Eleanora had spent the next week or so mourning her loss—quietly, of course; maids shouldn't show their grief openly—the best maids didn't even have grief! But of course that was unrealistic. To live in a world without grief is to not live in a world at all, and unfortunately, Eleanora did indeed live.

She was almost grateful when Madam Red received a sudden letter from Ciel, saying that he was fine; school was fine; he was having a bit of issues with some boy; but other than that, everything was peaches and roses and there was no need to panic and do anything rash.

And after reading such a comforting letter, Madam Red decided to panic and do something rash.

"My poor darling nephew!" she said. "Completely at the mercy of some horrible, disgusting bully! What should I do? What should I do?!"

"They say that the best cure for a bully is an even bigger bully," Grell said.

"Nonsense; who ever said that?"

"Well…Nobody; I just made it up; but it's true either way! So in order to help him, all you have to do is send him someone even meaner than a child bully."

"But…But where would we even find such a person?"

And at that moment, Eleanora entered the room.

She didn't actually mind being sent off to some random boarding school. It would help distract her from Drocell. She had received letters from him, saying how happy he was to be reunited with the Earl of Mandalay, but that he still missed her and she was on his mind constantly. That did very little to assuage her pain—quite on the contrary, it seemed to exacerbate it.

She didn't know why the Earl of Phantomhive had suddenly decided to go to school, but she wouldn't mind going back. She actually had lots of fond memories from her school days—putting glue in teachers' shoes, cutting hair when the students slept, stealing the holy Communion wine from the chapel and drinking it on the sly…Good times, good times all around. The staff had not been sorry to see her leave.

It was an all-boys' school, which she thought kind of sucked. It seemed that every other school in England was an all-boys' school. There weren't nearly enough girls' schools around, and the ones that the country had weren't very good. They taught valuable skills like Embroidery and Summoning Non-Rabid Woodland Creatures Through Song.

The front-desk staff seemed a bit hesitant to allow a woman to enter their sacred walls, but she was eventually able to convince them. And soon she was wandering around the grounds, looking at the buildings and wondering where the young Master was.

A bell tolled somewhere in the school and the pupils started filing out of their classes.

"Eleanora?"

She turned around; the young Master was approaching her, dressed in a sharp student's outfit with several books tucked under his arm.

"Oh! Hello! How are you?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked, immediately cutting out the chit-chat, the way that he always did.

"Your aunt sent me. She said that she was worried about you with some…boy?"

"Oh," Ciel sighed, pressing a hand over his eyes. "Why did she worry? I told her over and over in her letter that everything was under control…"

"Well, she still sent me, and here I am! Or do you want me to leave?"

"No, since you're here, you might as well be of use. Do you want to see the boy?"

"The bully?"

"Oh, 'bully' is such a strong word…More like…'annoyance.'"

"Ah, I gotcha."

Ciel led Eleanora around the building and then pointed at a group of students who were flocking around one boy, a boy who looked simply angelic.

"That's the one—Maurice Cole."

"Ah, I see," Eleanora said, not really seeing at all. "…So, which one is he? Is he the one offering the girl sweets or massaging her shoulders?"

"Girl? What girl?"

"Oh, please! It may be an all-boys' school, but that is definitely a member of the gentler sex. She must have sneaked in somehow…Not too surprising; any girl can pass for a young boy and vice-versa…Look at you, for example!"

"I…You…What?...No, the girl is Maurice!"

Eleanora blinked at him.

"You're shitting me."

"I swear to God."

"Well, we'll just have to examine this closer, shall we?"

"No, don't—!"

But Eleanora had already shoved her way through the throng and was standing in front of the angelic boy, smiling sweetly.

"Yes?" Maurice Cole asked, after getting over his initial shock upon seeing a young woman in the school. "Can I help you?"

"You're Maurice Cole?"

"I am."

"Settle a bet, honey bumpkin," she said and leaned in conspiratorially. "You were, at some point, a Mauricia, right? I can tell by your voice; you haven't had a voice change, recently, have you?"

"I…I beg your pardon!"

"Now don't be shy! I've met several, very nice people like you; it's nothing to be ashamed about…"

At this point, Maurice noticed Ciel in the distance, trying very hard not to laugh.

"You!" he hissed. "I should have known you'd be involved in this…this...ploy!"

"Really?" Eleanora said. "Over ten billion words in this language and all you can think of is 'ploy?' At least use 'shenanigans' or something else fun to say!"

All Maurice could do was say a frustrated "OH!" and stomp off, followed obediently by his minions. Eleanora watched him leave, shrugged, and then went back to Ciel.

"That 'boy' is definitely suspicious," she told him. "No man can look that feminine without either being a woman, or using something."

"'Using something?' Like what?"

"I was originally thinking estrogen supplements, but makeup would work just as well."

"Don't let anyone hear you say that," Ciel said, his face turning pink from repressing laughter. "But that's an interesting thought…I'll have to look into it. He's the most attractive boy in school, you know."

"An all-boys' school, and that is what everybody is concerned about? This whole thing only increases in suspicion…By the way," she said as they went back to walking around the grounds, "didn't you bring your butler with you? Where is he?"

"Why? Did you miss him?"

"No, I just want to know where he is at all times so that he doesn't go off and do something stupid agai…Damn."

"What? What is it?"

Ciel followed her eyes; she had stopped short and was now staring in fascination at a man dressed in black robes, talking to some of the students.

"…Who is he…?" she murmured. "I mean…and I don't say this a lot, but…damn!"

"That's my professor, actually," Ciel said. "Why? Do you like him?"

"My Lord, if I wasn't a married woman…"

"I'll introduce you, if you'd like," Ciel said, smirking.

"What? No! Haven't I already told you that I'm married? But it's still such a shame…" Eleanora gazed in longing at the man. "Such an ass really shouldn't go to waste…"

"I dare you to say something to him as we pass by."

"You 'dare' me? What are you—six?"

Ciel considered this.

"…I'll give you five shillings."

This put the whole thing in a completely new perspective. Eleanora licked her lips.

"Make it ten."

Ciel checked his pockets.

"I only have eight."

"That'll do."

And they continued walking. As they passed by the man, Eleanora turned to him and said in a low voice—low enough so that the other students couldn't hear her, but loud enough for him to definitely understand what she was saying—

"Do you give private lessons, professor?"

The man stopped in his talking and turned to look at her.

Eleanora's mouth dropped.

It was the butler.

But WHAT a transformation! Those eyes, normally so cold, now turned passionate through the use of glasses! That hair, normally so wild and free, turned sexy just by being relatively tamed! That torso, normally so bulky in a tailcoat, now finely chiseled in a teacher's uniform!

Eleanora couldn't stop staring at him over her shoulder as she walked. She eventually composed herself enough to give him a little approving smirk. He rolled his eyes at this and turned back to the students, but even he couldn't hide his pleased smile.

They turned the corner and Eleanora collapsed against the building. She couldn't even speak for a while; all she could do was make some happy gasping sounds.

"You seem impressed," Ciel commented. "I've never seen you look so happy before."

"My Lord," Eleanora finally managed, "if he had asked me to marry him wearing that, I would've been at the church hours before he even arrived!"

Ciel smiled at this and shook his head. Then another bell tolled and he had to go to class, with Eleanora in tow.