Tommy had arrived too late to attend the new term feast. it bothered him not for he was not a real people's person. He hated crowds and only was comfortable in them in the line of duty,when he had other things to occupy his mind. But he was no longer working for the Ministry, and he owed that to one Dark Witch who had got away. She had gotten the better of him and it had changed him in ways he hated.

Tommy was hardest on himself though, the guys he had once worked with never saw him as weak. he had a good reputation and it would stand the test of time. Tommy had been the one to lead many a mission . . and they would never forget. Not one of them had even consider Tommy was going soft by taking a teaching position, even if he did himself.

He kept an eye on things and that night had just taken delivery of the late edition of the Daily Prophet. He could have gone to his quarters but the Teacher's Lounge was closer and he was keen to sit down with a coffee and search the articles.

He found it easily and entered with his newspaper tucked into his black coat. The students would wonder for a while but that was his attire and it never changed. Black jeans, black boots, black shirt and a black coat. . never a cloak.

At first he thought the room empty but as he made his way to the coffee bar, he noticed a young woman sitting near the fire. As she seemed to be engrossed in her book, he said nothing to her and proceeded to make himself a coffee. Black and strong he took it and with it he helped himself to a pastry.

Not wanting to disturb the young woman, he chose a seat on the other side of the room and placed his coffee down. He pulled the paper out and sat down, spreading it out on the table before him. He bit into the pastry not even tasting it and scoured the news for any sign of the Witch who had done this to him.

Astrid left the Feast in a great hurry, she had meant to send a letter to her Grandfathers Healer upon her arrival, but the stress of turning up late had meant that she had forgotten.
It had not taken very long for her to write the letter, and the penmanship betrayed nothing of the cloud of stress behind its writer. She grimaced sealing the letter, and offered it to the owl waiting patiently by the window, before grabbing her cloak and leaving the room.

It was about halfway to the teachers lounge that she realised she had left her diary and planner in her office, her mind was a scatter and it was unlike her to forget things, least of all a book which contained her entire world. She paused weighing up the decisions of turning back to retrieve it or carrying onwards. She chose the latter.

Eventually Astrid found herself standing in front of the entrance to the hidden teachers lounge, and checking the corridoors for students quickly opened the door. In truth the room was beautiful, rather quaint, and she knew instantly that on days she wanted to seek escape she would find solace and a safe haven here. She took another step inside and shut the door behind her. It was then that she realised there were already two Professors inside. Belle. She smiled in relief, and waved. Before turning her head to the other occupant of the room. It was a man, who seemed to be in his mid-twenties, he was drinking stiffly from a mug of black coffee from the scent of it, and scanning the pages of a newspaper, an English one she noted. She felt sure she had not seen him at the feast, but he still held some familiarity.

Purposefully avoiding the allure of the pastry table, Astrid headed for an independent armchair and removing her cloak sat down.

"Did you find ze Lounge ok Belle? Astrid asked, before turning to the man.

"Bonjour. Astrid began, "I am Astrid Leure, ze Transfiguration professor, who might you be?

Belle heard the door open and glanced up from her book, half expecting it to be Astrid, with whom she had met earlier. But it was a young man, well youngish she surmised, late twenties perhaps but certainly no older. She was about to greet him and introduce herself when he walked straight past her without a word. She blinked once . . twice as she watched him pour a coffee. Black she noticed like his attire. He looked a bit like those muggle goth boys that paraded around London, without the makeup of course. But that black look was quite harsh.

As he seemed to not want to talk, Belle shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading her book. What was it to her if he did not want to introduce himself. But it irked her.. in essence she told herself it had just been plain rude. He could have just said Hello. that would not have hurt. Should she go over and do it herself

She was saved the decision by the door opening again and this time it was Astrid. She put the book down on the seat beside her and gave her a huge smile. "Astrid . . it is good to see you again and yes thank you very much, thanks to to the instructions I got I found the place quite easy. Beautiful is it not . . so cosy " she said with a grin as Astrid sat down and made herself comfortable.

