The time they had spent dancing was enough for the guests that were lingering outside of the ballroom to finally make their way inside. Aurélie and Étienne were able to slip past everyone undetected, rushing through the now empty halls. Étienne helped his companion up the stairs, leading her towards Duke Delacroix’s office. He stopped a few metres away from it, turning towards Aurélie.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice low. 

Aurélie nodded and pulled out Celine’s vial from her bodice. 

“Here,” Étienne said, taking the little vial from Aurélie’s hands and opening it. He poured a small amount onto his handkerchief, his fingertips hovering over the delicate skin for several seconds before he gently dabbed the perfume on her neck. Aurélie watched him as he worked, each gentle touch sending a wave of excitement to her core. His dark blue eyes fell on hers. 

“Are you alright?”

The companion quickly nodded, before holding out her hand. Étienne closed the vial and placed it back into her hand, his own hand resting on hers for a moment before pulling away. He discarded the handkerchief in his pocket, before pulling out a clean one from his other pocket. 

“Here, use this once you are done to wipe away her perfume,” Étienne said before pulling out a new small vial from his waistcoat, “and use this to mask the scent afterwards.”

Aurélie looked down at the second vial that was now in her hand. A small silver raven rested on top of the vial, silver patterns encasing the glass. The vial was no bigger than her thumb. 

“Where did you get this from?” she asked, looking back up at Étienne. 

“The vial belonged to my mother. I thought it would suit you more than it does me. I hope you like the scent. I stumbled across it during our travels through Austria and it reminded me of you. Consider it a gift.”

Aurélie looked back down at the vial, speechless for several seconds. “Thank you, Étienne. I will cherish this.”

Étienne scratched the back of his head, hiding his slightly reddened face. “It is nothing. You better hurry. I will try and find Celine and use her to give you some more time. If anything goes wrong, leave and come back to me,” he said, turning back to Aurélie. “Hopefully you find what we are looking for. Remember, you have fifteen minutes.”

Aurélie nodded once before turning towards the hallway. To their luck, no staff members were walking around at this time of the evening. 

“Good luck,” Étienne whispered, kissing Aurélie’s hand and stepping back, giving her one last smile before turning around and walking back towards the stairs. Aurélie watched as he disappeared from her sight, her heart picking up its pace as she realised she only had a few minutes to find what they needed. She carefully made her way towards the door of the office, looking around herself several times to make sure no one was watching.  

 With shaking hands Aurélie reached out towards the door handle to push down and… nothing. She rattled it in desperation, her heart racing in her chest. The door would not budge and the companion was left standing in front of the locked office door, silently cursing. 

“What are you doing?” a voice popped up from around the corner, speaking in French. Aurélie snapped her head towards the voice and was met with Clara, who had her head tilted slightly. She was wearing her Dubois uniform, her light hair cascading down her back. 

Aurélie jumped back from the door. “Nothing.”

Clara raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her. “Come now, you can lie a lot better than that.”

“I suppose I could have thought of something better,” Aurélie said, before turning back towards the door. “I am supposed to look for something in here but the door is locked.”

“Snooping around the Duke’s office? What would Eleanor say?” 

“I would probably be under house arrest for several weeks.”

“And the Duke would kick you out of his castle and make sure that you were discharged from the Saint-Clair household. What are you looking for anyway?”

Aurélie thought for a while, lowering her voice. “Anything to prove that the attacks on both the Saint-Clair and Linnington families were not a coincidence.”

“Ah,” Clara said, walking over to Aurélie and standing next to her, “I see. And I suppose you are using Celine’s perfume so you do not get caught?” 

Aurélie nodded and watched as Clara pushed down the door handle and lifted it up, before pushing against the door. “Clever, considering how often she is in here. There is a little trick to opening this door that not everyone knows. The Duke uses it to his advantage.” 

Once the door was opened Clara turned triumphantly to Aurélie, smiling. Aurélie watched the companion in disbelieve. “Why are you helping me?”

Clara shrugged. “I have nothing better to do tonight. It is not the first time I am in this office either. I was in here earlier with Celine while she complained about your presence tonight to the Duke. Come in, maybe I can help you find what you are looking for.”

Aurélie wordlessly stepped into the room after Clara, not even bothering to feel upset by Celine as she looked around. The cold air was the first thing that she was met with. The office was spacious and minimalistic in design. Bookshelves lined the walls and a writing desk occupied the end of the room. A single chair for guests rested in front of the desk. Dark green curtains were pulled back from the windows at the end of the room, revealing the night sky. 

The dim light of a candle filled the dark room with a soft orange glow. Clara walked over to Aurélie holding a small candle, giving the companion a smile.

“Where do you want to start?” 

“Perhaps we can search the drawers and look for any letters?” 

Nodding, Clara walked over to the desk and began opening the top drawers on one side, while she beckoned for Aurélie to do the same. Both companions were met with several stacks. Wordlessly they began sifting through them, careful not to mess up the order that they were in. Several minutes of silence passed before Clara put back all of her letters and closed the drawer. She sighed softly and opened the drawer below, sifting through more letters. 

“Have you enjoyed yourself tonight?” she asked after a while, briefly looking over to Aurélie, who had her brow furrowed as she was reading. 

“I have,” Aurélie answered, without looking up from her letter. “Have you?”

“I was not allowed to go.”

Aurélie put down the letter and looked over to Clara. “Why not?”

“Celine did not want me there. I know better than to start questioning her orders,” Clara answered, also looking up from her letter and turning towards Aurélie. “I do not mind. Hopefully she drinks so much that she forgets about me tonight and I can finally enjoy some rest.” 

“Have you ever been allowed to join her in events? Surely the Duke hosts a few?”

