One would possibly think that having some (technical) freedom would make Elaine feel relaxed and even happy. But instead, she just felt nervous and slightly sickly in her stomach.
Walking through the crowded and busy streets of Monte d'Or, Elaine only felt anxious as she walked by people, her Madeline disguise on and capable of fooling everyone… Hopefully. If she was caught though, Elaine wasn't sure what she would do. With Madeline basically being held hostage and Elaine in a position where she could easily be accused of being an accessory to a crime or crimes Descole would no doubt commit, the need to play Madeline without being caught just seemed to increase in importance for every breath she took.
The night before she had already spent inside Madeline's house. 'To better play the role', according to Descole. She slept in a guest bedroom since sleeping in Madeline's room just felt wrong and an invasion of privacy. It was bad enough she had to look through notebooks and papers so she could get an idea of what was to be expected of her for the time being, without adding more to the list. Besides, it wasn't like anyone would come here, right?
Still, Elaine could appreciate how amazing the city looked. Even in daylight hours when the lights were off there was an enchanting and dazzling charm about the place. Perhaps being a man-made oasis in the middle of a desert caused this effect.
As much as Elaine would have preferred to explore the city, she had to follow the directions she recalled being given by Descole to the Ledore estate. That was where Madeline usually went to meet her boss for the work day, and it was in her schedule planner anyway. Each step felt a little heavy and the Frenchwoman briefly wanted to praise herself for not sweating bullets just yet. Even when the Ledore mansion came into view.
The mansion was made of red bricks and its roof from blue shingles. It was about four storey and around the front of the mansion there was a circular tower. Not too far away from the mansion was a greenhouse. Filled with quiet a variety if Elaine wasn't mistaken.
She had paused by the gate and swallowed before going through and making her way up the pathway to the stairs that led up towards the mansion entrance. Not that her nerves or stomach felt any better though. They just felt worse as she had a sensation of twisted and knotted, and even spike embedded ropes inside.
Stopping in front of the cherry wood door, Elaine inhaled deeply and exhaled just before she shakily raised a half-hearted fist. She paused and took another breath. Her hand became less shaky. But Elaine's knuckles were just barely touching the door when it suddenly opened, causing Elaine to draw her hand back quickly out of instinct.
The elegant looking woman at the door looked around her and Madeline's age. While Madeline's hair was a pale shade of blonde, this woman's seemed almost white in comparison, though not as white as the simple pearl necklace she wore. Elaine guessed that this was Angela Ledore.
"A bit late, aren't we?" Elaine was a bit surprised by the slightly teasing tone of Angela, who currently had an easy going smile. "You're usually here before the scheduled time."
"I, er… Must 'ave looked my clock wrong. I was going through some stuff last night. Desole, Mrs. Ledore." Elaine said sheepishly. Trying to make her voice sound slightly lower in tone to mimic Madeline's.
"Well no one else is around so you don't need to be formal just yet." Angela stepped to the side to allow Elaine to step inside. Inside a parlour room, Elaine noted that it was richly decorated but lacked anything that could be considered gaudy and felt like a home. It reminded her a bit of Descole's home in one or two ways.
"Desole. Force of 'abit I guess," Elaine said. She forgot Madeline was friends with the Ledores. Or at least close enough to use their first names outside of work.
"So, are you alright? You sounded in a bit of a rush when you called last week." Angela asked. Elaine was a bit confused until it came to her that Madeline had probably called for the week off. She didn't really think of asking her or Descole about it now that she thought of it. Perhaps Descole made a note of that in his letter to Madeline in a way to convince her to do so.
"Oui, I'm fine. Just some, um… Family stuff is all." It felt a bit odd to be alluding to herself, even if it was in a barely noticeable way. But it wasn't really lying in a sense and it sounded realistic enough. With Angela giving a small frown, Elaine was inwardly panicking. Had she been caught already?
"Any word on your cousin?" Elaine resisted giving a sigh of relief and shuck her head.
"Non. No signs of Elaine yet. So, is Mo- uh, is 'Enry, 'ere?"
"He's in his study," Angela answered. "He wanted to double check a paper or two before you went to go visit Murphy."
"Ah, glad to know I read the right notes then. I think my notes got a bit mixed up since last I saw them." Elaine may have been able to look reasonably calm as Madeline probably would have been, but she was still far from it. But for the next few minutes or so, Elaine did engage in some light conversation with Angela. Luckily nothing too personal that Elaine wouldn't have known much about, if any, came up.
Not too much time had passed when Elaine heard a door opening from down the close by hallway, and a sandy blonde hair and goatee bearded man wearing a navy blazer. Briefcase in hand. This must have been Henry Ledore. First appearing, he had a distinct frown on his face but it lessened once he saw Elaine and (more important obviously) Angela.
"Good morning, Madeline. Is everything well?" he asked as he walked towards the two women.
"Oui, everything is fine." Elaine gave a small nod, but felt more nervous now. Angela was one thing, but she really couldn't afford to mess up with Madeline's boss. Not just for the sake of keeping Madeline being dragged in further, but to also not lose her job for her.
"Glad to hear that." There was a brief smile on his face before he looked to the nearest clock. "We should get going now. We have Murphy to discuss some details with and after that we have to go to the pumpkin park in regards of necessary material for the off-chance of any necessary repair work."
"Oui, of course."
Two weeks of posing as her cousin, and there was no one who seemed to have any suspicions. Elaine couldn't lie to herself that it gave her some confidence that she could pull off playing Madeline. She just had to be careful with some things she spoke of and she was certain she would last until it was all over. However, Elaine did start noticing some things that just seemed a bit… off.
