said to his daughter gently. She had a habit of speaking too fast since she was a child. With the help from her governess, he had been able to curb this habit to some extent, but not her wild spirit.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Nora said, taking the woman by her hand. “Come, I’ll show you around.”
“No,” Arthur said firmly. Under no circumstance would he allow his daughter to be around this woman.
“Why not? I’m certain Mrs. Cooper wouldn’t mind as much. You see, I’ve already finished all my lessons for this week,” Nora said, pouting.
Arthur hesitated. He needed to deal with this in a delicate manner. Before he could speak, however, Carmen did. “So, you like music? What instruments do you play?”
“I play the clarinet and the violin, but I wish to learn the pianoforte. Mrs. Cooper says I have clever fingers and it may be more suited to my talents,” Nora said.
He needed to have a word with Mrs. Cooper. He had already explained the restrictions of the household when it came to music, but the woman seemed to disregard his instructions often.
“And how’s your governess?” Carmen asked. Arthur noticed the way the woman looked at Nora—softly, almost as if she were talking to her own daughter. He briefly wondered if she had any kids of her own. While he was purchasing the property, he had asked his lawyer to find out preliminary details of the occupants. From what he was able to gather, they were a group of about twenty who were primarily pleasure woman.
Arthur looked the woman up and down. She was hinged at her hips as she spoke to Nora and he couldn’t help but notice her statuesque figure. She could make all heads in the room turn to her, even if dressed so shabbily. He had met one of the famous London courtesans years ago, before he was married, and even her seductive charm wouldn’t hold a candle to this woman who probably had no idea about her hold on men. No doubt she was probably popular amongst them too, a thought that irrationally irritated him.
“Right, Papa?” The voice of Nora calling to him brought him back to his senses. Both of them were looking at him, and Carmen was scowling as if she knew exactly what he had been thinking. He flustered. Maybe he had gone without womanly company for so long that his mind had decided to make up for it by these preposterous thoughts.
“Yes, sweetheart,” Arthur said, even though he had no idea what she was talking about.
“See, Papa agreed to it too. Let’s go, I want to show you our house,” Nora said, pulling Carmen out of the study.
Arthur frowned, realizing that he had made a grave mistake. “Come back here this instant—” he said, following them out of the room.
