Chapter Twenty: The Tea Party

"A cup of tea is an excuse to share great thoughts with great minds." ~Cristina Re

September 5th, 1879

London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Marie awoke that morning to a quick rap-tap tapping on her door. It was thundering and raining outside. She rubbed her eyes and slipped on her gloves and robe as she approached the door. Opening it, she came face to face with Louis.

"Louis? What can I do for you?" She said through a yawn and noticed Louis hid a smile. When she looked at him again, he was as stern as ever.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to change quickly. We have a tea party to plan."

Half an hour later, Marie was dressed and buried deep in hand writing invitations for a tea party that was to occur in three days' time. Her cursive was nice enough, and her hands didn't shake nearly as much as they usually did, allowing her to write with little to no issues. Nessie sat next to her, writing invitations, as was Moneypenny.

Moneypenny was a nice enough woman. She was hardworking with being Albert's secretary. Each of the women had been selected to write the invitations while William and Albert oversaw everything else. In addition, James Bond had been tasked with entertaining Nessie's children: Elliot and Jimmy.

"So Marie," Nessie mused as she blew on the ink of her current invitation to dry it. Marie hummed and glanced up from painstakingly writing her current one. She had to write much slower and was much more behind than the other two women. They had so far written about twenty out of the hundred invitations needed.

"How are things with you and Albert?" Nessie said with a cheeky grin. Marie choked on her breath and quickly set down her pen to avoid smearing ink everywhere.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about." She said hastily, blowing on her invitation to dry it before she could accidentally smear it.

Nessie looked rather smug,

"I heard about your little stint at the Christie estate. Moran said Albert helped you inside the Moriarty estate and into your room before letting you go. He doesn't just do that, you know!" She pushed, waving an invitation at Marie, who was fighting the blush rising in her cheeks.

"He was just being kind!" She sputtered but knew it was a lost cause. As soon as Nessie got an idea in her head about something, she wouldn't let it go.

Nessie cupped her face and sighed dreamily,

"I wonder what kind of wedding you two would have. Oh! A spring wedding would be lovely—"

"Nessie!" Marie hissed, and the older woman looked at her, still with that dreamy look on her face.

"Albert and I aren't even courting! There's no way we're getting married now!" She exclaimed, and Nessie waved a hand,

"I never said you were getting married now. I'm just saying that Albert loves you, is all. He treats you differently than everyone else." She said, and Marie looked down at her gloved hands, face burning with a red blush. Where had she gotten the idea that they were getting married? Did Albert really treat her that differently? She had never paid attention whether he had or not.

"How are invitations coming?" Came Albert's voice, and it took everything Marie had in her to not scream in surprise. Instead, she bit her tongue and snuck a glance up at the Earl. He leaned over the table and took one of Marie's dried invitations to inspect. After a moment, he set the invitation down and smiled at Marie and the two other women. His hand strayed to Marie's shoulder as he leaned over to look at the invitations scattered about the table.

"Great work so far, ladies. Keep it up." He said and then meandered back over to William's side where they were planning with Louis.

Sebastian and Fred had been tasked with moving all incriminating evidence to the basement. That included all of Marie's poisons and tinctures as well as her book of victims. She had taken a brief break from invitation writing to instruct them how to move her poisons. Each bottle and vial was wrapped in cloth and placed in crates where Fred and Sebastian then moved them to the basement where Von Herder was being shown around. His task during the tea party would be to guard the basement.

Nessie had a smug look on her face as Marie picked up her pen and jabbed her own pen at the gray-haired woman.

"See, I told you!" Nessie nudged Marie and grinned. Marie simply ignored the woman, focusing instead on the invitations. She couldn't afford to focus on what Nessie was saying. If she did, she'd be more of a mess than before.

It was silent from then on while Marie, Moneypenny, and Nessie wrote their invitations in careful cursive. Usually, it would be mind-numbing work, something Marie could just turn her brain off and do. But with her hands shaking with embarrassment, she found herself having to focus heavily on her writing, so her cursive didn't shake.

Nearly two hours later and they were finally done. They neatly stacked their invitations in a single pile and stood. Moneypenny and Marie went to help carry the last of the poisons down to the basement while Nessie went to help entertain her children, who were happily running the halls of the Moriarty Manor.

The crates weren't all that heavy, but Marie's knuckles ached with the strain. She pushed past it and carefully made her way down the winding stairs to the basement. It was cold. She couldn't help but shiver and envy the men with all their layers.

After depositing the last box downstairs, she held her skirts so she didn't trip as she brushed past William, who hurried down to talk to Von Herder. Finally, making it to the top of the stairs, she came face to face with Albert. He smiled at her and extended a hand to help her up the last few steps. She accepted his hand gratefully, allowing him to pull her up the last few steps. However, he didn't let go immediately, instead squeezing her hand once before letting go, albeit what seemed like reluctantly.

