AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s all right, you go ahead.”
“Don’t be silly, Carmen,” Elaine said, giving her a stern look. She pushed the bowl of soup into her hand. “You must be starving. Poor dear, what did the Duke do to you?”
“Nothing, he was perfectly civil,” Carmen said. She tore a chunk of bread and dipped it into the bread.
“Well, that’s a first for a man,” Mary snorted. The rest of them laughed and even Carmen couldn’t hold back a smile. There was something infectious and joyful living amongst these women. They found a reason to be happy even in the darkest of times.
“I’m to resume my position as his daughter’s music tutor,” Carmen further said.
“Well, that’s definitely a relief for us,” Tia said. “God knows what he would have done if he had been cross with you.” Now that Carmen knew somewhat about him, she suspected he would have just left them alone. It still didn’t explain why he hated the music hall, and music itself. Just hearing her sing had evoked such a strong reaction from him. It couldn’t be clearer that something deeply troubled him.
“When are you coming back to the docks?” Mia asked. “James was asking about you the other day. We’re short on labor.”
Between the music lessons and overseeing everybody there, she was finding it difficult to continue her job as the daily laborer down at the docks.
“Oh, let the poor girl rest, she’s already doing so much for us,” Elaine said, coming to her defense.
“We all appreciate Carmen for what she’s doing, especially now that she is employed by the terrible Duke,” Queenie said. Carmen had the odd urge to come to his defense.
“What about his daughter? Is she just as spoiled?” Lily asked.
Carmen shook her head. “On the contrary, she’s no less than an angel. She has a stunning voice too, just like her mother did.”
“Did?” Elaine asked.
“The Duchess passed away three years ago,” Carmen explained.
Just then there was a rather loud knock at the door. Carmen frowned. Who could it be?
“I hope it’s not the dreadful inspector,” Lily said, shuddering.
Carmen abandoned her bowl of soup and headed towards the door. “I’ll deal with him.” But she was surprised to see Remi standing on the other side. Her left eye was swollen and there were bruises under her jaw.
“Remi,” Carmen said softly under her breath. She knew immediately who had done it. The other woman staggered in and almost collapsed in her arms. “Remi, what’s wrong?”
“I lost my child,” she sobbed. The pain that erupted from the sound of her cries chilled her to the bone. The others came rushing out at it, gasping when they saw Remi leaning against Carmen. Just as she caught Remi around her waist, she let her entire weight rest on her. Carmen almost collapsed under her.
“We need a cot,” she yelled out. With the help of Lily who had come rushing to help her, they were somehow able to take her inside the resting quarters and lay her on a cot. That’s when Carmen noticed the blood on her skirts. She pushed the skirts aside and gasped. Blood was seeping into the cloth from her thighs.
“I lost the babe last night,” Remi croaked.
“She’s still bleeding,” Carmen said. “I need washcloths, lots of them and all the old newspapers that you have.” Immediately Queenie rushed out. She came back moments later and handed everything to Carmen, who sat to work immediately. She managed to tear a section of the skirts off with her hands and then proceeded to clean her.
Remi was burning so with one of the washcloths she put it on her head while she murmured soft whispers in her ears. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the bleeding stopped. Carmen stepped away and Lily took over, cleaning up the rest of the bloody mess. Remi fell into a dreadful sleep.
“How did you know what to do?” Mia asked. “You were so brave.”
Carmen swallowed. “I just know.” The truth was, she had given birth to her daughter without anybody’s help, lying prone in an open field while she was stalked by the man she had run away from.
Some of the women gave her pats and shakes as she left the room. Carmen couldn’t gather her own thoughts till she was away from everybody else. Her heart pounded, threatening to come out of her chest and she leaned against the wall to gather herself.
She absolutely hated the sight of blood. She looked down at her hands that were covered in blood and her hands started shaking, as she remembered something awful. The night smelled of hay and ruin and it was as if no time had passed since that day. She walked to the water basin and cleaned up herself. All the while she couldn’t help but feel the sinking feeling in her heart, the premonition of impending doom. Something terrible was about to happen.