"Make yourself a cuppa, we have much to talk about. " she managed to get in before Astrid turned to the man. "Oh he is not talkative, he walked straight past me without a word.. Leave him be, he looks rather engrossed in that paper " she said to her friend and indeed the man did see quite into what he was reading. He was hunched right over that paper of his. "Come you must tell me more of this father of yours. Is that why you went to London to be an Auror . . did your mothers give you a name . . how unique is that . . mothers, it is delightful " she said and laughed.

"And you think you talk too much. You aint heard nothing yet . . you talking to an expert in talk here. Talk and Chocolate, two of my favourite things " she said picking up her muffin to take a huge bite. She washed it down with a sip from her cup of tea. "Before I left the hall, you asked about Luke. That was his name . . Lukas Squires . . I met him just after leaving school. I'd started working in the Apothecary and he came in one day and he was tall and cute and he made me laugh. One thing led to another and we started going out. He was my only boyfriend and I thought I loved him. But I can't have could I . . I found it so easy to walk away . . " she mused more to herself but it was a question she was interested in getting another opinion on.

Astrid smiled, her eyes roaming the room again, "You are right Belle, in truth zis room is beautiful. Whilst the room was wonderful no doubt, her favourite part was the large bookcase with volumes of books, and she couldn't wait to find out what lay inside the pages.

At Belle's invitation to a hot beverage Astrids eyes lit up, dinner had not been long but she was certain the many inviting pastries and cakes wouldn not be so heavy on her stomach. She bit her lip. No. She would settle with a coffee, and pulling out her wand set about 'creating' her drink, before calling for it. "Accio coffee."
Astrid shuffled in her chair, getting comfortable, and took a sip. It was decaff which was a welcome suprise. At least she would not spend this evening tossing and turning in her chambers she thought to herself, placing her drink on the table and turning her body towards Belle.

"He is not talkative you say hmm... Astrid repeated, hoping to coax something from the man, "perhaps he did not 'ear you." She suggested, "I can sometimes become deaf to everyzing around me, when I am in ze deep concentration."

Astrid soon found herself forgetting the man was in the room, as Belle began to continue the conversation they had started during the welcoming feast. "Pas. My mothers did not give me a name. The only information zey gave me was his occupation and where zey met him; and zat was entirely by accident. Zey... Zey never meant to give anyzing away." She began, curling her leg up in the armchair.

"One evening after a row with my uh... 'blood mother' Astrid said, using her fingers to create quotation marks, "her name is Colette by ze way, my other Mother is called Eleonore." She explained quickly, "So one evening we were arguing and Colette said that I was just as foolhardy as my Father, the great Auror, and zat it would come of no surprise if I was to run to England like he did." Astrid paused looking briefly to the fire, then back to Belle and the gentleman still reading the paper.

"Let me fastforward a bit... Ah right; I knew zat if he was an Auror in England zen he would have had to 'ave been part of the Auror department at ze Ministry of Magic, so I moved, and got a menial job zere, but at zat stage I did not 'ave clearance to just go through ze files. So I trained up, did some work in ze department 'oping to find some information. But there were problems." Astrid hesistated, it was not easy for her to talk about her father, especially not since she had come so close, only to lose the trail, but she trusted Belle instinctually, and she knew that quite often a probelm shared was a problem halved, and so she quickly composed herself.

"Since I did not know whether my father was a hit wizard or a department worker it made things extremely difficult. So I did a search for men with Greek 'eritage - Zat is ze 'eritage as placed on my birth certificate for my Father - who would have been in or joined ze department around my birth or just before... Zen my Grandfather became ill, I was called to ze 'ospital, and could not continue my research..." Astrid drifted off. She did not begrudge her Grandfather, but she had signed off early that day, hoping to return the next to find out what she had spent years waiting for, and it was at this point she got the call, ending any chance of continung her career or research there. She stood a shaky breath, tightened her fist to stop the shaking tremors in her hand, and focused on the flamed that were licking at the burnt, blackened wood. "Oui. Mothers," She smiled, continuing to look at the flames, "I cannot say I know any other people with two mothers." She chuckled, pausing only to listen as Belle began to speak.

