Disclaimer: Kuroshitsuji and its characters do not belong to me.

03. That Countess, Meddling

Ciel had been cooped up in his study fairly early in the morning when the light, hesitant knock sounded on his door. Immediately, he knew it wasn't Elizabeth, because his fiancée – excitable as she was – would have merely bounded into the room without warning. Still, considering he had left her to her own devices after breakfast, he would not have been the least bit surprised if she had already come to bug him. He motioned with the flutter of a gloved hand at Sebastian to answer the door, his eye never wavering from the stack of papers before him and looked up when the soft click of the door opening met his ears. He was only mildly surprised to see that it was Corinne, with Olivia standing a few paces behind her. Both of them were dressed quite nicely now compared to breakfast. Even Olivia wore a nice gown as opposed to her maid uniform and Corinne had added frilled bonnet with neat satin ribbons tied securely under her chin to her ensemble.

He cleared his throat as they entered and set the papers aside. From the look on Corinne's face and the way she carried herself into the room, he had the inkling she was here to speak to him about something rather important. This thought troubled him slightly. He hadn't failed to notice Sebastian's tense behaviour around the maid the day before, and of course, he had wasted no time in wheedling the information out of his Demon butler. Apparently the two were acquaintances, and that didn't sit well with him, because that meant Corinne probably knew something. Even now, he noticed the exchange of terse glances between the maid and butler as the two women entered his study. Sebastian shut the door behind them.

"My lord," Corinne curtseyed, "may I have a word with you?"

Ciel pondered her question for a moment, but he already knew what he was going to say. "I suppose so. Sebastian, step outside please." Of course, even if he did step outside, they were in silent agreement that the butler would eavesdrop as he often did when Ciel spoke alone with someone.

Corinne faltered slightly and glanced at Olivia. "Actually, I'd like him to stay, if that is alright with you."

Well, that changed things. "Fine. Go on. What did you want to speak to me about?"He kept his voice indifferent and folded his hands in front of him, waiting expectantly.

"How long have you been in contract with a Demon, my lord?" No pretence. No pause. Just blunt directness that took Ciel completely off guard. He would have expected a question like that to come from Olivia at the very least, from what he had learned of her, but definitely not Corinne.

He floundered, cleared his throat several times, glanced severely at Sebastian for some kind of mediation (Sebastian hadn't budged an inch, but his eyes had noticeably taken on a redder hue for all of a few seconds), then let his gaze travel back to Corinne. Her expression held that of complete seriousness. "Pardon?"

"You know what I asked," she replied softly. "I do not wish to repeat myself."

Ciel's single visible eye narrowed marginally. "I hardly think it is any business of yours," he said gruffly and made to pick up his papers again in full preparation to dismiss her and the topic entirely.

"With all due respect, my lord, I think when my friend is engaged to someone who has willingly sold his soul to the Devil, it is my business. I do not wish to see Lizzy endure such grief."

Ciel's grip on the papers tightened, once again glancing at Sebastian who seemed to be far more amused by the situation than it called for. He was wearing that trademark Cheshire smirk and he wanted to slap it off. Sebastian was obviously not making any attempt to deter the conversation, to Ciel's annoyance. His attention returned to Corinne. "How do you know about the contract?" he demanded.

Olivia stepped forward, causing Ciel's gaze to snap to the woman. "I believe I am the one who told her, my lord."

Ciel slammed his papers on the desk again. "Really."

"Please, my lord, don't hasten to anger," the maid countered. "Lesser beings would feed on such energy." Her gaze travelled to Sebastian with a bit of distaste akin to someone discovering the bitter flavour of bad tea.

Ciel had heard enough, and abruptly he stood and looked to Sebastian. "Sebastian, I demand an explanation immediately."

Sebastian stepped forward to do just that, but before he could even open his mouth, Corinne had decided to speak instead.

