When Adam and Belle reached downstairs, they heard a lot of yelling. Two of the voices they heard was Tintement and Maurice.
"I wonder what my cousin's mad about this time." Belle said.
"I'm not sure I want to know." Adam said when the two of them got to the front hall. They saw Maurice and Tintement being held back by some of the guards of the castle. It was looking like they were trying to get into a room that the guards were in front of.
"What happened?" Belle said as she approached her father and cousin.
"Don't go in that room, Belle!" Tintement said in a very serious voice.
"What's going on here?" Adam asked.
"That idiot of Gaston's servant is here!" Maurice said.
"Lefou?" Belle asked in shock, "how did he get here?"
"According to these guards, they found him and a young girl with minor injuries in the middle of the night." Tintement said in angry tone, "I want to strangle his neck!"
"Please tell me he didn't see you!" Belle said.
"You know your cousin," Maurice said, "she jumped him and tried to make his injuries worse." Belle raised her hand, slapped her forehead and slid down her face. She now knew that this was going to be a big problem.
"Let me ask this," she said, "do we have an idea on who the girl is?"
"I do," Maurice said, "but I don't want to say it here where they can hear us."
"Let's discuss this privately." Adam spoke up, he then turned to the guards. "Don't let them leave!" The guards nodded their heads and Adam took Belle and her family to another room.
"I still can't believe it!" Tintement said in a very angry voice.
"Neither can I." Maurice said, also upset. While Maurice and Tintement were releasing their anger, Belle talked to Adam about what to do about the situation.
"Adam," Belle said, "I have an idea about what's going through your mind, but...you can't let Lefou leave the place. He's already seen Tintement, he have the idea that I'm here as well. If you do let him leave, we'll be taking a risk that he'll go and tell that horrible monster where I am!" Adam knew that Belle had a point, it was probably the reason on why Tintement and Maurice were so angry. Even though he didn't like the idea on Lefou being here, Adam wasn't going to let him go tell Anton where Belle was.
"I'm not going to argue that decision," Adam said, "despite the fact that he tried to go after you when I was helping you move out of your cottage."
"Thank you...for not arguing with me." Belle said.
"Let me strangle his neck, uncle!" Tintement spoke as she tried to get out of the room, but Maurice was doing what he could to keep his niece from really losing her temper.
"Tintement," Belle spoke up, "don't waste your energy on him. It's not worth it!"
"Fine." Tintement groaned, "So what are we going to do with him?"
"He doesn't deserve to live in my castle," Adam said, "especially after what he has done to you when Gaston was alive, but I'm not letting him go out there to tell that monster that's been chasing Belle where she is. Because Tintement went after him, he may have an idea that Belle's here. As it kills me to say it, I'll throw him in my dungeon." Belle, Tintement and Maurice didn't argue with that decision, Lefou has done enough damage being with both Gaston and Anton.
"Papa, you said you may have an idea on who the girl is?" Belle asked.
"Yes," Maurice answered, "do you remember...Mimi?" When Belle heard that name, she let out a big groan.
"Yes, I do." She groaned, "You believe she's the one that's here?"
"Yes, she looks just like her." Maurice said.
"Who's Mimi?" Tintement asked.
"Ask papa, I'm not going to talk about her." Belle said, "I think I'll go to my room, I don't need to be seen by those two." She went to the door and left the room, Adam could see that Belle was very disappointed and sad when she heard 'Mimi'.
"Maurice, I don't mean to invade, but...Belle sounded very disappointed when she heard that name."
"Mimi was Belle's first and only friend when we first came to that village." Maurice said, "They didn't have a lot of things in common, but Mimi didn't want Belle to be lonely in a new village. When Mimi's sisters, Lili and Gigi, found out about Mimi being friends with Belle, they didn't like the idea at all, mainly because my daughter would rather read a book than look for a husband. Those triplets...it's no wonder they got the nickname 'The Bimbettes' for nothing."
"So how come Belle sounded upset?" Tintement asked.
