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Richard, being Renee’s father, made some of their interaction the night prior look different. If Renee knew...She was cozying up to him.

”That text, had it been opened prior to you reading it? When was it sent? Did Renee come here knowing that Richard was her father? If so, do you think she confronted him in the early hours of the morning? Or did someone else confront her?”

”Elenore might be guilty for one or both of these deaths. I don’t know. But I don’t think she is the one doing the blackmail. She seemed shocked and upset. Honestly, rather angry,” Ralph said, forgetting that that conversation with Elenore had just been Rhi and himself.

Covering Miguel’s body again didn’t take a long time. The soil had long ago become more mud than dirt. Everyone who had joined in the digging was dirty. Even those who hadn’t joined in the digging had dirty shoes and were wet if they didn’t have some sort of rain protection.

Ralph looked around the group. Could he trust them? He liked Sam. He was being blackmailed, but it wasn’t the sort of blackmail that the cops would get involved in, not again anyway. He thought of that old photo and wondered if he had been forgiven. He hadn’t talked to him since. Ralph closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was afraid to ask the others what they were being blackmailed about. Afraid that things would be worse and they’d think he was involved. Or that they’d all judge him for his crimes. His biggest shame.

How did someone find out? His situation could have probably been figured out with some basic detective work. Some sleuthing. He thought about the La Lunes. He didn’t know much about any of them. Not really. But he doubted the older members of the family would have figured it out without hiring a private investigator or something. Was it something Elenore did when she got the list of nominees?

”Did everyone get a written note? Maybe we can compare handwriting? Try to see if it matches someone’s writing, like Elenore’s.”

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Constance moved up against Tony as he moved back to her side and leaned up against him. Elenore was an easy suspect, but she couldn't be alone. Constance doubted she strangled Miguel on her own, and Renee? Maybe. However it was hard to figure out who else would be involved if not Lawrence, but maybe it was all of them at this point. It would be easy enough for the family to be part of something like "The Most Dangerous Game" kind of situation. Invite a group of people to their private island and then take them out one by one. Constance shivered at that idea and bit her lip.

Ralph brought up everyone getting a note and Constance paused. "Ah, I didn't get a note. Only photos. And I burned them all. There was nothing written on them anyways. They... knew what the photos implied would be enough for me. Did everyone here get a note with their blackmail? Goodness. Someone was efficient in gathering their information then." Constance didn't feel bad for telling the truth about how she received her blackmail and how she had disposed of them. Sure, the photos had only been of significance to her, but their existence was still bad enough.

"If we suspect Elenore, then do we want to look at Richard since well... he is her husband? Maybe finding out that he had a secret daughter, or a daughter that well... could ruin many things might have scared them both? Or do we want to look at the children?"

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"Renee definitely read the message. I believe she came here looking for her father, but did not know who it was. She was sent the message about it being Richard after coming here. She may not have even confronted him, she could have easily asked Eleanor or any of the children. Hell, even the staff. Any of it could have gotten to Richard through the grapevine."

"I think there are multiple people at work here, but regardless, we need to keep our wits about us. I believe I have my message in my room still. It was written on a newspaper printout. We should be cautious though, it might look suspicious if we all continue moving around as one big unit. We haven't exactly endeared ourselves to each other within view of the family and it may look odd that we are so buddy-buddy now. Not suggesting we all split up, but definitely need to cut the group down the middle, at least."

Millicent wondered if sharing the info was right, but it was too late now. She didn't trust everyone here still, though she was fairly confident none of them murdered Miguel, at the very least. Renee on the other hand was to be determined.

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It seemed that Millicent was up to a lot this morning. Between uncovering Renee's phone and the secrets laid behind it, finding out what her blackmail was, and piecing together who it tied to, he was honestly quite impressed if not a little hurt about not being informed sooner. A part of him wondered if that was what all the hushed talking was behind the door, but then why hadn’t she invited him? Unless ofcourse she didn't trust him, or worse, Brendan told her not to trust him. His eyes made their way towards where the man stood, the one so casual in writing stories in which an imposter is present and hiding. Could he be trying to turn them all against each other? Is this why he was so quiet all of a sudden? Where did the Ivanna he knew and loved going? ”I agree with Rhi, he definitely isn't smart enough to pull off.. anything really.” Sam crossed his arms, looking over towards the shaken dancer. ”I…don't do seances. I mean, I have done them, but usually with a spirit medium aiding in it. I myself don't perform them.”