"Allow me to explain?" She asked politely, and when neither Sebastian nor Ciel made to stop her, she continued as calmly as if she were engaging in idle chatter about the weather. "You see, you are not the only one in contract with an... other-worldly being," she put it lightly, glancing hesitantly at Sebastian.

"Your maid, I presume?" Ciel asked, soaking in the information. He had slowly sunk into his chair again, regarding both the French countess and her maid with distrust.

Corinne nodded once. "Yes. She's an Angel, my lord."

Ciel, whether he realised it or not, scowled deeply. "I have no fond memories of Angels." Of course, as he said it, he could picture the faces of Angela and Ashe in his mind's eye. No, no fond memories at all. The mantra the Angels felt so strongly to repeat were ingrained in his deepest conscious, unable to get rid of them. Vile. Filthy. Unclean. He shook the thoughts away.

Olivia's curiosity piqued a bit at the Earl's statement. "You have encountered one?"

Ciel grimaced. "Yes; two actually. If they count as two, anyways." He wrinkled his nose a bit. "Ashe and Angela were their names. Disgusting, the both of them."

Olivia's eyes widened, momentarily, in recognition. "Ah, I see."

Corinne looked up at her. "Did you know them, Olivia?"

"Briefly. We... have a word for those like Angela and Ashe..." Olivia tittered from foot to foot.

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "And what word is that? Freaks? Lunatics?"

"Fallen."

Leaning back in his chair, the young Earl scoffed at Olivia. "Fallen. I thought Angels were supposed to be perfect?" he sneered.

Olivia recognised the slight, but smartly chose to dismiss it as if she hadn't heard it. "We are Angels, yes, but that does not make us infallible, my lord." She glanced at Sebastian momentarily whose expression bordered between contempt and wariness, and then to Corinne who was looking back at her with keen interest in what she was saying. "Even Lucifer himself walked among the Angels before his fall into Hell."

"And why are you telling me this?" Ciel had yet to see the importance behind this conversation, except that he was gaining valuable information about his house guests. He thought it rather foolish they were so willing to divulge such information to him.

Corinne twisted her gloved hands together and took a step toward the desk. "My lord, we both have a stipulation to our contracts. You... will lose your soul. I am to save one. Your soul."

Sebastian made a sound very similar to a laugh that caused Corinne to flush heatedly as she whipped her head around to face him. When she saw him, he had a gloved hand politely covering his mouth. "You think I'm being funny, do you?" she asked the butler, sounding much more confident than she felt around his dark presence.

"My apologies, Miss Delacroix," Sebastian replied coolly and regarded his young master with a hint of amusement from across the room. "I do not think you are in any position to meddle with the contract I and my master have made."

Olivia pursed her lips and placed a hand on Corinne's shoulder again. "Oh? All the more reason for us to 'meddle', as you say," she countered. Sebastian's garnet eyes narrowed.

"This is ridiculous," Ciel interjected, averting everyone's attention back to him. He was standing again and crossing around from his desk to stand before Corinne and the Angel. "I knew exactly what I was getting into when I made the contract with Sebastian. My soul is his for the taking and I do not need either of you two sticking your noses in where it does not belong."

"But Ciel—"

Ciel cut Corinne off before she could finish, lifting a gloved hand to silence her. "My path is set on revenge, Miss Delacroix, and I will not have anyone try to sway me otherwise. If you continue to argue, I will have to ask that you leave the Phantomhive estate and do not return unless expressly invited by myself."

Corinne could feel the corners of her eyes burning, but she refused to let the tears fall. She was utterly embarrassed by how quickly the conversation had made a downward spiral. She hadn't pictured it going this way at all. Perhaps it had been too naive of her to hope Ciel would be thankful for her help. She took a moment to gather herself, exhaling slowly, and then dropped into a deep curtsey. "My deepest apologies, Lord Phantomhive," she said softly, "It was not my place."