"Because Mimi chose to be like her sisters and try to gain Gaston's attention rather than have her friendship with Belle." Maurice answered, "They believe that Belle was out of her mind for not liking Gaston."
"No wonder Belle was upset." Adam said, he couldn't believe that Belle's only friend in that village chose to be with a man over her.
"When Belle found out that Mimi no longer wanted to be with her and that Mimi and her sisters were trying to gain Gaston's attention, nothing could express how unhappy she was." Maurice said, "Belle stayed away from Mimi and her sisters, especially her sisters, they were...more than just mean to her. In fact, when Gigi and Lili found out that Anton has had eyes on my daughter, they always helped Anton spread his dirty work; spread rumors around that my daughter and him were together, they were getting married and to call my daughter 'Anton's girl'." Maurice made an angry groan, "Just thinking about it is making me furious, Belle and I did whatever we could to keep Anton and those girls away from her. Whenever Anton was on his hunting trip, they would just be his half-brother Gaston, but because Gaston would pay attention to them, they wouldn't go after Belle."
Before Maurice spoke anymore, Adam was so angry by what he heard that he literally punched the wall. Tintement was surprised because she thought she would lose her temper before Adam would.
"Adam," she said, "I thought I would lose my temper before you would."
"Just hearing what else those two monsters had done to her is enough to make my blood boil." Adam said, "Right now, those two that are in my castle deserve to rot in my dungeon."
"I wouldn't disagree with that." Maurice said.
"Let me go with you, Adam," Tintement said, "I can be very persuasive."
"I was just about to ask you if you would like to." He said as he opened the door.
When Adam and Tintement got back to the room the guards were guarding, Adam told the guards to step aside and let them in. The guards nodded their heads and opened the door for them. Once inside, Adam and Tintement saw the girl and Lefou sitting near the fireplace, but when Lefou saw Tintement, he jumped up in fear and ran to the nearest corner.
"Don't hurt me!" Lefou said in fear.
"Quit acting like an idiot and maybe I won't." Tintement said, Lefou gulped as he tried to calm down.
"Lefou, you know her?" the girl asked, holding her right arm.
"She's Belle's cousin, Mimi!" He said, still very afraid. Mimi's eyes widen as she looked over at Tintement.
"Hmm, I can see the relationship." Mimi said.
"So you're Mimi." Tintement said.
"The girl who chose to gain a man's attention than keep her friendship." Adam said.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Mimi asked.
"None of your business." Adam said, trying to control his anger.
"I've seen you before." Lefou said.
"Yes, when you tried to find out if Belle was there when we were helping her move out of that cottage." Tintement said.
"Well, if you're here," Lefou said, "that must mean Belle's here. Where is she?"
"Lefou, don't!" Mimi said, "Anton's tricking everyone with that reward!"
"What reward?" Tintement said in a very deep voice, Lefou backed away.
"Nothing." He said. Just then, Tintement grabbed him by the throat and held him against the wall.
"What...reward...is she...talking about?" Tintement asked again, this time in a more menacing voice.
"Okay, okay!" Lefou said, being so very scared. "Anton came back from being attacked by a woman that he said had needles for hands! He crawled his way back when he told us that the woman broke his legs." Adam and Tintement knew that Lefou was referring to Sagittarius' fiancee, Sapphire. "He told us that the woman and another woman kidnapped Belle away from him."
"How dare you say my little cousin was kidnapped from him!" Tintement said, throwing Lefou against the wall again. "He's the one that tried to kidnap Belle away from us! He almost attacked her twice, I'm not letting that monster come anywhere near my little cousin!"
"Yes, ma'am." Lefou said.
"Continue what you were saying." She said.
"Because Anton had broken legs, he summoned up a huge reward for the man who found Belle; ten thousand gold coins. Ever since he made that reward, every man has been looking for Belle. Not only do they want to find her for the reward, they also want revenge for her killing Gaston." Hearing that again, Tintement was ready to lose it again.
"Belle didn't kill him!" Mimi shouted at Lefou. Both, Adam and Tintement, were surprised to hear that come out of someone else's mouth.
