Love Lightning Old Virgin
XXXIV CHAPTER

The dishes were served in the dining room. The banquet was informal, but most of the young men present had invited the young girls of their choice to descend into the dining room with their control, and when Miss Dior, a skilled hostess, took the time to come down to the dining room, having paired wealthy widows with the right spouses, he finds himself face to face with Great Lord Curtis, who begs for the honor of delivering him to the dining hall. Miss Dior can confirm that tonight will be the most unpleasant night she has ever spent and that there seems no way to escape this additional disaster, so she will smile politely, and put his hand on the man's arm, when Mr. Constantine, who had come out of nowhere, immediately stood behind him, and said, “Too late, Curtis! Miss Dior promised me! You ready to go now, madam?” Miss Dior found herself in a daze. If he did not acknowledge this promise, the dispute between these two men would inevitably have Curtis's face already reddish. Whatever, he decided, would be better than a squabble in his house.

He forced a smile to adorn his lips, and said a lie, but calmly, “I'm afraid I did promise to allow Mr. Constantine to take me to the dinner table, Curtis. Will you help me by taking Belevia as my replacement?”

Mr. Constantine, after pulling Miss Dior's hand into her arm, and leading her out of the room, said reproachfully, “You know, that was a shame! Persuading your very famous suitor to accept your cousin as a substitute will very likely make him your enemy for life!”

“I know, but what else can I do, while Belevia is the only woman left in the room, and you have falsely claimed, as you know very well! I promised to come down with you? Of course there is nothing I would rather go with!” he said fiercely.

“Come on, that's really outrageous,” said Mr. Constantine. “You can't lie to me to believe you'd rather be accompanied by Curtis than me.”

“Yeah, it is!” Miss Dior confirmed.

“For I know very well you only want to be with me so that you can pressure me for inviting Denis Damitri to my party, and I will not accept it, therefore I will warn you. What right do you have to dictate to me about who I can invite or not invite to my party?”

“Remove all that anger,” his suggestion. “You will not quarrel with me, My girl, so do not show that unwarranted anger to me. I may regret your taste in regards to your admirers, but I don't think I've interfered with what is none of my business. And, if I press you, it won't happen in public, I promise.”

Somewhat calmed down, Miss Dior said in a more appropriate tone, “Well, I will admit, Sir, it is not my wish to include Damitri on my guest list. Really, I said everything I could, within the limits of politeness, to make him think he would find the party so boring. And, when the attempt was unsuccessful, I invited Cyril Curtis, and his friend, and Major Beverley, as well as several others.”

“With the belief they could spare Damitri, or the hope I might not see him among so many handsome youths?”

This statement is absolutely correct with a sufficient degree of accuracy to make Miss Dior laugh. He said, “Oh, how disgusting are you! And, the most unfortunate thing about this matter is, you made me so disgusting as well, which is very unforgivable!”

“I did not do that,” replied Mr. Constantine, a strange smile visible in the corner of his mouth. “That's why, I can't do it even if I want it.”

They had reached the bottom of the stairs at this moment, and were about to enter the dining room so Miss Dior didn't have to answer, which was great, because she couldn't think of anything to say. He could not even decide whether the man had given him a compliment or whether he had misunderstood the man because even if the words the man had spoken contained praise, he said, his tone of voice as it conveyed those words was calm and ordinary.

Mr. Constantine left it as soon as they entered the dining room, but returned within minutes with various kinds of pastel cakes for him, and a glass of champagne. Miss Dior was already in the middle of one group, and Mr. Constantine did not stay for long, but was later seen conversing with Cherry, who was eating ice under the supervision of Cyril Curtis. The girl greeted Mr. Constantine with delight, and a request to find out if she had ever attended a more enjoyable party. Mr. Constantine looked rather amused, but assured his nephew he had never. Cyril said, “Goodnight, sir! I told your niece Miss Dior is famous for giving her guests the best food and drink, but all she wants to eat is ice. Should I bring you another one, Miss Constantine?”

“Ya, please!” Cherry answered immediately. “And can I have a glass of lemonade? Oh, sir, will I like champagne? Mr. Curtis said I wouldn't like.”

Cherry picked up the glass, and sipped it carefully. The look of dislike on his face was ridiculous.

He returned the glass to his uncle, saying, “Ugh! Very unpleasant! How could people drink something so unpleasant? I thought Mr. Curtis was lying to me when he said I wouldn't like it, because he, and you, even Miss Dior, seem to really like the drink.”

“Now you know he doesn't lie to you.” Mr. Constantine took her seriously, and surprised the girl by saying, “Remind me, when I return to Paris to hand you your mother's set of turquoise stones. Most of the jewelry isn't suitable for girls your age, but I think the turquoise must be perfect. As I recall, there were also pearl brooches and matching earrings. I'll send it all to you.”

This unexpected statement amazed Cherry. He was only able to recover his condition to thank the uncle, but he did so eagerly that he made his uncle laugh, touched his cheek with one finger, and said, “Silly naughty boy! No need to thank me! Your mother's jewelry is yours. I only keep it for you until you grow up or until I judge you mature enough to wear it.”

After Mr. Curtis returned, Mr. Constantine left Cherry under the supervision of the young man, and returned to Miss Dior. The entire time, Miss Dior observed what had happened between Mr. Constantine and his nephew, then walked forward to meet him, saying in a voice laden with a guilty tone, “I have been so negligent! I should have told Cherry not to drink champagne!”

“Indeed it should be,” said Mr Constantine.

“Well, if you know that, I'm surprised you gave your glass to him!” miss Dior said, rather rudely.

“Do you like your first sip of champagne?” tanyakanya.

“No, I guess not.”

“Absolutely. Young Curtis had told him he wouldn't like champagne, so I proved the young man's remark.”

“Kukira,” said Miss Dior thoughtfully, “it may have been more intended for that purpose than to ban her from drinking champagne.”

“Of course more intended for that purpose.” Miss Dior gave a jaily smile to her, and muttered, “I guess, soon you will become an accomplished guardian.”

“Hopefully not so.”