“He does but no. I believe I might deter away too many potential suitors if I joined in these events,” Clara chuckled, shaking her head. “Though secretly I do think Celine is over men after what happened with Étienne, if you catch my drift.”

Aurélie nodded, the scene she had witnessed a few days earlier briefly flashing before her eyes. 

“But would you then not want to have your companion by your side?” she questioned, looking back down at the letter, before sighing in frustration as she realised that they contained nothing that would help her. 

“I do not know what goes on in that woman’s head sometimes. Her mood and reasoning for her actions can change so spontaneously.” 

Aurélie scoffed at the statement, before opening the bottom drawer on the side she was searching on. Immediately several letters written in poor penmanship greeted her. She picked them up and began skimming through them, her eyes widening in disbelieve. 

Written in the letter, with immense detail, were the routes, inns and dates that both the Saint-Clair family and Linnington family had traveled through before arriving at the castle. A detailed account of who was travelling and what had happened on each days of the journey was written. Aurélie did not recognise the name or signature of the person that had written the letters. 

“Merde,” she whispered, earning a disapproving look from Clara. 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Clara asked, walking over to Aurélie and peering over her shoulder. Aurélie held the letters slightly towards her, so that she could read them easier. 

“I am afraid so. Here look, someone was following us.” Aurélie flipped through the letters and pulled out one that detailed the attack on their carriage. “This one was sent after we were attacked. And look it reads here: ‘as per your orders we ambushed them but then had to retreat. Several men were defeated by Saint-Clair’s men. We await your next order with anticipation’. Those bastards!” she exclaimed softly. 

Clara stepped away, shaking her head. “The Duke has lost his mind. If people found out what he has done there would be an uproar!” 

“I must inform Étienne of what we have found,” Aurélie said, quickly putting back the letters in the drawer. As she did, her hand brushed across something cold and metallic. Both companions heard a click and watched in surprise as one of the shelves on the bookshelves jutted out slightly. Clara walked over to the shelf with Aurélie at her heels. 

“Hello, what do we have here?” she whispered, turning to Aurélie before turning back and pulling out the shelf. A small compartment was behind, a thin box resting in the empty space. Clara carefully lifted the box out of the bookshelf and handed it to Aurélie, who opened it. Her heart sank as she came to face with a silver dagger, a familiar engraving of a rose and red gem encrusted at the hilt. 

Clara moved closer, inspecting the blade. “Strange,” she mumbled, taking the box from Aurélie. “Why would the Duke have such a weapon? It has the royal family’s gem and crest on it so could it have been a gift from Renauld?”

Aurélie’s face grew pale and he mind began to spin as she stared at the weapon. Why did she have the same dagger as the Duke?

“Aurélie? Are you alright?”

Aurélie snapped back to reality and looked over towards Clara, who had placed the box back into the compartment. With a gently push she slipped the shelf back into place, the familiar click sound echoing around the room once more. 

“Yes,” the companion stammered, walking back over towards the desk and making sure that everything was exactly as they had left it. “I am alright. We should leave.”

Clara watched as Aurélie hurried out of the room. She closed the door behind her once Clara was out of the room, still pale.

“You must tell me why seeing that dagger has upset you so much,” Clara whispered, grabbing Aurélie by the elbow and pulling her into a corner away from the office. 

“I was not expecting the Duke to be in possession of such an item. What if he wants to use it to harm Étienne or the others?” Aurélie whispered back. She was not going to disclose the truth about having an exact copy of the weapon carelessly resting in her night stand just a couple of floors above them. 

“It is rather odd, especially after reading those letters. Surely the Duke would not pull such a move with so many people around?”

“I hope he is not that stupid. I should find Étienne and tell him about this,” Aurélie mumbled, pulling out the handkerchief he had given to her and wiping her neck with it. 

Clara nodded as she watched. “Hurry along then. Please find me later and let me know what you have discussed. I am very curious and especially worried for your safety, Aurélie!”

Aurélie took Clara’s hands into her own, squeezing them. “Do not worry about me. I will call upon you as soon as I can.”

With a quick goodbye, both companions stepped back into the hall and parted ways. Aurélie turned back several times and watched as Clara disappeared. She waited a while for Oliver to show up. When he did not, Aurélie sighed and began walking down the stairs, back to the ballroom. As she did, she pulled out the vial of perfume that Étienne had given her. The soft floral scent of roses greeted her. It reminded her of the Saint-Clair estate and she felt a wave of homesickness washing over her. She instantly forgot about the dagger. As she continued to walk back the way she had came from earlier, Aurélie realised that she wanted nothing more than to return the the chateau. She missed Amelie and the warm and welcoming environment. The castle was cold and dreary; the Duke, Celine and staff matching the environment around her. 

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs and heard the faint music from the orchestra playing in the ballroom, her mind wandered back to the dance she had shared with Étienne. His gentle but firm grip on the small of her back and the brief softness of his lips. A warmth spread up to her cheeks and the companion shook her head. The bookmark she had placed earlier on her feelings had been taken back out. She thought back to the adoration in Étienne’s eyes as he watched her. The gifts he was starting to give her. His disappointment when Oliver had disturbed their brief but intimate moment. Perhaps he did not feel so different after all? Aurélie picked up her pace with renewed vigour. After she told him about what she had found in the Duke’s office, she would ask him how he felt towards her. Even if Étienne’s affection was only in her imagination, she would rather clarify any feelings before getting her hopes up. It would be unwise to let feelings get in the way of her duties. 

Rounding the next corner, Aurélie came to face with Étienne and Celine. Her heart sank as she saw them pressed against one another against the wall, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

She had definitely imagined it all.