Ciel pinched the bridge of his nose and retook his seat behind the desk. A few moments of heavy silence passed before he lifted his head to address his butler. "Sebastian, prepare some tea and see that Elizabeth is alright."

Sebastian bowed. "Yes, my lord."

"Actually," Olivia cut in, "it won't be necessary. My lady and I will be joining Miss Elizabeth for church shortly, so we should probably take our leave."

Corinne had almost forgotten about that. She could feel the flush returning as her hands bunched nervously in the folds of her skirts. "R-right. We should go." She gave another quick curtsey. Then, despite herself, she made another last-ditch effort to coax Ciel. "You may join us if you wish, my lord."

"Unnecessary." Ciel seemed to be pleased that they were leaving. "Sebastian will see you off."

Sebastian made for the door and held it open for the girls. Corinne merely nodded solemnly at the young Earl and quickly left the room followed closely by Olivia. Sebastian stepped out of the study behind them and shut the door. Before he could leave the hallway, Olivia spoke up; her voice soft through the noticeable tension between them. She met Sebastian's gaze. "Perhaps you would like to join us instead. A sermon would do you good, demon."

Sebastian's lips curled a little. "Well, I'm afraid I must politely decline such a request. I have my duty to look after the master, after all."

Olivia grimaced. "Oh, I'm sure you do." She took a step back, allowing Sebastian to continue on his way, and waited until he was out of sight before turning to join Corinne. "Well, now. That wasn't as bad as expected, now was it?"

Corinne refrained from burying her face in her hands, although she did worry her bottom lip. "Oh, it was awful, Olivia. I've made a complete fool of myself."

Olivia offered a sympathetic smile as she came to link her arm with Corinne's and lead her back to the bedroom where their bags needed to be collected. "Nonsense. You've planted the seed of doubt, now it just needs time to grow."

"I hope you are right," Corinne sighed.

The girls returned to Corinne's room where Olivia gathered the already packed trunk of clothes and other personal items, then handed Corinne the worn, leather-bound Bible that had been sitting atop it. "Here you are, my lady. Don't want to leave that behind."

Corinne hugged the delicate book to her chest. The cover felt smooth under her gloved fingertips. "Right."

They exited into the hallway where Corinne and Olivia ventured downstairs. Elizabeth and Sebastian were already waiting for them by the front door.

"Tell Ciel I will see him again soon!" Elizabeth chirped, practically skipping out of the manor to the carriage that had been pulled around to the front steps.

Sebastian chuckled and followed the girl, placing her trunk securely on the back of the carriage. "I will be happy to inform my young master, Lady Elizabeth." He took Corinne's trunk from Olivia next and set it atop Elizabeth's then went around to open the door for them.

Elizabeth slid into the seat and then Olivia, who looked back expectantly at her young charge. Corinne was staring at Sebastian, still standing by the front steps of the manor. Sebastian approached her.

"I meant what I said earlier," she said quietly, taking the arm Sebastian had offered her as he led her to the carriage. "I will save Ciel."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed a little, but they were filled with a bit of amusement. He certainly wasn't worried. "Then I will enjoy the competition, Miss Delacroix." He shut the door before she could respond and several seconds later the carriage was pulling away from the Phantomhive manor.

"What competition were you talking about, Corinne?" Elizabeth spoke up. Her curious green eyes were fixated on the other girl.

Corinne felt a little startled, but was glad that Elizabeth didn't seem to realise the entire truth of the matter. She smiled a little and turned to look out the window, watching Sebastian's retreating form as he re-entered the manor. "Chess, Lizzy. Just Chess."

...

They were running late. Elizabeth had finally decided to abandon their pristine appearances and allow the driver of their carriage to speed up. The resulting bumpy ride was hardly pleasant, but at least they arrived at the Saint James church with only a few minutes to spare. Elizabeth didn't bother waiting for the door to be opened; she dashed right out and had to hold on to her hat to keep the breeze from swiping it off her head as she bumbled up the steps to the large double doors with Corinne and Olivia rushing after her.