Sam tried to think. As soon as people left Lawrence alone they hopped onto the Eleanor train. That also didn't sit right with him. Apparently Ralph had gone and confronted her, great another person amongst the small group keeping even more secrets until now. It made him feel small, was it because he hadn't been blackmailed himself? Because his note wasn't as damning as the others? And then there is this Richard who was…WAIT THAT WAS HER HUSBAND?! He really needed another look at the pamphlets they gave them. But that would make her a child equal to those present. Maybe…”Could it be Eleanor was attempting to reunite Richard with his daughter? Possibly…her daughter? Do we know who the mother was? There's too many questions here and no real answers, but one thing is certain. Millicent is right, we can't move around like a pack, both due to suspicion as well as to cover more ground. I also have a plan im working on but… its not quite there yet, I'll need to figure some things out first.” He said as he looked towards Millicent.

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”What if it was one of the kids? Worried about their inheritance being taken or something? We should try and talk to them.” Eleanor was abrasive, even seemed to shove the thing off, but she was upset like Ralph said. Rhiannon would have bet money it was one of the kids. Everyone was trying to get ahead somehow.

Rhiannon also agreed they shouldn't travel as a pack, but they didn't like it either. At the very least everyone needed to be in groups of two.

”I ripped my note up as well and threw it away,” Rhiannon confessed.

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Tony listened as the conversation continued. He frowned slightly when Ralph asked the group about comparing the handwriting of the notes people had received. He suspected that this was not going to be the last time someone tried to learn more about everyone's secrets. Oh, maybe he did just want to compare handwriting, but those notes would also at least hint at what secrets were being hidden. Fortunately, at least this time the answer was harmless.

"Mine didn't have anything written on it," Tony answered. "As for Elenore... that proves nothing. We're talking about blackmail and murder, but you guys think a little bit of acting and lying is somehow out of the question? And you said yourself that she seemed angry. Would you expect anger to be the natural reaction to someone, as I told her, 'falling down the stairs?'" he asked, making air quotes. "Is she angry that someone died... or angry that the killer left the body sitting in her foyer for us all to see?"

Tony let that theory sink in for a moment before continuing. "But I do believe there's multiple people involved, and everyone in the family needs to be scrutinized. I also agree that we should continue acting as we were before; I was going to mention it myself. My suggestion would be for us to work in small groups, there is a lot of ground to cover and not really that much time to do it. Looking into all of the family, looking for any evidence... I'm not sure how exactly but I think we should split it all up somehow, divide and conquer."

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The weather started to turn bad again. The rain was coming down harder and the wind picked up. The fact that it was a summer storm helped keep it from being cold. But it was miserable. A distant rumble of thunder could be heard.

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”Should we just stick with the small groups we already established? I was with Rhi this morning. Millicent and uh, Brandon, were together, Tony and Constance. That sort of leaves Sam out, but maybe Sam could bounce between the group. Passing information between us in safe places.” Ralph suggested. He wasn’t 100% on board with the idea, but it would bring consistency for them. The staff and family might not notice if they kept to the same pairings they had already fallen into naturally.

”It’s fine if you already destroyed your notes. It was just an idea. I still have mine. I shoved it into my bag.” Ralph had wished he had destroyed it, but he didn’t know how to. Burning it was apparently effective at least.

”We should head back soon.”

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”Well then, maybe we should split the family up if we are splitting up. We can’t all start questioning them. We could split them up and the house to search. If we can search the family members' rooms, that might lead to something.” The prospect of sneaking around and finding things that should stay hidden seemed to brighten Rhiannon’s spirits.

