Catherine stood behind her mistress obediently during dinner, not eating herself as the servants had had their meal an hour previously, half-listening to the three nobles' prattle. The subject matter mostly stayed the same; Madam Red arguing with Ciel about how he works himself too hard and Elizabeth going on about how cute she thought Madam Red's dress was, the usual. Catherine was very close to falling asleep standing up until they finally got on to a topic that interested her.
Jack the Ripper.
She wanted to see how Grell and Madam Red reacted to the subject of the murders they had committed.
"Ciel, my darling nephew, why don't you just give up on this case and let the police deal with it?" Madam Red said, no hint of guilt in her voice.
"The Queen has asked me personally to deal with a problem in her capital city, I have my duty to her and my country." Ciel said as if it was an automated reply.
"To me it seems that the Queen's guard dog is just chasing his tail, not getting any closer to catching it." Madam Red sighed. "My darling Ciel, this is not child's play, you're treating this as a mere game where you can just move your pieces to win. Ciel, there is an actual murderer out there, my sister, your mother, would not want this for you."
Silence, it rang in Ciel's ears, he had suppressed all his emotions once he had summoned Sebastian, mentioning his mother made his heart lurch but it didn't show on his face due to the calm and collected armour that he had built up around him.
"Evidently, no one at the party last night could be Jack the Ripper, and our prime suspect has been proved innocent." Ciel said. "We need to widen our search, maybe look at people who aren't nobles or don't have a history in medicine and just want to kill."
Catherine glanced at Grell's weak butler face and let out a little laugh at how hard he was trying to look innocent. Sebastian heard her laugh and looked at her, puzzled. She ignored him and carried on listening to the conversation.
"They may not even live in London, Ciel." Lizzie suggested, trying to be helpful to her fiance.
"That is true, Elizabeth." Ciel tried to put to puzzle together when Catherine snorted again, causing everyone to look at her.
"I apologise, my lord and ladies, it's only a cold." she said holding back her laughter, she so loved knowing things that no one else could even guess.
"On that note, Grell and I should depart." Madam Red said as the nobles stood up. She hugged her nephew and whispered in his ear. "Please consider giving up this dreadful job."
"I'm sorry, madam, but that is one thing I will never do." Ciel said stepping out of his aunt's arms.
"You're so much like my sister." Madam Red said with a smile. Madam Red and Grell then left the dining hall, Catherine flashed a smile at Grell just as he left. She turned to her mistress.
"My lady, would you like to retire to bed?" She asked the young girl.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Not quite yet, I'd like Ciel to teach me how to play chess!" she squeaked. Ciel sighed, he had attempted to do this many times in the past but his fiance never got the hang of it.
"Fine." Ciel said. "Why don't you go up to the games room and I'll be up soon."
Lizzie squealed and rushed up the stairs, followed slowly by her maid.
Ciel sat back down in his chair.
"Master, why are you staying behind?" Sebastian asked.
"I need to think." Ciel said. After a few minutes of silence Ciel finally said, "I don't understand why Elizabeth's maid was laughing. I'm almost certain that it was a laugh not a cold."
"I agree with you, master." the demon said.
"Find out what she knows. It may be something small but it might be useful."
xxxxx
Catherine noticed Lizzie's eyelids start to close. Ciel was getting irritated, the girl hadn't moved one of her pieces in the past 7 minutes.
"Elizabeth, it's your go." Ciel said, the irritation showing in his voice. Lizzie mumbled something no one could understand.
"Master Ciel, I might take my mistress up to bed. She seems very tired." Catherine said before Ciel got too angry.
"Fine, do as you wish." Ciel spat. Catherine nodded and took her mistress' arm leading her out of the room.
"Goodnight, Ciel." Lizzie said sleepily. Ciel scoffed.
"Night, Elizabeth." He replied without emotion. Catherine guided her mistress up the stairs and into her bedroom. Sleepily, the young girl struggled out of her dress and put on her nightgown, she slipped between the sheets and rested her head on the soft pillow. Catherine watched her as sleep enclosed her body.
"Goodnight Catherine." She mumbled quietly. The girl's breathing started to make a regular pattern. Catherine looked at her for a little longer.
"Goodnight, my lady." She whispered and left the room.
The maid tossed and turned for an hour or two after she had gone to bed. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts and the hard mattress wasn't making sleeping any easier. She thought of her brother, and his murderous partner, she thought of Ciel being more of adult than she ever could be, she thought of Sebastian finding out what she was, she then, strangely, thought of her mistress, sleeping so delicately, lips parted ever so slightly...
She sat up straight in her bed, her breath quickened.
"I need to take a walk." She stood up and padded, barefoot, out of her room and straight to her mistress' room almost mechanically. She paused outside the door, and pressed her ear to the cool, dark wood. She heard sobs, soft, delicate sobs. Her mistress. Slowly she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
"My lady?" She whispered, walking in.
"Cathy? Is that you?" Elizabeth whimpered.
"Yes, mistress." Catherine said. "Are you alright?" Elizabeth shook her head and Catherine made her way to the bed and sat down by her mistress, "What's wrong, my lady?"
"It's a stupid reason." Lizzie said, wiping her face.
"There is no such thing as a stupid reason, if something upsets you then it must be important to you." her maid said.
"Well, I, um, am worried that, um, Ciel doesn't love me." A fresh pool of tears poured onto her cheeks.
"Mistress, how could anyone not love you?" Catherine smiled. Her mistress smiled back, sniffing. "I'm sure Ciel loves you but remember that I will always be here for you and I will always love you."
The Lady Elizabeth smiled and little snores began to escape her mouth. Catherine got up to leave.
"No.. Cathy. Don't leave.. me." Lizzie mumbled. Her maid smiled again and sat back down until her mistress was fast asleep, she leaned down and planted a small kiss in Elizabeth's golden curls. She watched her for a little longer, studying her face, the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, the way her lips parted as she slept, the way her beautiful locks covered her cheeks, how she blushes when she sees Ciel, how she is always smiling, every part of her mistress she admired.
She sighed and lay down on the sofa in Lizzie's room, she pulled the throw from the back of the sofa to cover her and slowly entered the world of sleep.
Authors Note
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, the next chapter will come soon.
Thanks for reading, please leave your feedback, it's very much appreciated!
And thank-you werehogdog for your review it was really sweet :)