Sebastian had no idea what was wrong, or what had happened. Everything had been just perfect in the morning—he had woken up next to Eleanora, who had smiled and had allowed him to kiss her neck, and now, in the evening, she was acting as if he didn't exist.

Naturally he knew immediately who had turned her against him. He desperately wanted to confront the young Master and demand to know what he had said to her, but that was unprofessional. Besides, if he wanted to know what was wrong, he would have to go straight to the source. That's what his mother always said…Then again, Jean had told him that if he had to ask a woman what was wrong, he was already in big trouble.

He decided to go with his mother on this one. After all, she was a woman, so she probably knew best on how to deal with women. And his father's best advice usually revolved around food and sex, not really "talking out feelings."

It was lights-out and all of the students were sent to bed, which meant that the young Master wouldn't be able to sneak away for about another half-hour. The perfect time to have a nice, deep, earnest conversation with his wife about her problems.

He was dreading it already.

She was sitting on the couch, staring off into space. She didn't move when he sat down next to her and was only startled out of her thoughts when he wrapped his arms around her.

"Sweetness," he whispered and kissed her hand. "Is something bothering you?"

"No," she said, blatantly lying.

Rose at this point would have said to leave it alone for a while and wait for her to talk. Jean would have said to keep going and wring it out of her. Sebastian, in his defense, tried to do what his mother would have done, lasted for half a millisecond, and chose Jean's route.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Positive," Eleanora said, in a tone which clearly said, "shut up or die."

Now Rose would've said for him to run. But Jean would have told him to keep going; he was doing so well!

"It's just that…you're so quiet…"

"God, just leave me alone!"

Sebastian fell silent and Eleanora was allowed to continue her thinking without conversationalist interruptions. After a while, she started to feel a bit guilty for snapping. She turned to him; he smiled.

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning back into him. "I'm sorry…It's just that…Well…You know…"

"Quite all right," he said, cuddling her closer. "Don't worry about it."

Mmm, she smelled niiice…He resisted the urge to lick her cheek. While he was positive that she tasted as good as she smelled, he was also pretty sure that she wouldn't appreciate such a gesture which bordered on the perverted.

"I've just been…thinking…"

"About what?"

"About nothing," she said and Sebastian thought that he had messed up again when she said, "Do you love me?"

"Darling, do you really doubt it?"

"It's a simple question which requires a simple yes-or-no answer." The look she gave him meant, "I'm not in the mood for your romantic smart-assery."

"Suppose I do," Sebastian said, nestling his head into her neck. "What will you do then?"

"How much?"

"I…beg your pardon?"

"I said, how much do you love me?"

"Oh-h-h…" he said, his mind straining for an accurate, but inoffensive, unit of measurement. "A…lot?"

"What?"

"Yes, a lot!"

Eleanora stared at him, as if that was an unsatisfactory answer.

"A…a lot, a lot?"

"But how much?"

"I just told you: a lot."

"How much is a 'lot?'"

"I don't know, but it's a lot." She was still giving him that look. "It's…a…very, really, muchly…lot?"

"I see," she sighed and turned away from him. He continued holding her, wondering if he had successfully answered her question. "How much do you think Drocell loves me?"

"Not a lot at all," he answered immediately. "I'm sure that he forgot all about you."

This technically wasn't a lie—if he didn't know something, he couldn't really lie about it, now could he?

"You think so?"

"I do."

"I don't."

He couldn't restrain a small, frustrated "tsk!" noise, which only made Eleanora glare up at him again.

"…Do you have a problem with that?"

Unfortunately, saying "no" would be a lie; he was forced to resort to another smile.

"Darling, why are you worrying about him now?" he asked. "He's with his Earl now. I'm sure that he's very happy. And you're happy too, right?"

'Please be happy, please be happy, please be happy, please…Please say that you're happy with me!'

"I don't know," she said. "At first I thought that I was, but whenever I think of Drocell…"

"The solution, dearest, is to not think of him at all."

"It's not that easy. You can't just turn your thoughts off and on like a faucet. If you were told to never think about me again, would you really be able to do it?"

"Of course not. I think about you all the time. Even when I'm sleeping, you're still present in my dreams."

She gave him another of those not-in-the-mood looks.

"I don't know," she finally said. "I just…I just feel so guilty…I mean, I am happy, but when I think about him…Am I being disloyal to him? I had told him that I loved him…And here I am! Screwing another man out of what little brains he has left…Do you think…Do you think that this is alright? That I…That I'm not being unfaithful?"

"Sweetheart, you chose me over him. Of course you would want to scr—that is, be with the man who you've chosen to be with. I'm sure that he doesn't mind."

"R-Really? Truly?"

"If he really loves you," Sebastian said, "or if he had ever loved you in the past, he would want you to be happy."

"Really?"

"Certainly. I mean, I know that, if you had chosen him over me, I would have still wished for your happiness." 'I might have also wished for his complete and utter annihilation, but…' "I'm sure that he feels the same way." He smiled down at her; she still didn't look convinced. "Eleanora," he said gently, "what's so unfaithful in wanting to be happy?"

Eleanora sat up and faced him, but she didn't speak. He waited patiently.

"…That's odd," she said. "You actually managed to make me feel better. Huh."

"I do my best."

He leaned in for a kiss, but she pulled away from him.

"N-No…Not tonight…Not right now. I don't think…that I can do it tonight."

"That's fine. But whenever you want to…" he tapped his lips, "I'll be ready and eager to oblige."

She didn't look sure.

"Eleanora," he said, "you know that all I've ever wanted is your happiness."

She smiled a bit at this. And then Ciel entered.

"Finally!" he sighed. "Do you know how hard it is to sneak around at night? What are you two doing?"

"Just talking, my Lord," Eleanora said.

"Really? Just talking?"

"Of course. What else would we be doing?"

Ciel scowled, but he couldn't protest. They were just sitting across from each other on a couch. He had heard them talking before he had come in. They weren't even touching.

"Fine," he sighed and sat down across from them. Sebastian immediately rose up to prepare tea. "So, then, about this cricket game…"

"Actually, I've had some ideas about that," Eleanora said.

She didn't mind being interrupted in her heart-to-heart conversation with the butler. Plotting evil schemes was always a good way to keep one's mind off of things.