Marie held her cheeks as she hurried away and down the hall, feeling the heat from her face through her gloves. So perhaps he truly did treat her differently than everyone else. But did it mean anything?

Three days passed in a flash, and soon it was Sunday, the day of the tea party. Marie was straightening out her dress when there was a knock on the door.

Her dress was a lovely robin's egg blue with a small bustle and short sleeves with a scooping neckline. The layers were lightweight for the summer weather. She wore white gloves and had her hair styled in an updo underneath an elaborate white hat. She quickly tied her boots and stood to answer the door.

Nessie stood on the other side of the door.

"Oh, Marie, you look lovely! The color really brings out your eyes!" Nessie exclaimed, hands cupping her cheeks. "I just came to tell you that I have to head back home. I'm not technically out of mourning yet, so I must return to my estate with Jimmy and Elliot." She said and hugged Marie. Marie accepted her hug gratefully and smiled when she pulled back,

"Travel safely, Nessie. I'll be sure to let you know how the tea party goes!" She called out as Nessie made her way down the hallway.

Marie waited for half an hour after hearing the carriages arrive before entering the party. It wouldn't be good for her to be seen at the party before everyone else. Oh, the rumors that would start. She quickly mingled with the chattering noblewomen and had to suppress a cringe. What she wouldn't give for a cup of tea and a good book right now. Instead, she had to mingle and chat with women she had no intention of getting to know.

"Alice St. Clair?" Came a voice, and Marie looked up to see Albina Christie, Matthew's new wife. She smiled and embraced Marie, squeezing her tightly. Marie returned the hug.

"I didn't know you were coming to the tea party!" Marie exclaimed with fake happiness. While she was happy to see Albina, she didn't want to sit around and make small talk. It was something she loathed.

"I received the invitation and couldn't resist! Think of it as a thank you for coming to my wedding and reception! But I need to talk to you privately if that's alright with you." Albina said, holding Marie's hands.

"S-sure, how about we go inside?" She said and led the way. Albina chattered on happily, and Marie caught Albert's eye as they passed. His eyebrow raised a minuscule amount, and she waved a hand to show she was okay. He gave an almost imperceptible nod and turned back to entertaining the many women crowding around him.

Inside, the manor was almost eerily quiet. A few women were wandering the mansion, but most everyone was outside. The two women ended up in William's study, with Albina shutting the door behind them so they could have some privacy. Marie fiddled with her gloves, watching the brunette woman approach her.

"Right, I would like to get down to business." It was as if she was talking to a completely different person. Albina stood tall, with her shoulders back and hands clasped before her. She looked down her nose at Marie as if looking down on the other woman. Marie was confused. Just what was going on?

Albina took a seat in one of the chairs at William's desk. Marie knew there wasn't any incriminating evidence in the room anymore; it had all been moved downstairs. Still, she was nervous that somehow Albina would find something and reveal all their wrongdoings. The brunette woman steepled her fingers after gesturing for Marie to take a seat. She did so hesitantly, unsure of what Albina was planning.

"What did you want to talk about?" Marie asked, and Albina scoffed, nose wrinkling as if smelling something sour.

"Cut the performance. I know this isn't how you actually act." She snapped, and Marie flinched at the icy tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry?" Was all she managed, clenching her hands into fists.

"It was tough to track you down, you know. I had been trying for days, but it's rather difficult when Miss Alice St. Clair doesn't exist." Albina continued on, ignoring what Marie had said. But it felt like Marie had a bucket of ice water poured down her back. Had she found out about Marie's situation?

"Pa—pardon? I very much do exist. I'm standing right here." She stammered, and Albina had the audacity to laugh.

"Oh please, we both know that Alice St. Clair doesn't really exist. I did some digging and found little to no documents about you. So who are you anyway?" Albina said, leaning forward in her chair.

Marie was frozen. She had been so sure and trusting of the Moriarty's abilities to set up the backstory as Alice St. Clair that she had never thought about the fact that someone might be able to uncover the lies that made up her noblewoman persona.

It looks like she had no choice but to tell the truth. But, unfortunately, the Moriarty's couldn't save her here. She would have to save herself.

"My name is Marie Dubois." She whispered, and Albina nodded, satisfied with the answer. She ran her hand over her hair, smoothing the flyaway strands back into place.

"Good, good. Now, I have a proposal for you." She said ominously, steepling her fingers together. Marie fidgeted in her seat, her palms sweaty.

Albina took a moment, seemingly collecting her thoughts. But when she spoke, it was as if the floor dropped out from under her feet.

"I want you to kill my husband."