"Cathy!" Lady Elizabeth called from her bedroom. The maid flinched at the use of a nickname she despised, she only ever allowed her brother to call her that and even then she didn't like it, but for some reason Catherine smiled at the thought of her mistress calling her that. Her heart beat strangely again, it kept doing that and she couldn't understand why.
"Coming, my lady." Catherine ran up the stairs to her mistress. She knocked on the door as a servant should do and waited patiently outside.
"Come in!" Lizzie shouted gleefully. The maid walked in to see her mistress dancing around in only her nightgown, clutching a piece of paper to her chest. Her blonde hair was bouncing on her shoulders, her smile was brighter than the sun, Catherine smiled at the sight of her young mistress happy but her mind slowly drifted to the fact that Lizzie's legs were almost fully on show and more and more was showing as she danced because the hem was bouncing higher and higher.
"Young mistress, please cover up! It is inappropriate to show so much leg!" Catherine averted her eyes, her cheeks going a subtle shade of rose and her heart beating faster than it ever had before.
"Oh, Cathy! I apologise profusely! How rude of me." Lady Elizabeth put on a light blue dressing gown and sat on the foot of her bed, still beaming.
"Thank-you, my lady." Catherine exhaled in relief and her heartbeat slowed down. "May I ask why you were so excited earlier?"
"Ciel has invited me to the Phantomhive manor at long last!" Lizzie shrieked joyfully again.
"That's wonderful news! When are you going?"
"Tomorrow, for 3 days!"
"I hope you have an amazing time and I'll make sure that the house is in tip-top shape for when you arrive home." Catherine bowed her head and turned to leave.
"Catherine! Don't be so silly, of course you're coming with me!" Lizzie laughed.
"But, my lady, you have Paula, I would just be extra baggage, I'm not needed."
"Paula has fallen ill so won't be coming with me so that's why I need you to take care of me. Please say you will come? Otherwise I would have to take Louise and she is such a bore and besides you haven't met Ciel yet!"
"Of course I'll come, my lady." Catherine smiled.
"Oh Catherine! It will be so amazing! You will meet Ciel and maybe you'll make friends with the servants there while Ciel and I catch up."
"I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun but right now we should start packing your clothes." Catherine lifted a trunk onto the bed and started gathering dresses out of the wardrobe. Lizzie chatted happily as she worked and Catherine had never felt more peaceful.
The next day, as the carriage rattled on, Elizabeth was staring out the window her eyes filled with boredom.
"Lady Elizabeth, I've been meaning to ask you, how many servants does Master Ciel have?" Catherine asked.
"Five in total. Tanaka the steward, Bardroy the chef, Finny the gardener, Mei Rin the maid and, my personal favourite, Sebastian the butler." Catherine blushed at the mention of his name. She suddenly felt an urge to do nothing but talk about Sebastian, she knew that it was risky and she could accidentally reveal something but she needed to.
"Why is he your favourite, my lady?" Catherine knew she was wandering into dangerous territory but she couldn't care less.
"He is probably the most incredible thing you will have ever seen. He is so passionate about his job even though he is just a lowly butler, he will do anything to save Ciel's life. It's as if his sole purpose in life is to keep Ciel alive, it's truly beautiful." Elizabeth leaned forward and whispered, "Between you and me, Sebastian himself is really quite beautiful." Lizzie giggled and Catherine smiled.
Impulsively Catherine asked, "What does he look like?"
"Chin-length dark hair and eyes so brown they're almost red. Very tall and slim with broad shoulders and a slender milky-white neck. He's always dressed professionally, tail coat and all, always wearing white gloves and he sometimes wears glasses. He can speak many languages and can dance like a professional. He is very skilled in the military arts and rumour has it that he used to be a soldier but I doubt it because he's too kind hearted for that."
Catherine listened eagerly, she had heard one or two things from Grell but whenever he talked about him he almost fainted, but because of Elizabeth's description she had a vivid image in her head of her childhood story character and he was more amazing than she could ever imagine.
"He sounds truly amazing." Catherine smiled and her eyes fluttered closed as she leant her head on the carriage window.
She was awoken half an hour later by a tap on the shoulder.
"Cathy, we're here." Lady Elizabeth gestured to the window. Catherine looked out and saw a huge mansion drawing closer as they made their way down the driveway. She stared in awe the house and looked at the entrance where she saw two figures, one about twice the size of the other. It was him. In a small panic she smoothed out her navy uniform and removed her headdress. She breathed deeply and adjusted her bun.
They arrived at the grand door, Catherine couldn't trust herself to look out of the carriage window but Lizzie was and was waving wildly. The driver got out of his seat and opened the carriage door, Lizzie rushed out first to attack Ciel with a hug, slowly followed by the maid. Her head was bowed but as she looked up she saw the navy-haired young boy and smiled but her eyes darted to Sebastian. It was almost as if she could see right into his mind and she knew what he was. It was like he had a label written across his head in thick black ink saying "demon".