When we finally arrived at the castle several days later, Louvre hurried to greet us.

"You lupine, regicidal idiot!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been?! While you've been eloping in Paris, I've had to begin espionage!"

"We didn't elope in Paris." After a pause, Louis added, "Yet."

I felt my face growing hot.

"Never mind!" Louvre sighed in exasperation. "I'll give you half an hour to get ready; then I absolutely must see you in the West Wing!"

Louis pulled her into an embrace. "It's nice to see you too, dear sister."

The other servants stared in disbelief as I entered the castle. Although they had no doubt been informed of my arrival, they seemed to have trouble understanding why I had done such a thing. Why would I leave the safety of England to defy my father's wishes and place myself in danger of the rebellion that risked becoming a revolution?

Mrs. Potts helped me draw a lovely bath with rose petals. I soaked until the water was nearly cold. It had seemed like an eternity since I had received the comforts befitting my status, yet I knew I would trade it all without a moment's hesitation if only I could avoid being used as a pawn.

Lumière had seen to it that the kitchen staff prepared an exquisite feast to welcome me. I ate until my stomach ached so dreadfully that I could barely move.

"Your ladyship," Cogsworth began, "do you understand the predicament in which you have placed yourself? During the absence of the royal family, you are the queen."

"I understand," I replied, "and I accept all responsibilities…and all risks."

He turned to Louis. "What news have you of the rebellion?"

Louis sighed. "There's no easy way to say this. We're all going to die. The peasants are planning an attack. It could happen next month; it could happen in the next five minutes. We don't know when."

At this dreadful announcement, Lumière sharply inhaled a spoonful of soup that was still steaming. He began choking until it came out his nostrils, nearly scalding his face and throat.

Cogsworth rolled his eyes. "I admire your optimism, Loup!"

"Je m'appelle Louis."

"You'll have to be patient!" Cogsworth retorted. "The official name change was only a few months ago! We all knew you for years by the other!"

Louis shrugged.

"Can anything be done to prevent our demise?"

He shook his head.

Cogsworth frowned. "And what makes you so certain?!"

"To get out of this," Louis began, "you're going to have to trust me."

The other servants began laughing. However, they quieted down when they noticed that Louis hadn't been joking.

"How can we trust you?!" Fife demanded.

"Do you have a choice?" Louis finished his final bite of escargot.

Maestro Fife cleared his throat. "Since we're all going to die soon, it doesn't matter what we do or say right now, does it?"

"Not much."

Fife got up from his chair and walked to where Angelique was sitting. "I've always loved you from afar. That's no secret. You never had time for me, but if I must soon forfeit my life, I would like my final memory to be of you."

Angelique squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.

"Will you marry me?"

"What?!" Her jaw hung open as her eyes grew wider and wider.

"It's only until death do us part. That could be tomorrow. I won't force you to come to my chamber. I just know it would hurt less to be killed if I could close my eyes and remember that I truly lived before I died."

Angelique frowned. "So you just want to go through the wedding ceremony, and you'll be satisfied? Nothing else?"

"On my word as a gentleman."

She thought a moment. "I guess if we're going to die, it's not actually a legally binding ceremony, is it?" She was silent for the longest time before she replied, "I'll need an hour to decorate the castle. It won't be my best work, but it will have to do."

Maurice smiled warmly at Mrs. Potts. "I know we've been good friends for years, and I know there are times you still miss your late husband. I still miss my wife, but even though we've experienced loss, I wonder if we could still begin a new season of happiness. May we be a part of each other's families for as long as we both shall live?"

Mrs. Potts looked a bit flustered. "But suppose we manage to survive the revolution?"

"So much the better!"

Louis turned to me. I knew he too wished we could hold a wedding ceremony, but he would do nothing to disgrace my name as I awaited my true marriage.

It was a beautiful ceremony, albeit a short one. Elise, one of the dressmakers, even agreed to marry La Plume, thus making a triple wedding. The women of the castle did what they could to decorate the Great Hall and help the brides look their best.

The priest began with a prayer that the couples may have long lives filled with love. We all understood that was his way of praying we all might survive the coming attack in peace.

"Do you gentlemen take these respective ladies to be your lawfully wedded wives?" he asked.

"We do," the men replied, not quite in unison.

"And do you ladies take these respective gentlemen to be your lawfully wedded husbands?"

"We do."

"Then by the power invested in me by the holy church and our noble king, I hereby pronounce you husbands and wives. You may kiss your brides."

La Plume and Elise embraced each other as they kissed. Mrs. Potts allowed Maurice to give her a quick peck on the lips, and Angelique turned her head so Fife could kiss her cheek.

Just as the newlyweds began to share their first dance as married couples, Chip burst into the room, exclaiming as he collapsed, "They're coming!"