Today's Prompt (from mrspencil): icing on the cake.
"It seems you will have it your way after all, Watson," Holmes said over breakfast the next morning. Beneath his airy tone was a bitter edge, however slight. "The snows have picked up again, so we cannot venture out to the castle regardless."
Watson felt a little weight lift from his shoulders, but he knew better than to celebrate the victory which could only be a temporary one.
As though to confirm it, M. Dupond, seated at another small table just a few feet away, said, "It will probably be clear again in a few days, though with the mountain weather it is difficult to know."
"You are eager to depart?" Holmes asked.
M. Dupond answered with an awkward laugh, "No, but I would not hope to be snowed in."
Holmes was about to make some reply, but he abruptly stopped to listen.
Faintly, he could make out a young man's voice, low and urgent, coming from the kitchen. "Please, I need your help! I cannot do it alone!"
The three guests exchanged a glance, all of their curiosity piqued.
The innkeeper, Mme. Beauregard, shushed the young man, but they could still make out her voice, "There is no need to panic, M. Renaud."
"Yes, yes, you are right," the man replied. "But it must be just right!"
"It will be fine," Mme. Beauregard reassured him.
"You mean that you will do it?"
"Yes, I believe I can manage it."
"But carefully!" M. Renaud insisted. "If he finds out then all will be lost!"
"I know."
They heard a faint sigh. "I do not know what to do."
"M. Fontaine is stubborn as a bull," Mme. Beauregard acknowledged, "But so is Mlle. Anne."
"For her, everything must be perfect!"
"I am sure that if anyone can give her a perfect day, you can."
"I am very lucky to have found a woman who loves me despite it all. I only wish to give her the best of everything in return."
"I will ensure that she gets a cake worthy of a queen for her birthday," Mme. Beauregard reassured him.
"You have my eternal gratitude."
"It is my pleasure, especially after everything you have done to help."
"Not at all," M. Renaud insisted. "Thank you!"
With that, M. Renaud hurried out, and Holmes, Watson, and M. Dupond were left to consider what they had just overheard.
Holmes was the first to speak. "So that is the mysterious gentleman for whom Mlle. Fontaine was so intent upon purchasing peppermints."
Watson took a moment longer to recall it, but then he nodded along. "Yes, and her friend mentioned that her father would not be pleased, did she not?"
"Indeed, Watson, it is a classic case of the disapproved suitor. This is truly the icing on the cake of our day spent consigned to the inn, out from under the shadow of your looming castle. It is a pretty mystery as to why the baker has come to ask the innkeeper for a cake."
M. Dupond gave a sober nod. "Yes, I wonder," he said, before abruptly seeming to notice the remainder of the company. He rose from his seat. "Good morning, gentlemen, I best be off."
Holmes watched him go, his keen mind already coming to fresh conclusions and discarding them in turn.
Watson kept a wary eye on Holmes, but there was little he could do.