The morning service was so packed with people, Corinne almost felt suffocated. She flicked her fan out, and waved it frantically in front of her face as she followed Olivia and Elizabeth past the throng of people to a pew near the front already packed full of finely dressed men and women and impatient children ready to go home. Elizabeth's parents were seated near the end of the third pew with Edward beside them, who stood up when he spotted them and allowed his sister to take a seat next to the Marchioness. Corinne slid into the pew after Elizabeth, exhaling heavily.

"What took you so long, dear?" Frances asked, leaning forward a little to address Elizabeth. "I was almost ready to send Edward out to get you."

Elizabeth doubted that. "I'm sorry, Mama. We were a bit late leaving Ciel's." Not to mention that she had asked the driver to go extra slow to save themselves from the disaster of their ride to the Phantomhive estate. Unfortunately that hadn't lasted, but she thought better than to tell her mother that.

Frances seemed to accept the answer. "Well, do try to leave a bit earlier next time, then. I can't have you rushing in here like the devil himself is after you. It's terribly improper. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mama."

They didn't have to wait long before the service started and everyone had finally settled down into a pew either on the floor or the balcony above. Corinne enjoyed the choral group that led the congregation in several hymns before the minister approached the podium to give his sermon. He was a tall, gangly, older man with a greying moustache, neatly groomed around the edges of his mouth and introduced himself to his congregation as Brother Rigsley. As the choir resumed their seats, he finally began his message for the morning. Throughout the service, Olivia was helpful in pointing out where each chapter in the Bible was located as he spoke, which Corinne was grateful for. She had a hard time remembering the order the books were in no matter how many times she had read them or had them read to her by Olivia.

Brother Rigsley was just in the middle of his sermon when the double doors at the back of the church opened with an echoing click. She turned in her seat – along with several others – to see who'd had the misfortune to show up incredibly late to church. The poor fellow looked quite embarrassed as half the congregation turned their eyes on him, and quickly ducked his head and slipped into a pew at the very back. He looked severely out of breath; as if he had run the entire way there. At the gentle prodding fro Olivia, Corinne turned her attention back to the minister.

The service came to an end shortly after, allowing everyone to get up and greet one another again before dispersing. The Marquis and Marchioness quickly made a beeline for the back of the church, only making conversation with the others when they had to. Edward paused for a moment, smirked at Corinne, and then followed his parents, motioning for a sceptical Elizabeth to follow. Corinne blinked at him in confusion, but realised with a bit of horror what he was smirking for when she was practically dragged by the arm by one of the ladies of the congregation with a hat far too big and purple to be considered fashionable.

Corinne pulled her fan out again, flitting it elegantly in front of her as the purple-clad woman brought her over by a small group of women who recognised her – or rather, recognised she had been a victim of the kidnappings years ago - and tried to keep her tone polite as they poked and prodded her for personal information about her misfortunes like a bunch of gossiping hens. She clenched her jaw behind the fan between her fingertips and jumped slightly when a light hand fell on her shoulder.

"Pardon me, ladies." It was Brother Rigsley. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of introducing myself. Mademoiselle Delacroix, I presume?" he asked kindly, looking at Corinne.

Corinne offered the minister a relieved smile as the group of women dispersed with quick goodbyes to them both. "Oui, monsieur. Merci – I mean – thank you for saving me." Her voice had dropped to a whisper so as not to grab the attention of the group of women, and Rigsley laughed softly.

"It's no trouble. I could see them setting their eyes on you from the podium. How have you been enjoying London, my dear? Will you be staying long?" he asked conversationally, sticking his hand out to greet another congregation member as they left.

"Oh, it's been lovely. I'm staying with the Midford family for the summer."

Rigsley nodded. "I did see you come in with Miss Elizabeth this morning and a wonderfully attentive young lady. She is your maid, I presume?"

