The Butterfly Caught in the Spider's Web (Alois Trancy x OC)

Apothecary

December 24, 1887

Arabella watched as Jane carried the box into her room, a sour mood settling over her. Though the dress had been brought home the day before, her parents had wanted to look at the outfit in order to make sure that it was appropriate for the occasion. Thankfully, it had passed their inspection, and Arabella did not have to risk yet another trip to the clothing store. 

"Would you like to take a look at the dress?" Jane asked, a small smile tilting her lips up. 

"I suppose so," Arabella answered as she took a sip of the chamomile tea that one of the other maids had prepared for her. 

"I do understand that you are not very happy with the way that your engagement has gone, but there is nothing wrong with liking the dress." 

"Yes, but this dress will soon be linked with a rather unfortunate situation." 

Jane let out an awed sound as she pulled off the lid of the box, revealing the dress to her. 

"Oh Arabella, this dress is going to look adorable on you..." 

"At the very least, my wardrobe won't make me look so miserable," Arabella dryly answered as she sat her teacup back on its saucer, getting up from her chair and moving to stand behind Jane. 

"...Do you still have that piece of paper I gave you?" Jane asked, looking at the young girl over her shoulder. A relieved sigh left her as Arabella nodded in response. "That's good to hear. If you do not plan on using that information in the future, I would suggest that you throw it into the fire. If that paper is ever found, I would be in trouble, along with yourself and the person." 

"Mother?" called out Ansel from outside of the closed door. In seconds, he had opened the door and set his foot into Arabella's bedroom. 

"Ansel, don't walk into the room so casually! Wait until I tell you that you can even open the door. What if Arabella had been in the middle of changing her clothes?" Jane lectured, sternly walking over to her son. 

"Mother, could you leave me alone for one second?" 

"No, I will not. I really worry about what might happen if I do not keep my eyes on you." Jane let out a deep sigh as she smoothed down his unruly hair. "What in the world am I going to do with you, dear?"

"Jane, could you give Ansel and I room to discuss something?" Arabella requested, earning an unimpressed look from Jane. "Please. I promise that no one will find the two of us." 

"I'll trust your word," Jane simply said before swiftly leaving the room, closing the door behind herself. 

"Why did you need to talk to me?" Ansel asked, averting his eyes when Arabella carefully lifted the skirts of her dress and rifled through her stockings. "Uh, Arabella?"  

"There it is!" Arabella exclaimed as she procured the paper from her stockings, triumphantly holding it up into the air. Pulling her skirts back down, Arabella giddily added, "You can look now, Ansel." An airy giggle left her lips as she noticed the dark blush that covered his cheeks. "Oh, come now. It's only my ankles, silly." 

"Still, it's not...proper." 

"Mm, is it proper to sneak someone out of their room and outside?" Arabella teasingly replied as Ansel let out a laugh. 

"Alright, fine. It seems that you have found an error in my judgment," the boy said as he nodded toward the paper. "Now, what is that, and why were you hiding it in your stockings?" 

"Simple. Someone gave me a quick fix to my engagement problem. This person could fix me a tonic that I could give to Trancy," Arabella answered, extending the paper toward Ansel. "Easy solution!"