"You did not love him anymore maybe because you are not ze same woman you were when you met him. Astrid injected, more to herself than anyone else, "Are you sure you are not looking for some love?" Astrid asked, her estrogen getting the best of her. Sometimes there was nothing like a little girl talk to cheer her up.


(Pas = No)

Nothing. . there was nothing in the paper. There had been nothing in there ever since the attack. Maybe he had injured her more than he originally thought and she too was recuperating. He closed the paper thoughtfully as the door opened and someone else wandered in. Another female, so he figured out when she spoke and at first he thought she was speaking to him but when he tunred he noticed the other professor was talking to her and indeed the two entered into converstaion.

Now he was not really listenig in, just the two were talking loud enough for him to hear, and as a Hitman, he had been trained to listen. They both spoke English though the dark one did so with a heavy French accent. The blonde though had no such accent so he decided she was Brittish. Both were attractive he decided and sat watching them for a moment.

Tommy was not shy when it came to girls. If he met one he liked he would not waste time in asking her out. Just he never went too far in the realtionship. He could not afford to in his line of work. But now . . he mused . . was different. Though he had never dated a collegue before. And he guessed he probably would not start now. it always led to complications. Though it did not hurt to look and he quite liked what he was seeing.

The blonde was asking about her father . . a conversation he decided they had continued from elsewhere. Then she went on about her love life and questioned if she had been in love. He shook his head at that but the dark ones answers intrigued him.

He got up from where he was sitting and made his way over to the two ladies. "Bonsoir Mademoiselle's , First let me apologise for not saying hello before, just I did not want to disturb you. It was an error on my judgement. I am Thomas Eriksson . . Tommy . . I could not help but overhear. " He said to them feeling a little foolish that they were sitting while he was standing. He took a seat near to both of them and looked at the darker one for now, he was closer he was sure he knew her.

"I remember you . . well I remember seeing you around. Before the accident that was " he said to her thinking surely she would recognise his name. After all it had been big news for a while. "I still have contacts in the Auror department. If you like I could ask them to look into your father. Do you know his name " he asked, then shook his head again.

"My manners seem to have flown out the window today . . . but you two are very distracting . . here I am offering help and I don't even know your names" he said and smiled for the first time.

Astrid could tell Belle had been about to speak when the male professor began to speak, and introduce himself.

"Bonsoir Tommy, Astrid replied warmly, as Tommy sat down. "You remember moi?. she questioned, wrinkling her forehead, especially at the mention he had been in the newspapers fairly recently. She deducted from his accent and reading of a British newspaper that he would have had to have been there fairly recently. And then it hit her.

"You!" She shouted, instantly regretting it, "Oh please pardon my rude behaviour; but are you not ze Auror ooh what attacked? Oui. Thomas Eriksson. I remember perfectly. I saw you in ze offices quite often." She smiled, but then allowed it to fall from her face, not wanting him to think she may be enjoying the situation to greatly considering the circumstances of the conversation.

"How lovely to meet someone famailiar." She nodded, taking a sip of the coffee, but kept it in her hands to regain warmth in them, "would I be right in guessing zat you were successful in ze Defensive Magic post?" She enquired. Then sat forward bolt upright.