"Yes, sir. My name is Olivia. You have a beautiful church here."

Corinne turned, smiling at Olivia as she came up behind her. When she turned back around, she could have laughed. Rigsley was looking at Olivia as if he had discovered his long-lost daughter. He was quick to compliment her on her focus during his sermon, and Olivia bowed her head gracefully in thanks.

Rigsley turned to one of the men passing him, catching him by the arm. Corinne recognised him as the man who had come in late. "Woah, slow down there, Mr. O'Keane. Where's the fire?" he chuckled. "Is everything alright? You were awfully late this morning. Had to have Greg fill in for you for the monthly communion, you know."

"S-sorry, Brother Rigsley!" O'Keane hung his head. His accent had a slight Scottish lilt to it. "I c-completely lost track of time." The gentleman took the hat off his head, revealing that he was quite bald underneath save for the reddish-brown sideburns frizzing out on either side of his head. He lifted a gloved hand to readjust the spectacles on his nose that seemed too small for his round face. Corinne thought he rather reminded her of a cooking pig; pink-faced with quite a bit of meat on his bones, but she hardly thought it polite to say so.

Rigsley patted the man's back in sympathy. "Don't worry about it. Just try to come a bit earlier next week, hm?"

O'Keane bowed his head again. "I'll do my b-best, Sir."

Corinne lightly cleared her throat, feeling awkward standing there in silence with Olivia and Rigsley made a noise of surprise. "I'm so sorry, my dear, how rude of me. Hector, this is Countess Corinne Delacroix from France and her maid, Olivia. They'll be spending the summer with the Midfords. Miss Delacroix, this is Hector O'Keane, one of the Deacons."

Corinne held her own gloved hand out and O'Keane lifted it to his lips for a brief kiss. "How do you do?" she asked politely.

"Just fine, just fine," O'Keane replied and nodded in acknowledgement to Olivia, hastily returning his hat on top of his head. "You are staying with the Marquis and Marchioness then? Fine gentleman the Marquis is, and their children are quite charming as well." Corinne didn't bother mentioning that he hadn't commented on the Marchioness.

"Yes, I'm rather good friends with Elizabeth," she agreed. "She should be around here somewhere. I don't know where that brother of hers dragged her off to." Her eyes scanned the emptying church which was now only sparsely filled with a few groups who remained chattering away with each other in the middle of the aisles. She recognised Elizabeth's familiar blonde hair just by the door and waved her over. "There she is. I wouldn't want her to leave without me," she told Rigsley and O'Keane with a small laugh.

"There you are, Corinne!" Elizabeth cried, latching onto her arm. Rigsley looked amused by the display, but Elizabeth didn't seem to notice, or had chosen to ignore it. "Edward's horrible. He wanted to leave without you."

Corinne didn't doubt that. "Of course he would. I don't want to keep your mother waiting, but let me just finish up my conversation with Brother Rigsley and Mr. O'Keane."

Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively. "Mama and Papa already left in the carriage they came in, but I made Edward wait outside. He can ride with us."

"Well, alright then." Corinne had a feeling the ride back to the Midford's would not be a pleasant one. She would have to get Edward back for leaving her to fend for herself among those gossipy women. "Olivia," she turned to the maid, "why don't you go find Edward and get the carriage ready to depart? We'll be along shortly, I promise."

Olivia curtseyed and bowed her head. "Of course, my lady. It was a pleasure to meet you, Brother Rigsley. Mr. O'Keane." She nodded to both men, then silently walked up the aisle to the back doors, fluidly avoiding the few people that still remained.

"She's a charming maid, Miss Delacroix. You should keep her around. Not much like that these days, I'm afraid," Rigsley commented.

Corinne chuckled. "Oh yes, she's been the absolute best." And really, of course she would be. She was, after all, an Angel.

"I agree! She's about as talented as Ciel's butler!" Elizabeth chimed in.

