Wanted: Partner in Crime!

[Lady Rosalie St. Claire]

Making note on the offer, though she wasn’t certain if she’d be able to remember it for long, Rose inclined her head in agreement, hiding a smile of mischief beneath lowered eyelashes. If so happened and she discovered a passage all of her own, the young woman highly doubted she’d be able to hold back and not explore it, for the temptation, usually, was too great to withhold and curiosity was the bane of her very existence, though she’d be careful of the mentioned traps. No doubt some of them were of Lady Vivienne’s own design, but others could belong to past sneaks, and Rose had no idea whether it was a good idea to sneak on her own yet.

She also made note of Lady Vivienne’s wording of ‘not recommending’ instead of ‘not allowed to go’, and decided it’d be very useful indeed if so came up and she was caught by the lady herself. For now, though, Rose grinned and headed after Lady Vivienne, taking care to slip into the passage door with as little touch of the things as possible, for she could see the other’s dusty appearance as the result of the travel. “Lead the way, My Lady, I believe for now it’d better be you, so we could avoid getting into the traps you mentioned.” Mildly teasing, cheerful tone of voice was letting the other woman know of her agreement to such, for she was as ready as she could be here. After all, the offer made the trip rather on a short notice.

[Lady Vivianne Trevelyan]

Vivianne paused, facing Rosalie with a firm, implacable expression. "You smile, Lady Rosalie, but believe me when I tell you that the traps of which I speak are no trifling matters. You can be injured by them, quite seriously. I would not wish harm to come to you needlessly. So if you discover another passage, I suggest you take extraordinary care before you arbitrarily go exploring on your own." She was not reading Rosalie's mind, but she definitely didn't want the young lady taking it in her head that she could just go skipping through the passages without potential consequences.

Having delivered her dire warning, not that she believed for a single minute that Rosalie was going to heed it, she nodded and pivoted to begin leading her through the safest passage.

[Lady Rosalie St. Claire]

Rose lightly tilted her head to the side, twirling the lock around her finger as was her due as she considered things. “I’ll be unlikely to traipse among the more dangerous corridors as it is, My Lady, as chances of me finding one is highly low. But I shall take the utmost care,” she noted, before wrapping the material she liberated from somewhere around her and ducking into the passage after Lady Vivianne. She didn’t promise not to go wandering the passages on her own, of course, as that promise was quite impossible to hold, but she would try to avoid doing such if she had other places to be, she suspected the passage was wandered often, or other such event. After all, curiosity couldn’t keep a girl down, no matter the danger, and Rose hoped she was clever enough to avoid potential traps, or if she actually got caught, she’d be able to untangle it herself.

Well, she’d best hope she would never get caught, if such a thing happened! Hiding a grin with her impromptu covering, Rose wandered after Lady Vivianne, taking care to step into the same footprints the lady was leaving. Well, obviously they were made somewhat larger once she did, but she was a bit taller than the lady she was following, and this passage didn’t seem that scary. Shelving the thought for the future, she cautiously followed along and curiously looked everywhere, counting the steps to herself in her mind. One just never knew when you might need such a tunnel in the future, and she was determined to remember this one.

[Lady Vivianne Trevelyan]

Curiosity killed the cat, and Rosalie's lack of promise wasn't missed by Vivianne. She'd have to keep an eye on this one for a while, lest her curiosity prove her undoing. She was going to be in trouble enough when the truth about her father came to light; she didn't need to add her failure to protect one of his precious daughters to Lord St. Claire's impressive ire. The man had a temper that could level mountains if it ever took on a physical manifestation, she was sure of that.

Glancing over her shoulder to be sure Rose stayed in close proximity, Vivianne decided to take a little detour. Better to put a little fear into her now rather than risk breaking her pretty neck or something less dire but still serious. Veering down a darker corridor, one chock full of cobwebs and dust only disturbed by footprints, she placed her feet carefully as they neared one of the more dangerously trapped passages. "I am going to show you one of the traps, just so you understand that what looks harmless isn't always. Watch your step and step only where I do here."

She started across the floor with what might seem like exaggerated care, her step light and almost bouncing from stone to stone. At one point, she stopped and touched her foot to a specific stone. "Duck." Hopefully Rose did so; if she didn't, she was going to have one hell of a headache as the pendulum swung down from the ceiling.

[Lady Rosalie St. Claire]

Thankfully for her, Rose took care to follow exactly in the lady’s steps, which wasn’t too difficult considering everything. Watching and waiting, the young woman ducked when told to, taking note of the pendulum that swung past her as she flitted aside, again taking care in the steps. The quicker and lighter in her steps she was, the better it was going to be, or so she thought, for in some cases, danger could come from the walls. Listening for the pendulum again, she made note of the stone she thought she saw Lady Vivienne step on prior to the appearance. Well, that was fun, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t part of original course, but who was she to complain?

“Making things fun for me, Lady Vivianne?” She asked curiously, copying the other’s movements in crossing the rest of the floor, at least for the moment going smoothly. Thankfully her gown wasn’t too much of a hindrance here, as she was managing just fine for the moment. Well, she would see how long that lasted, but next time she would have to copy the other young woman and pick a pair of trousers instead of a skirt, to make things easier. Overall, a curious experience for someone of her kind, and certainly something to share with her eldest sibling in strict confidence. Staying mum on that point, however, was easy enough for now, since it was no more than a vague plan in the young woman's blonde head, at least for the time being.

[Lady Vivianne Trevelyan]

Once they reached the safety of the passage, she turned to look up at Rosalie, sober as an owl by daylight. "No." Her tone was blunt and direct, dark eyes holding the blue. "Merely proving to you the folly of haring off on your own without knowing what you're getting into. Curiosity is all well and good, my lady, but you are highly born even amongst the nobility. I'd rather not have to explain to your father how you managed to get yourself seriously hurt. I'm sure I don't need to point out his notorious lack of humor."

Turning to continue weaving their way through the castle, she was curious in turn to discover what the response would be from the golden-haired woman.