Sebastian regretted telling the Standfields about Eleanora's marital status. Now that they knew, he had nothing to blackmail her with. That was the problem with blackmail: it became ineffective the moment it was used.

He deeply wished that he had some other form of dirt on her. She hadn't been at the Phantomhives for a week. They had had to do the party without her. It went off alright, but it would have gone much smoother if she had been there. He tried calling the Standfields to ask about her, but they insisted that they didn't know anything about her and hung up.

Eleanora appeared a day after the party. She was wearing her ragged old black dress with the too-tight shoes. It was raining; she was shivering. She had knocked on the kitchen door and Sebastian had opened it. No one else was around.

She looked shocked, shocked and cold. Sebastian was also surprised to see her, but quickly masked it. She was undoubtedly angry at him for telling, and had refused to help with the party as a form of petty revenge.

"Hello, Miss Black," he said. "Would you like to come in from the rain?"

She weakly shook her head. She looked thin; she must not have been eating well.

"What is it, then?" he asked, trying not to lose his patience.

"I got fired," she said in a dull voice, as if even now she could hardly believe it.

"Fired? From where? Who fired you?" This was genuinely surprising news. But then again, maybe not so surprising. Her employers probably just got tired of her language.

"You fired me," she said, still in that scary, lifeless voice. "You told them that I was married and they fired me."

"They didn't!"

"They did," she said and brought out an envelope. "If you would kindly please give this to the Earl of Phantomhive."

He took it and examined it.

"Certainly. What is it?"

"It's a letter of resignation. Tell him not to bother with a letter of recommendation."

"What?" He looked at her. "Surely you aren't thinking of quitting?"

"I've already finished thinking," she said and brought out a ring. "And you take this. Save it for a real wife. I thought that I could pawn it, but I realize now that it's not worth shit. Good evening, sir. Sorry to bother you."

She turned and strode into the darkness and into the rain.

Sebastian pocketed the envelope and looked at the ring. It was made out of black metal and studded with ruby slivers—it was Eleanora's wedding ring.

Ideas raced through his mind faster than he could keep up with them—she's been fired; fired because I said that she was married; she's resigning from Phantomhive; she's given me her wedding ring…—but the first real thought that came to his mind was, "The young Master is going to kill me."

"Wait," he choked out. "Wait!"

He peered into the rain, but he was too late. Eleanora was gone.

The Earl was not pleased with the news.

"She quit?!" he shouted at Sebastian. "How could she quit? How could you let her quit? Why did she quit? You go and find her and directly bring her back here!"

"Well, I'm glad that she's gone!" Grell suddenly said. "The nerve of that girl—bursting in here and marrying my precious Bassy…"

"She didn't marry me," Sebastian murmured. "I married her." He had her wedding ring in his pocket; he couldn't stop turning it over in his fingers. "There's a difference."

"I don't care! I'm so glad that Bassy's single again!" Grell twirled around and gripped Sebastian's arm, making him shudder.

"Who cares about whether he's single or not?! I want that girl back, and I want her back now!"

"Ciel!" Madam Red said sharply. "That's enough."

"But—"

"That poor girl. Forced to marry a man she doesn't love, then having to work two different jobs at the same time…It's enough to drive anyone away! I'm surprised she didn't leave sooner. You won't go around chasing her. She's suffered more than enough."

"But…I need her."

"You've gone several years without her," she said sternly. "You can go back to that time."

Ciel scowled but didn't give Sebastian any orders.

The servants asked a couple of questions about what happened to that Miss Black, but he refused to answer. Although nobody said anything, it was decided unanimously anyway that the maid who was "Eleanora" would slowly slip into oblivion on its own. No one would ever mention her willingly again.