The wind and the rain did nothing to help their hair. A particularly strong guest whipped Rhi’s hair into their face. ”We should definitely get out of the rain,” Rhi agreed with Ralph. They were happy to remain with him. He had been a good friend to them over the last couple of hours.

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Constance listened as everyone spoke, spinning their own theories, and throwing out things like holding seances to talk to Miguel. She had to internally scoff at that idea, because the dead didn't talk. If they could, she was sure she would have heard from her father ages ago. Or someone else at least. Maybe her grandmother?

She pushed those thoughts aside and pursed her lips a bit and leaned up against Tony, and held up the umbrella as the rain started to hammer down upon them again. Everyone's theory had a little weight to it, and it did make the most sense that there was more than one person in on this. Especially with both Renee's body being out in the open, and Miguel's hidden. One spoke to someone that thought it out, one spoke to someone desperate to hide something as fast as possible. If they hadn't gotten the ping on Miguel's location, they might not have found him at all.

"Splitting up seems fine, as it makes sense for events like this. If we also want to split up the family, how do we search their rooms safely? We can't just assume that all of them are out and about." Constance wasn't sure how she felt about ransacking through people's rooms, but what other option did they have at that point. If they wanted to figure out what was going on at Chateau de la Lune, and do it before someone else turned up dead, they needed to do something.

"I also agree, we should head inside. I'm pretty sure I just heard thunder and I do not wish to be outside in a lightning storm." Constance turned around and went to head inside, keeping close to Tony once more.

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It seems that they were all planning to team up. It was smart, even if one of them was some blackmailer or murderer, it stood to reason that not everyone here was up to something nefarious and now that all, or at least most, of the cards were on the table, it meant they were all at the same level.

Plus, with each of them watching the other, it meant that if something did happen to one of them, blame would fall on the person they were paired with. Except for Sam, which was interesting. She didn't know if leaving him to move around with the others was the best idea. She may have trusted Sam before, and she still did, but she believed Sam wasn't a murderer, at least as far as Renee was concerned. For all she knew, Sam had murdered Miguel or was responsible for the blackmail.

"I think that's the best plan we have so far. If we are going to cover the house and the family and staff, we should have a plan. It's going to look odd that we are walking around randomly, asking questions. If we split up there's less chance of the family or staff conversing with each other about what we are doing. I'd like to speak to Eleanor again, if possible. Sam, who did you want to go with to start?" She wanted him to pick now so she knew where he would be.

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It seemed as though everyone was in agreeance. Ralph had come up with a brilliant plan to divide and conquer without looking too suspicious as they likely did right now. He quickly realized however how he himself hadn't had a pair. Two people dead, and he was left alone to float amongst the masses and play the part of pigeon. He didn't mind it ofcourse, and he could even use Ghost Hunting as an excuse for moving around the house and ‘bumping’ into people as he did so to deliver the news. What did concern him was that he might be next as he wandered the halls alone. ”Sounds like a plan to me.”

The weather began to worsen, the wind pushed against him and he was quickly beginning to wet as he tried his best to open up the umbrella he had taken with him. Finally it propped open, as he looked down at the muddy-ing ground and towards Millicent as she posed her question. ”I think I'll start with Tony. I wanted to talk to him a bit more anyways and I can't really do it out here with the weather getting worse. No need to yell out what we are trying to solve.”

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Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan tuned back into what was going on and tried to focus. How long had he gone quiet just staring? The weather was starting to get worse again. It seemed like a narrative device. The rain was a metaphor for bad things coming. Or maybe it meant good things coming? But probably not. They'd just found a dead body. Again. They were talking about comparing notes...maybe showing his note wouldn't be so bad. And if it solved whatever crazy thing was going on, it'd be worth it. Even if it was uncomfortable. Not that he could take the paper note out right now anyway with the rain coming down like this.

As the others discussed splitting up, Brandon glanced around the group. It seemed he'd be going with Millicent, the one he trusted the most. That was good. He looked around the group. Could a blackmailer and a killer really be among them?