"You would be willing to 'elp me?" She asked, she knew she had leant forward eagerly, but now relaxed trying to regain her composure, in truth whilst she'd known he was in listening distance she hadn't thought much of this at all, knowing he was previously an Auror made her slightly angry at herself for not noticing it in the way he carried himself. So distant. "I am sorry Tommy, but I am afraid, zat I will not be much 'elp. I do not know his name, only little bits on information... It was a longshot anyway." She explained, sitting back in her chair, feeling foolish. It didn't last for long though as Tommy complimented herself and Belle into coaxing out their names. She rolled her eyes. Defintely an Auror. Cocky to hell and back.

"I am Astrid Leure." She introduced, "Transfiguration." She smiled extending her hand, fully expecting him not to take her offer. Aurors were such private people, not really caring for human touch, but she was never one to make a sound judgement before hearing a persons defence.

Belle nodded at Astrid's comment on spacing out when one was absorbed in what they were doing. She was guilty of it herself at times. Yet she still felt as if he could have at least said hello. She looked over at him but he had his back to them so it was hard to see what he looked like. Tall from she could see but that was about all. She turned her attention back to Astrid who was continuing on with her story.

"I actually meant did you have name for you father." she asked but Astrid was still talking. Whether she heard or not she had no idea. It was a fascinating story though in parts a little hard to understand. maybe we should go back to french she thought as Astrid finished up her story and asked her if she was looking for some love. But she did not get the chance as the man who had ignored her earlier wandered over.

He apologised and introduced himself. Thomas Eriksson she thought . . there had been something in the papers about him. She tried to remember as he sat down and turned his attention to Astrid. He offered to help her in her quest to find her father and said he remembered her. . of course, he had been the one that had been taken out by that Dark Witch. Which meant he had been an Auror. Astrid seemed to be coming to the same conclusion. He was interesting all of a sudden and not bad looking she noticed. Defensive Magic . . and he used to be an Auror . . now that seemed like a good story she thought.

Tommy asked the same question as she had and this time Astrid answered. "But you said you had a birth certificate . . why is his name not on that ." she asked, for she knew on hers that not only did it have both her mum and dad's full name but how old they were, where they lived, their fathers name and their occupations. This was getting more interesting by the minute.

"Perhaps you should let him help. I mean your mother has to know. . maybe she won't tell you but there are other ways. " she said, genuinely pleased that this Tommy had offered to help. But then he spoiled it all by saying how much of a distraction they were. She looked at Astrid and had to smile as Astrid rolled her eyes before introducing herself.

"Au moins il est mignon même si il est un peu sur se " she said in French and gave a laugh. She was sure by the way he talked about manners, this one was a Durmstang boy, for she had a known a few in her time. And as far as she knew Durmstang did not teach French.

"Belle Saynsberry - Potions " she said but did not offer her hand. She still thought he looked like one of those goth boys that roamed around London, even with that smile which she assumed he would think charming. She was not particularity interested in him, it was still too early after Luke, but there was no reason why Astrid should not try. Still she would be nice . . he had a story to tell and one thing Belle like was a good story.

"Would I be right in saying you are a Durmstang Boy Monsieur Eriksson" she asked.

Not quite the reaction Tommy had expected. Woman were usually charmed by his smile. Not that he had much to smile about of late. To find two such beauties teaching here was defineatley a bonus though. "Long shots are my specialty Mademoiselle.. Give me what you have and let me try. I can't promise anything but if the files are there, I will find them " he said to her. And he meant it . . investigating was something he loved and it would give him somethign to do inbetween classes.

The blonde said something in French which made her laugh. He frowned for he had no idea what she had said. Plus he had thought she was English, for she had spoke with no accent but this baffled him for her French was without accent too, she could talk it perfectly.

But at least both ladies gave him a name and Astrid actually held her hand out but Tommy did not take it. "A pleasure to meet you Mademoiselle Astrid . . Transfiguration was always one of my best subjects, in fact there was not many that I was not good in. " he admitted. He had worked hard in school for his aim had always to be a Hitman. And he had been good at it. . well until now he thought a bit sourly.

