Chapter 6
The next morning, Chip, after having heard about Babette's 'confession' in the ballroom, ran in search to find her. He knew that confessing to something was hard, especially in front of a large group of people, so, naturally, he wanted to comfort her.
On his search, the young boy found not Babette, but Lumiere. When he glanced at the maitre'd and noted his pained and angered expression, he asked "What's wrong Lumiere?"
The Frenchman looked down at him, and the smallest of smiles tugged at the corner of his mouth "Nothing mon ami" he answered.
Chip, even at his young age, could easily tell that he was lying. Still, he wanted to find Babette. So, he simply nodded, and returned to his search.
Chip walked through the candle-lit halls until she found the library and saw the light poured through the space that the one ajar door created. Thinking Babette might be in there, the boy approached the doors and pushed them open.
The maid was indeed in there, and at first Chip smiled at the victory. But, his smile disappeared when he saw her crying softly, her body draped across the lounge in a heap. Babette turned upon hearing the door creak open, and blinked a few times, her eyes and face reddened from crying so hard.
Chip asked "Babette, are you alright?"
She shook her head "N-no. Lumiere and I h-had a f-fight" she sobbed.
Chip said, not knowing what had went on but wanting to make her feel better "He didn't mean it."
Babette laughed bitterly at his response "I have been telling myself that ever since he walked out of the ballroom yesterday night" she thought. She didn't even notice when Chip walked out and that she was alone. Honestly, she didn't care if she was alone or not. She didn't care what anyone else thought of her, didn't care about anyone or anything else but Lumiere.
The woman wailed into her hands to soften her sounds in an attempt to not disturb anyone else. More tears poured from her eyes, wetting her skin. She closed her eyes tighter as if to push out the earlier event so that it had never happened.
Babette felt heartbroken, as if she couldn't move and was no use to anyone anymore. In fact, it even crossed her mind to stay locked up in the library forever, or asking the Enchantress to transform her as she had the Prince. Suddenly, the time of the enchantment didn't seem quite as bad anymore. At least then Lumiere still loved her, still held her in the highest regard.
The maid shook her head, dismissing such thoughts "No, I am being stupid. Life as a feather duster would be the second worse thing than this" she thought. She didn't even want to think about what the worst thing would be.
Meanwhile, in the nearby village, the local tavern was buzzing with activity. The bartender looked up from his work, to find three young women fawning over a handsome man. He shook his head "It seems like those three will go after any man, not just Gaston" he thought.
The bartender snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed a beautiful woman sitting at one of the near tables, glancing at him. She looked at him over the rim of her mug as she took a sip, giving him such a seductive look that he almost melted.
The mystery woman stood, slinking over and seating herself at the bar in front of him. She smiled flirtatiously "Bonjur monsieur" she greeted. She stood from her place enough to lean closer and place her hand on his cheek "Look, I need a little help finding someone. Will you help me?" she asked sweetly. In truth, she felt disgusted and humiliated at having to ask someone to help her. But, he had been in the village for a while as rumours had told her "If the rumours are true, he may be of use to me" she thought.
The bartender inquired, entranced by her beauty "What do you need?"
"Information" replied the woman matter-of-factly.
"On who?" asked the man.
The woman replied "Her name is Babette."
Curious, the bartender then inquired "Who are you?"
She replied with a small smile "My name is Jacqueline."