Rigsley raised a grey eyebrow in surprise. "Ciel? Earl Ciel Phantomhive? Isn't that your fiancé, Miss Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes! We just came from visiting him at his estate! His butler, Sebastian's his name, is incredibly talented."

For once, Corinne was glad Olivia was not around, because she sort of worried how her angelic maid would react to Elizabeth praising the work of a Demon. She pushed the thought away.

"C-Ciel Phantomhive?" O'Keane spoke up. He was twisting his fingers together nervously, giving Corinne the feeling he was always a bit jittery. "Is that the son of the late Earl Vincent P-Phantomhive?"

Elizabeth nodded solemnly. "Yes. That's him. He runs Funtom Company, as you probably know. I think everyone is aware of that these days," she laughed.

"Ah, y-yes," O'Keane nodded vigorously. "My daughter loved the stuffed toys."

Corinne opened her mouth before she could stop herself. "Loved, sir?" She instantly regretted it when she saw the stricken look on his face.

O'Keane looked down at his hands, his face going redder – if that were possible. "My wife left a few y-years ago and returned to Scotland. Took my d-dear, sweet, Isabella with her."

Corinne felt her stomach clench with sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Mr. O'Keane. If I may ask, how old is your daughter?"

"She'd be n-nine this year, Miss," O'Keane replied.

Corinne reached a hand out to touch his arm politely. "I do hope you see her again, then," she told him sincerely, to which he gave her a grateful smile. She turned to Brother Rigsley with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I think it's time Elizabeth and I leave. I don't want to keep her mother waiting for us. It was certainly a pleasure meeting the both of you."

Rigsley nodded in understanding. "Of course, dear. Have a lovely afternoon, you two."

Corinne gave O'Keane and Rigsley one more smile before linking her arm with Elizabeth and leaving the church. Edward was standing outside with the carriage, Olivia next to him expectantly. When they reached the bottom step, Elizabeth detached herself from Corinne to run ahead and slide into the carriage. Edward held the door open and allowed Olivia and Corinne to slide in after. Olivia sat next to Elizabeth, making Corinne frown slightly as Edward took his seat next to her and shut the door. The carriage began rattling down the busy London street, carrying them away from the church to the Midford manor.

There was a stagnant silence in the air save for the rattling of the carriage wheels against the cobblestone and then before anyone could react, Corinne brought her fan out and whapped Edward harshly on the shoulder. Elizabeth jumped and Olivia covered her mouth with a delicate hand to stifle a chuckle.

"Ow! Bloody hell, Corinne. What was that for?" Edward rubbed his shoulder and gave the girl next to him a glare.

"That," Corinne said matter-of-factly, "was for leaving me to fend for myself among those old biddies!"

Edward smirked slightly. "You did fine."

Corinne huffed and glared out the opposite window. "Honestly, you're insufferable sometimes."

Elizabeth couldn't help but chime in. "Only sometimes? Edward must be going lax," she giggled a little. Edward rolled his eyes in response.

Corinne ignored him. It was going to be a long ride back to the manor.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! Next update might be a bit late. I need to build up my buffer again, which shouldn't take too long since I am on Spring Break now.

Reference Notes:

"Yes; two actually. If they count as two, anyways." He wrinkled his nose a bit. "Ashe and Angela were their names. Disgusting, the both of them." - I realise Ashe/Angela is actually a hermaphroditic angel, but for the sake of causing the least amount of confusion in dialogue, I'm treating them like separate entities in one body. Think, like split-personalities.

Saint James church is not based off any existing England church, although I'm sure there actually is a Saint James church. Just to clarify. I was a bit tentative with this section because I'm not familiar with church proceedings in 19th century England as opposed to today and doubt I will ever be no matter how much research I do. You'll forgive me though, right?

"Biddy" in this context (there are quite a lot of interpretations for "biddy"), is an English slang term that came about in the late 18th century, referring to a generally annoying, interfering older woman.