"Potions? " was all he said when Belle introduced herself. "But you don't seem old enough to know enough about potions to teach it " he said then immediately regretted saying it the minute it was out of his mouth. "My apologies . . of course you would know eough . . you would have got the position otherwise and yes Mademoiselle Belle, I was educated at Durmstrang . . and please call me Tommy " he said to her, thinking she would have made a good Auror herself with those powers of deduction.

"Ze pleasure is mine Monsieur." Astrid said removing her hand, and grinning, though she quickly wipped it off her face, not wanting him to suspect she was testing him. It might be fun to play these little games with him for a while. Though he was already talking more then she thought he would, and this suprised her slightly, though she did not convey in her expressions.

She cocked her eyebrow when he talked of his prowess at all subjects. Oh yes she could see he would have been perfect Auror material... and perhaps a pretty passionate professor too.

Astrid looked at Belle, and a bubble of laughter escaped her, "Oh, il n'est pas belle à regarder ... pour un Auror, il a certainement gardé son visage et le corps en échec ... rien de tel Mad-eye Moody." She replied ignoring the look of confusion on Tommys' face, as her eyes roamed his form.

Belle and Tommy continued to talk, and Astrid waited until they were done before she began to talk about her knowledge of her Father. "Like I 'ave said, I know little... He is Greek, he would have arrived at ze department between the years 1983-85, and he was one of the better Aurors..." Astrid paused for a moment. "...his eyes would 'ave been green." She finished, knowing that the information was little to go on, but also wanting to determine if Tommy's bravado was exactly that, all talk and not much else. She turned to Belle to explain more of her birth certificate.

"My mothers were very thorough in gettting rid of all information zey thought would be inconsiquential to me... I do not zink for a moment zey thought I would use my fathers 'eritage to try and learn his identity. When I finally found my birth certificate, or what was left of it for zey 'ad burnt it, all I could read was his 'eritage."She explained, "I tried to repair it with magic, but it would not work, zee only conclusion I could come to was zat zey destroyed it and zen placed a charm on it... I am sorry I cannot give you much more information." Astrid apoligised, and then turned to Belle, "What other ways are you suggesting?" She asked hoping she was not referring to legilemency, though she had perfected the skill of protecting her own thoughts through occulmency, she did not feel able to peruse the minds of her Mothers so freely.

Belle was pleased Astrid was playing along. Tommy looked confused and she felt a little guilty doing it to him but not too much. "vrai, vrai. mais aint de regards tout. he' ; s pas à moitié sur environ lui-même" she replied to Astrid and gave Tommy a smile. "Tommy it is then " she said a little cooly. Too young . . if only he knew. She was starting to wonder if he would be interesting to get a story out of, he seemed to think a lot about himself.

She sipped at her cup of tea (it was getting a little cold now) as Astrid retold her story. She was glad her friend was going to give Tommy a go at finding her father. If he was good as he was making out then he had a better chance than Astrid did. Despite his so called manners, he was being helpful.

"Your mothers don't seem very nice. Why are they so intent that you do not find you father. I find that very inconsiderate " she said to Astrid as she got up to make herself another cup of tea.

She looked back at them both as she waited for the kettle to boil. Astrid had just used magic but she always much preferred to do it by hand. It just tasted better somehow. Despite what Tommy was wearing and his so called personality, she had to admit he had a good body and he was good looking. In another time she might have fallen for someone like him, but thoughts of Luke were still fresh in her mind.

She had accused him of following the dark path and had left when he had denied it. Maybe she could ask Tommy she thought, to look into him . . find out if her suspicions were right, though now she thought about it, she had just been wanting an excuse to get out of the relationship. Even if he was innocent there was no way she would go back to him.

