As usual, Stella woke early the following morning.
This time, however, she was awake before six.
The residence was still quiet, with most of the household asleep. A faint gray light had begun to spread across the sky outside her window, gradually replacing the darkness of night. The first traces of dawn rested along the horizon, soft and pale, while the garden below remained wrapped in the cool stillness of the early morning.
Stella sat down at the small desk beside the window.There was something she needed to take care of before beginning her usual duties.
She had to write a letter to the group.
After everything she had learned since arriving at Eleanor's residence, there was quite a bit to report. She dipped her pen into the ink and began writing, told them that everything had been proceeding normally.
Cecilia and Eleanor appeared to be living an ordinary life befitting noblewomen, and so far, Stella had noticed nothing suspicious about either of them.
Her own work was equally uneventful. Most of her duties consisted of ordinary household tasks, assisting Eleanor, keeping track of certain expenses, and dealing with whatever was required of her throughout the day.
Once she finished, Stella read through the letter one more time before folding it carefully and placing it inside a small envelope. She would take it with her the next time she had an opportunity to leave the residence and deliver it at the usual place.
She knew the group was still somewhere nearby.
That alone was enough to make her cautious. She had no doubt that Jack and Thomas would be keeping an eye on the situation, especially after allowing her to move here alone.
"I know Jack didn't let me come here by myself because he completely trusts me."
She stood and straightened her clothes before leaving the room. "He probably wants Morel to report back to him about me. After all, the decision wasn't entirely his to make in the first place."
She paused briefly, "I wouldn't be surprised if they sent someone else here under the excuse of helping me."
That possibility seemed quite likely.
She walked down the quiet corridor toward Eleanor's room.
Stella was still thinking about it when the sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention.
She looked up.
A young man was walking toward her from the other end of the corridor.
She had never seen him in either of the two residences before. He was tall and relatively slender, with straight black hair that reached his shoulders. His face was clean-shaven, his complexion fair, and his eyes a deep, dark shade.
His clothing immediately stood out from that of the household staff. He wore a fitted leather outfit made up of dark brown and black layers. It was practical enough to move comfortably in, yet well-made and surprisingly neat.
As they drew closer, Stella's eyes briefly met his.
The young man stopped for only a fraction of a second. He smiled and gave her a small, polite nod before continuing past her without saying a word.
Stella turned her head slightly as he walked away.
She continued toward Eleanor's room for a few more steps before curiosity got the better of her.
She looked back. The corridor behind her was empty. He had already disappeared.
Stella blinked, "That was fast!"
Her gaze shifted toward the direction from which he had come. "Who is he? Does he work here?"
She glanced toward the windows at the end of the corridor. "He came from the direction of the rear garden..."
After a moment, Stella turned back toward Eleanor's room.
When Stella arrived at the room, she found that Eleanor had only just woken up.
The morning began much like the others. Stella helped her get ready, arranged the things she would need for the day, and made sure everything was in order before accompanying her to breakfast. Afterward, they headed to the garden. One of Cecilia's friends had come to visit, and the two women were expected to meet her there.
Stella remained nearby throughout the visit, quietly attending to whatever was required while the conversation carried on around the table.
Once the visit was over, she finally had some time to herself.
Her next task was to tidy Eleanor's private library and review one of the household archives. Mary, one of the older maids, had asked her to look through it on her behalf. The woman had been complaining about pain in her eyes and found it increasingly difficult to spend long periods reading through old records.
Stella had agreed without much hesitation.
It was a simple favor, and, more importantly, it gave her a perfectly good excuse to spend some time in the library. She had been curious about the room since the first time Henry had shown it to her.
Eleanor's library was considerably larger than Stella had expected. Unlike the study, which contained mostly documents and books related to her daily affairs, the library seemed to reflect a much wider range of interests.
The shelves were arranged with remarkable care. Each subject had its own section, and the books were organized so neatly that finding a particular volume would probably have been easy even without a catalog.
According to Mary, Eleanor had arranged most of it herself over the years.
Before looking for the archive, Stella decided to take a quick look around. One shelf led to another.
Literature, philosophy, geography, medicine...
Her curiosity kept pulling her farther into the room. Eleanor certainly had varied interests.
The historical and scientific sections caught Stella's attention more than the others. She stopped in front of them, running her eyes over the titles.
"If I had an entire afternoon here, I could probably stay until dinner."
Unfortunately, she had work to finish.
Still, she allowed herself one book. Her hand stopped at a thick volume from the scientific section.
The title was simply: The Comprehensive.
Stella frowned slightly at the rather vague name before opening it.
The book dealt with poisons.
It contained descriptions of various known toxins, along with their sources, methods of extraction, properties, and known uses. Some of the information was surprisingly detailed, although much of it seemed fairly limited by modern standards.
Stella flipped through several pages. "That's incredibly primitive."
She leaned closer to the page, scanning a section describing one of the extraction methods.
"Back home, poisons are already used as the basis for certain medicines and chemical compounds. And there are much simpler methods of extracting and refining them."
She turned another page. "What an amazing lack of technology..."
A small smile appeared at the thought.
There were certainly advantages to living in an era with more advanced scientific knowledge.
After a few more pages, Stella reluctantly closed the book and returned it to its place. She needed to find the archive.
After checking several cabinets, she eventually found it in a drawer tucked into the corner of the library.
The archive contained the household's previous expenses. Cecilia had recently changed suppliers for some of the fabrics used in the residence, and the new arrangements had resulted in higher expenses. She had therefore asked Mary to review the previous records and compare the costs.
Stella opened the archive and began going through it. The records were divided into several sections.
Household expenses, food and supplies, servant wages, and names and dates.
Everything had been recorded in considerable detail, including when each servant had started working at the residence and when they had left, along with their wages during their time there.
Stella's eyes moved down the list.
"These must be the previous servants."
She turned a few pages, scanning the names without much interest.
Some had worked there for only a few months. Others had stayed for several years. She continued checking the figures, occasionally noting down something that seemed relevant to Cecilia's request.
Then, near the end of the section, something caught her attention.
Stella stopped turning the pages. Her eyes settled on a name written near the top of the final page.
'Hannah James.'