Chapter 24
Robert was holding an unofficial meeting today at 12 Templeton Row.
It must have been an important meeting, so no matter how close he was with his daughter, he wouldn’t have come to personally fetch her.
It was probably a lie.
Claude smirked, politely returning the nobles’ greetings before leaving the theater before the opera ended.
He thought to himself that courting her would not be so easy.
* * *
“At Atkinson Art Supply, paints, canvases, brushes, pastels, and more are 50% off! The sale ends today! Prices return to normal at sunrise tomorrow! Last chance today!”
Amidst the bustling crowd, a vendor’s voice rang out loudly. Felice, heading quickly home, halted at the sound.
The news of half-price sales made Felice instantly think of the brushes in her art kit. The tips of brushes #2 and #6 were heavily frayed. They’d been used for a long time, and the bristles were thinning.
Though not financially well-off, she felt like at least taking a look.
Felice pushed through the crowd.
Just as she thought she’d escaped the throng, she collided with someone standing at the very end.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Startled, Felice gave an awkward smile and looked up.
She couldn’t believe her eyes — an unexpected person was there.
“Cl… Claude…”
Felice quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn’t expected to meet Claude outside.
Come to think of it, their first meeting had been on the roadside too.
Slowly lowering her hand, Felice guessed that passersby would find their attitude strange, as they clearly looked acquainted.
While Felice was lost in thought and trying to adjust her behavior, Claude quietly watched her from under the store’s awning.
If the cigarette in his mouth hadn’t been burning away with a crackle, time might have seemed to stand still.
“Oh, I… sorry.”
Felice apologized again, this time more naturally. Claude stubbed out the cigarette on the ground and smiled gently as if speaking to a stranger.
“It’s okay.”
“Cough Oh, yes. Cough cough“
Felice quickly nodded. She had been so startled seeing Claude she hadn’t noticed others around smoking.
The smoke drifting in the wind made Felice cough harder; her eyes turned red, tears welling up.
“Cough cough Well then… sorry. Cough cough“
She barely managed to answer, covering her mouth with her palm.
Suddenly, Felice stopped in her tracks before entering the art supply store.
If she went in now, Claude would find out about her painting hobby.
That couldn’t happen.
Glancing around the art supply store, Felice saw many men smoking nearby; on her right was a tailor’s shop, and on her left, a bookstore.
Still covering her mouth, she quickly turned toward the bookstore.
“…Weren’t you heading to the art supply store?”
At that moment, Claude pulled a handkerchief from his chest pocket and offered it to Felice in a calm voice.
“Oh, thank you… yes?”
“You were walking this way, responding to the art store clerk’s voice.”
Had he been watching all along?
Felice looked up at Claude as she took the handkerchief, her blue eyes quietly shining from the shadow under the awning.
She recalled their lesson two days prior — the moment Claude’s longing eyes had looked at her in the curtained room.
His current dry, distant gaze was completely different.
Blinking several times, Felice snapped back to reality.
Though it was a lesson, the shock of their first kiss seemed to have left a strong impression.
She really hated it!
She almost bit his tongue.
“Oh, well… I was just about to buy a newspaper at the bookstore. It just suddenly came to mind.”
She added hastily, as if explaining. Though she doubted he’d believe her.
“Is that so?”
Claude surprisingly accepted with little fuss, then left without asking more.
Felice blinked blankly and took a few steps toward the bookstore but then turned around.
She frowned sharply, clutching the handkerchief tightly as she watched Claude’s retreating figure among the passersby.
Why did that moment suddenly flash into her mind…?
Felice rubbed her mouth with the back of her hand and was startled by Claude’s scent lingering at her nose.
“Oh, the handkerchief!”
Felice frowned in embarrassment.
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