The Ledores' wedding rings was possibly the first thing she noticed. They never seemed to wear them except for outside the mansion. But Elaine brushed it out of her mind as quickly as it came. Her own parents never worse their wedding rings inside the house, but that was mainly because her mother didn't want food or dirt caught in hers when she cooked or gardened and her father just simply forgot to when he was in the house and not planning on going outside that day. Having grown up with this, the idea of couples not wearing their rings often never seemed odd to Elaine. Though she probably would keep her won on unless necessary. Assuming she ever got married.
That didn't change any of the other things she noticed though. Angela and Henry just never seemed as close as one would have thought inside the mansion. Once or twice outside Elaine saw maybe a small peck on the cheek, but that seemed about it. Elaine wondered if it was because that old lady, who she later realised was Randall Ascot's mother, was in the house but it didn't feel like the right solution. But again, Elaine brushed this away since there would hardly be anything romantic going on if she was present.
But she was getting Madeline's work done. That's all that mattered for now.
"Are you certain this is the amount they needed?" Henry and Elaine were in his study. He looked at her with a raised brow as he looked at the bill Elaine had given him from the maintenance group who had been inspecting the amusement park, and what materials to gather on the off-chance something might be needed in the future.
In reality, the document was sent to her by Descole. She didn't know why, but Ledore would have to sign it and she would give it to Descole as soon as she saw him. He was expecting her back at the hotel when it got darker outside.
"That's what I was given, and I asked about it," Elaine assured Henry, though guilt was in her stomach. "They said they would be able to supply some of the materials themselves, but you need to pay for the rest." It wasn't really a lie. From what she knew, Descole was getting material himself, but wanted it to look like Henry was paying for it and to draw less suspicion in regards to amounts, the amount of some materials was slightly increased. In reality, there could be more then what Henry saw.
Henry looked back to the bill and back to Elaine.
"This much for the price. You would think they would try to rob me, not the other way around." He handed the bill back up to Elaine. "Talk to them and confirm that the material is genuine. I don't want to end up getting cheap material."
"Oui, Monsieur." Elaine nodded before putting the sheet inside a folder she was holding. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Henry giving a small frown as he looked at her. Was something wrong? He… He hadn't figured out she wasn't Madeline, did he?!
"Madeline, are you alright? You seem a bit… distant, since you came back." Inquired Henry.
"Distant?" Elaine would have furrowed her brows but refrained from doing so in case it gave her away.
"Well, you usually do a lot more talking in between work," Henry pointed out as he stood up from his desk. "And even when we're on a busy day you sneak a kiss on my cheek in the morning and night."
The most Elaine expected to feel awkward or anxious about would be encountering details that she might not know. Being Madeline's cousin, she that problem had barely surfaced since she knew her relative well enough. Another thing would have been the work, but with paperwork and phone calls being some of her main duties it didn't feel too different from her job back at the museum. She just dealt with different things that weren't artefacts or archaeology or even history in general related.
But Henry's words suddenly gave Elaine the sensation of being the epitome of panic.
'Kiss?! What does he mean 'kiss?!' It didn't make sense to Elaine. Being friends with your boss wasn't always impossible. Elaine was on fairly good terms with her boss Chappy and had once or twice had tea with him along with other colleagues. But she was pretty certain that on no circumstances was it okay to just randomly kiss their cheek! Or at least not so often that it's almost expected!
But… she could just be over reacting. Thinking with the archaeologist part of her mind, jumping to conclusions would just make the current situation worse. She would just have to play it cool. If she did things just right, she might find out just what Henry Ledore meant.
"R-really? I… I guess I didn't notice. Must 'ave slipped my mind." Henry still had a small frown on, but after a moment or two he seemed to look understanding.
"You're still worried about your cousin, right?"
"Oui, I am." Elaine wondered how she was able to say that without speaking too quickly. But Henry Ledore gave a small nod and for a brief moment Elaine thought that perhaps she was right. She had been over reacting. Maybe Madeline was just closer to the Ledores then she originally thought and the 'kissing cheek' thing was just some kind of joke.
But before Elaine could think of something fast enough to change the subject, Henry Ledore brought her into an embrace. Now warning bells were in Elaine's mind. Ringing loud enough to wake the dead.
"She got away once, didn't she? I'm sure it can happen again." Elaine possibly would have mused over the slight irony now was she not questioning just what was going on.
Was her cousin Madeline and Henry Ledore… having an affair?! She couldn't tell which shock shuck her more. That Henry, who seemed to be very friendly when he wasn't putting up a cool, calm and emotionless façade, could actually cheat on his wife, or that her cousin would actually go along with this!
"O-oui, true." Elaine managed to get the words out, trying to keep her temper. Oh, the words she had for Madeline once she saw her again…
Her nerves certainly weren't helped when she heard the study door open. Why wasn't Henry letting go? Did he seriously not care what would happen if-.
"Henry, I just got a call from Dalston. He's wondering if the meeting for Tuesday is still on." Hearing Angela, Elaine used the current advantage of facing away from Angela and not being seen directly by Henry to allow her mouth to slightly gape. Did Angela not find it a little weird that Henry was holding her like this? Wasn't she concerned? Or, was just something normal? If that was the case, it was still worrying.
"Yes, it's still Tuesday." Henry answered, still having yet to let go of Elaine.
"I'll tell him then."
Elaine was still feeling a bit freaked out, but as soon as Angela left she hesitantly put her own arms around Henry. Attempting to not be stiff as she did so.
"Um, merci." It felt appropriate to say it, regardless of what exactly was going on.
"Don't thank me. It's only right since you do manage to cheer me up in regards to Randall." Henry murmured before moved back a bit and placed two brief kisses on Elaine. One on her lips and the other on her forehead.
Elaine clenched her fist to refrain herself from doing something she might regret. But she was determined that she would be having a talk with Madeline as soon as possible.
Because right now, Elaine didn't think Randall would be wrong to seek revenge.