She made the tea and took it back to her seat. "Ainsi, vous allant faire un jeu pour lui" she said turning to Astrid "avec une peu d'aide il pourrait frotter vers le haut de l'OK"

Astrid laughed, she did not very much enjoy the demeanor Tommy was trying to display, but she could not deny her attraction to him, not that she would let him know it... or at least not yet; she didn't even know how she'd go about 'getting him'. She could feel her eyes roll at the thought of herself ever being regarded as sexy, and even more so at the thought of Tommy being interested in a real relationship. He was an Auror for goodness sake. Used to be.

Astrid could understand why Belle would think that way about her Mothers, she had often felt that way about them, or at least Colette. "Zey zink they are doing what is in moi best interest... According to my Mother Éléonore - she is ze one ooh givesme ze most information-, anyway she said zat zey 'ad an agreement of sorts, zat he would be every bit a part of my life, as zey would be. When my Mother concieved. He ran... I am not wholly sure if he left because there was another woman involved with him at ze time, but I know he fled to London." Astrid tried desperately to explain, "Zey 'ate him, and I zink they fear zat when I meet him, I will not need zem in my life; when in reality... I do not know what will happen when I learn ooh he is... not that I would ever leave my Mothers." She answered honestly. She had spent so much of her life just trying to learn her Fathers identity that she hadn't much thought about what would happen when she did. "According to zem, he wants not contact from me, and Colette refuses to speak of him." She finished, hoping they understood slightly better her predicament.

Watching as Belle sat back down with her now steaming hot beverage, Astrid picked up hers, smiling as she began to speak in French, it did not last for long as she almost spat her drink out. "Qu'est-ce? Oh mon." She whispered, despite the fact Tommy did not speak French she could not bring herself to talk to openly about relationships, whether or not he understood the language. In truth relationships scared her, and more so then that, was the thought of falling for someone who would never or could never reciprocate. "Je ne pense que je suis son genre, et même si je l'étais, il était connu dans le département de bureau comme étant un peu d'un joueur ... il aurait de venir à moi." She answered, biting her lip, and sweeping her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear, she desperately needed to invest in some bobbypins to keep her hair out of her face.

She smiled looking at Tommy briefly, "...mais vous avez raison, avec la tenue de droite, il pourrait être quelque chose à voir." She smirked, standing up to get a madeleine from the table.

"Come now zis conversation as been about me for too long. I must hear more about you both. She smiled settling back into her chair.

"Ah zat reminds me, if you are truly interested Tommy, I am expecting a letter from my Mother Éléonore soon, I shall press her some more, visit me in my office, or we can meet back here to discuss it further." She said, nodding her head once.

He had upset Belle that he knew. She had tired to hide it well but years of training made it easy for him to see the subtle changes. She had been so talkative before he had opened his mouth and now she was barely saying anything. This had not been his intention . . but years of training had left him without certain tact . . as much as he tried to do the right thing.

Astid on the other hand was very open and was telling him a lot. She seemed eager to find her father and if he could help he certainly wood. "Slow down Astrid, let me answer your first questions before you bpmbard me with more " he said as Belle went to get a cup of tea. He thought of his own coffee sitting yonder getting cold and wished he had brought it with him. "You say he started around '84 or '85 . . that should be easy to check. I can just ask Mary up in records to give me the names of everyone who was hired those years. It will take time to sort through them but at least we can discount half of them " he said and gave a small laugh. Green eyes too would narrow it down.

"Do you still have the birth certificate . . if so would you allow me to take it and send it to some people i know. I am not saying your attempts were useless , just I know people more proficient with such things. We might be able to yet get a little more information it," he told her thinking Lenny would be the one to ask for that.

Belle came back and sat down and to his annoyance spoke in French again. "You speak perfect English and perfect French... why is that? " he asked her. For one who had dealt with such questions every day, in that moment he was was not thinking too good. Astrid was still talking . . gosh that woman could talk . . but his eyes stayed on Belle. It was her eyes . . she had beautiful eyes . .

