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Lily took her by the shoulder and shook her slightly. “You have been stressed lately trying to give this music hall the best chance it has. You’re tired and your mind is playing tricks on you.”
Carmen shook her head. Frustration tore through her. Why did nobody want to believe her?
“Go to bed,” Lily said. “You need the sleep. We shall talk about it later.”
Carmen knew that there was no point in arguing. Beside her body had started to ache from the lack of sleep. Then there was Remi. She was obviously lying, but why? Carmen had so many questions running through her head and it was giving her a terrible headache. “We need to board up the broken window tomorrow,” she said.
“I will tell the workers to get to it the first thing in the morning,” Lily assured her. “But no more talks of Jaxon. We don’t need a bad omen, not when we’re so close to opening day.” Lily was right. Carmen nodded. Tomorrow would be different.
But she was wrong. When she went down to the breakfast, she could already feel a change in the air. A few of the women didn’t even acknowledge her when she walked in. She looked around her puzzled but then shook herself out of it. She was just being paranoid.
After breakfast was over, she stood up and cleared her throat. “Since we have a piano now, I thought we would make some changes to the performances to complement it better. I was thinking that—” She could tell that the women were reluctant, but she ventured on. “We could do some last-minute tweaks to some segments. Queenie, I really like your high notes, so I want you to lead the rest into chorus.”
“Me?” Queenie blinked.
Carmen nodded. “You’ll be a suitable candidate.” She could see some of the women talk amongst themselves instead of paying attention to her. Irritation snared her. “Do you have anything else to say?” she asked the two women and they immediately fell silent.
She sighed to herself. Things felt rather off here. “Please practice your parts. We have less than a week to go. Once I come back from the Duke’s place, we shall have a go at the new arrangement.”
“Aren’t you going there more frequently now?” Elaine asked. “I thought you were supposed to go there only thrice a week.”
“Well yes, I just needed to speak to his grace about something.”
Elaine nodded. “Of course.” Carmen narrowed her eyes. She could tell that wasn’t the intention of the older woman to ask her that question.
As she was collecting her cloak and her bonnet, she ran into Lily outside in the hallway. She was speaking to one of the workers furiously but when she drew closer, he started to walk away in measured steps. She frowned after him before turning to Lily. “What was that about?”
Lily sighed. “They’re asking for more coins to fix the damage, coins we can’t afford.”
“I’ll get my wages today,” Carmen said. “We can pay them after that.” She hesitated, knowing that she was going to sound crazy with what came out of her mouth next. “Everybody is acting rather strangely.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked.
“It almost feels like there is a seed of distrust for me,” Carmen said. “I know I haven’t come clean to them about it, but they may suspect me, especially after what Remi might have told them about me.” She knew people were already talking about her behind her.
Lily shook her head. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re overthinking this, and everything is fine. These women adore you.”
Carmen nodded. Lily was right. “I’m probably over-reacting.”
“Kind of,” Lily said. “Besides you know how much these women love and trust you. You’re absolutely fine, Carmen.”
Carmen felt relieved at Lily assurance. “Now hurry along, you’re late already,” Lily said ushering her towards the door. “And you don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of everything here.”
Carmen smiled. “I know I can count on you.”
* * *
Arthur had gone out for work and Carmen was waiting for him to come back. She had spoken to Mrs. Cooper for over an hour as the other woman insisted her for a cup of tea and sweet biscuits. She knew she had no reason to wait. She had already received her wages, so she accepted the slow torture that came from Mrs. Cooper giving her excruciating details of all her ten cats.
She looked out of the window and noticed that Arthur’s carriage had just stopped at the door. She sprung out of her seat and turned to Mrs. Cooper. “I’ll take your leave now.”
“I’m full and I really have to run along now.” Before Mrs. Cooper could stop her, she scampered out of the room.
Her heart began to beat fast when she finally spotted Arthur at the end of the hallway. He hadn’t seen her yet, so she hid behind one of the marbled columns. She had so many questions. Why did you send me the piano? It wasn’t as if he had anything to gain from it.
She startled when somebody tapped her on her shoulder. She would never not feel scared being touched in this manner. “Looking for someone?” Arthur asked playfully.
“Yes, you,” Carmen said suddenly feeling stupidly shy. She could hardly meet his gaze and her stomach seemed to tighten in anticipation of his touch. She liked him touching her. Few months ago, she was certain that she would never like a man’s touch on her ever again, but she had been proven wrong. Arthur was the only exception to the rules she had set for herself.