"What makes you think that?" Lefou asked Mimi.
"You really think Gaston, being as strong as he was, could be killed by Belle, who was no match for his strength?" Mimi asked, Lefou didn't answer. "That's what I thought, all of you in village wanted to blame Belle all because she was different from all the women and she refused to be Gaston's wife."
"Well, she was!" Lefou pushed, "You used to be like your sisters until Gaston went after that beast!"
"He showed who he really was!" Mimi pushed, "Gaston was just as horrible as his brother."
"Hmm, here I thought I was going to make the arguments." Tintement said, she turned over to Adam. "What should we do with him?"
"Guards!" Adam yelled out, the door opened and the two guards came in. "Take the short man to the dungeon! He doesn't deserve to be in front of me!
"Yes sir!" The guards said together, they took Lefou from Tintement and went straight to the dungeon tower.
"Why do I get this feeling that the two of you are now coming after me?" Mimi asked.
"You used to be my cousin's friend, but you traded it for Gaston's attention."
"I know," Mimi said, "it was a very stupid decision. I was just tired of my sisters picking on me, bit there's no excuse for what I did to mine and Belle's friendship."
"Hmm, you're not acting like what my uncle said you were," Tintement said, "but looks and words can be deceiving."
"Maurice? Belle's father?" Mimi asked, "He probably has said some things about me and my sisters, but I'm not going to argue the fact."
"He said that you and your sisters helped that monster spread rumors about Belle and him." Tintement said, Mimi rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"I had a feeling he would say that, but that was only my sisters work, not mine. The only stupid mistake I did was losing your cousin's friendship."
"Tintement," Adam said, "can I speak to you for a moment?" Tintement nodded her head 'yes' and the two of them stepped out of the room.
"A part of me wants to believe her," Tintement said, "but after hearing what Uncle Maurice said about her, I don't know what to believe."
"I don't know either." Adam said, "I don't want to make a mistake that will result Anton finding Belle."
"I know," she said, "how about making her work with the servants? Make her work to earn our trust, especially yours?"
"Mine?"
"Yes, yours. You're the one that my cousin wants to marry; you want to marry her. Besides all that, you'll be receiving your crown soon and, when that happens, you can really change things around outside the castle grounds."
"You have a point," Adam said, "I'm just...worried if I'll be able to do it."
"You have your aunt and cousin; you also have Belle." Tintement said, "Everyone here will help, except the short idiot in the dungeon."
"You're really against him." He said.
"He came to the cottage with a large hunting knife," she said, "no one harms my family."
"I get the idea," Adam said, "let's go back in there." Tintement nodded her head and the two of them went back to the room, where Mimi was still sitting near the fireplace. Mimi looked back at Adam and Tintement when she heard the door.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" she asked.
"Not exactly," Adam said, "you're going to have to earn our trust, by working with my servants."
"To be honest, sir," Mimi said, "I'll do anything, just...don't sent me back to that village! Anton has done enough damage to all the women there, including my sisters and I."
"What do you mean by that?" Tintement asked.
"I'm not sure I should tell you, but I don't want to have problems. I've seen what you can do with Lefou; I don't want that to happen to me. Ever since Belle left the village, Anton has been in a rampage of anger, forcing any woman that comes to him to be dress like Belle and to look like her."
"Is that why...you're holding your arm like that?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Mimi answered, "he was angry with me because I didn't dress myself like Belle like my sisters did, despite how much they didn't like the idea. All he did was grab my wrist and crushed it, I really can't move my wrist without pain. After facing Anton, I was going to run away on my own. I really didn't expect Lefou to beg me to go with me. Before I forget what I was talking about, I'll do anything you ask me, just don't send me back!"
"Very well," Adam said, "your first job is tomorrow. So I'll send Mrs. Potts over to fix your wrist and show you to your quarters." Mimi just nodded her head, then Adam and Tintement left the room. Once outside the room, Adam said, "That was rough."
"Yes, it was." Tintement said, "I'll go find Mrs. Potts for you, why don't you check on Belle and see if she's calmed down."
"Good idea."