He was jolted from his thoughts with Astrid talking French again. His anger grew a little, this was getting annoying . . for he was certain they were talking about him and he had no idea what they were saying. "Anschlag " he said standing up to look down on them "I do not understand French and it annoys me you two sit here and speak it when you can both speak English. . . " he told them, the annoyance evident in his voice and he turned to go make himself another coffee.

"Besides it is rude" he finished off without turning around.

Astrid was a little taken back by Tommy's blunt and to the point remarks, and tapped on her tea saucer agitatedly. It was not often that she liked to bite her tongue, but if the man was willing to help her she would have to do her best.

Astrid nodded sharply, "Oui. I 'ave it still. I can 'ave it for you by tomorrow." She said bluntly, if he wanted to talk that way, she too could play that game. She couldn't quite place why it irked her, but she continued to push away her annoyance, listening only to Belle converse, and then replying... that was until Tommy interrupted them rudely. and stormed off to make himself another coffee.

Astrid was tired, and had altogether had enough of the day as it was, she had experienced a whole varierty of emotions today, had talked about intimate details, and Tommy was now stomping all over her 'do not press' buttons.

"Rude?" She asked, a dangerous edge creeping into her voice. She could be friendly, but she was certainly not one to be trifled with, she had worked with men such as him, and knew how to handle them. "You are an insuffereable man, you 'ave spent a large part of zis evening talk about 'ow good you are at everyzing, and you 'ave zee cheek to call me rude?" she questioned, placing her cup on the table, "Perhaps if you 'ad come prepared Thomas, you would not 'ave such trouble keeping up with zee French speakers." She continued, rolling her wand in her hand to keep calm, it had been a trait she had picked up as a child whenever she felt particularly emotional. "Why would you accept a position at a French Academy, in France, without at least acquiring a teacher!" She finished.

It didn't take Astrid long for a swell of guilt to creep over her. The man had just lost a large part of himself, and here she was making him feel worse. She chastised herself, she had allowed her anger, and Belle's words from the feast to allow her to think he might be interested... not that she could ever entertain that. No. She could never have a relationship. She shook her head, to remove the clutter, and attempted to recitfy her earlier words.

"Perhaps Belle or myself might be free to teach you French, something clearly needs to be done." She noted, picking up her tea, and allowing her hair to create a veil between them.

"So Belle, 'ow is the lesson planning going?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Tommy had started making his coffee when he heard Astrid talk to him. Well go off at him it seemed. Insufferable he thought. . . he had been called worse and he could have turned around and let her have it back, but this was not HER. . he had to remind himself, she was a professor and he had been taught to tolerate such things. Her outburst had been uncalled for he thought but in a way he admired it. She had passion. The only thing he regretted was she had not let Belle answer the question he had asked. Another time perhaps, it would give him an excuse to visit her.

He turned to face the two women, but it was Astrid he looked at. “I did debate whether to come or not . . it is a huge change to what I am used to . . but they well assured me that my lack of French would not be a problem. . . I was told the students understood English well. I took the job on the recommendation of my supervisor as well as thinking this would a good way to learn French” he said in a mildly amused voice.

“As to my credentials . . they are sound . . If you had taken any notice of things in England you would have known I was one of the best. I take my job very seriously Miss Lueure . . I do not say anything lightly. . if I say I will do something then I honour that. Take my help or not, I do not care. . just know if you decide to let me help then I do everything in my power to find him. Whether you like it or not . I can safely say I have more contacts.” He told her.

“Now if you will excuse me, I have a letter to write. And as for being rude . . well I might not understand it all but I do understand a little french. Maybe it is OK here, but from where I come from it is considered rude to talk about someone when they sitting near you. Good day ladies” he said and gave them a bow of his head.

He made his way to one of the writing desks that dotted the far wall and popped his coffee down. He rummaged around in the drawers and pulled out some ink, parchment and a quill. Then he sat to write a letter to Mary. Regardless of whether she would still want his help was irrelevant. Astrid had spiked his interest . . it was as simple as that.