He nodded in agreement as they mentioned him going with Millicent. He'd been with her most of time so far, she seemed trustworthy. He had not yet been murdered, and she showed very few signs of being a secret mermaid.

But the others...could he trust them? Did he even have a choice? Maybe he needed to stop doubting everyone and everything all the time. Which was, in his defense probably a reasonable reaction having just seen two dead bodies in such a short amount of time, but that didn't mean it was the best reaction. He took a deep breath. He'd trust them, like he trusted Millicent and Felix and Superfetch, and if that got him killed...well, he wouldn't be alive to regret it anyway.

Brendan nodded at Sam. "That makes sense. I can go with Millicent to talk to Elenore again. We'll let you know what we figure out whenever we run into you...where are the rest of you gonna go...?" Brendan tried to look up through the rain pelting down. All he could think about now was how cold he was. He tried to focus. "We should figure out where inside it will be safe to talk..."

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Tony nodded as everyone agreed that splitting up made sense, and Ralph suggested the pairings that they had more or less already settled into. This plan did leave Sam as the odd man out, and Tony wasn't sure how to feel about that. He wasn't sure how much he could trust Sam, so maybe it was good that he wouldn't be focusing on investigating. But then, being the messenger was important too; what if he made it too obvious what he was doing, or screwed up this high-stakes game of telephone? Well, it seemed less risky than the alternative, he supposed.

Tony nodded again when Rhiannon suggested searching the family's rooms. "We'll need to figure out how to get past their locks, and it will probably be a big problem if any of us are caught in their side of the building. But if it can be done, searching through their rooms could be a huge help," he responded.

Everyone was also starting to point out that the weather was getting worse, and they should probably head back inside. Checking his watch, Tony agreed; they'd been out here much too long already, and surely their prolonged absence had their enemies suspicious. Besides, his shoes were already much too muddy for his liking. He should've thought to bring sneakers on this trip... oh well.

"Yeah, we should get back before they start looking for us," Tony said. "If Constance agrees, I want to go find Jeanne, to start - one of the younger La Lunes," he added in case anyone didn't recognize the name. "I'm not convinced yet, but she seemed genuinely concerned about Miguel. I want to figure out if she knows anything, without giving anything away to her of course."

Apparently Sam wanted to start with them, and wanted to talk to him. Great. With only the slightest hesitation, he nodded, then started to follow as Constance turned to start heading inside. Looking back, he added, "Oh, also, we should head back in groups, not all at once. Less obvious," then continued letting Constance lead him back inside.

Being the first group to leave afforded them a moment alone. Tony leaned in a little closer to Constance. "Not that we have much choice, but how much do you trust them?" he asked, in a whisper barely audible over the raindrops hitting their umbrella. He did think they didn't have much choice, but it never hurt to get a second opinion.

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The walk back to the house was wet as the rain came down harder. Inside the house by the front door sat a stack of fresh towels. Felix had been aware of the group leaving. He had prepared for their return. One of the maids, Aurélia, was nearby, coming from the dining room as the first people returned. She gave them a shaky smile.

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“Okay, Tony, Constance, and Sam will go find Jeanne. Millicent and Brandon will go find Elenore.” Ralph turned to speak directly to Rhi, as Tony left. “Ready?” Once Rhi confirmed he would start walking with her. “Who do you want to speak with?”

Ralph wasn’t confident they’d be able to get into the La Lune quarters. The door he had seen had been locked with a code. He wondered about the other family members. One of them, he thought Elizabeth had been in swimwear. Where had she gone? He still hadn’t seen Agatha. Geroge’s absent wife. Nathan had gone on the boat.

”Maybe, want to try to find Richard? Or George. They are the older men in the family. They might know something. Though we’d have to be careful about talking with Richard if he really is Renee’s father.”

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Rhiannon stood with Ralph, shivering in the cold while they waited for each pair to split off and head inside. Rhi glanced at Ralph, mulling over their options. ”We could try and find Richard. I was also thinking Lena just because of the tech thing. If we talk to Richard, should we tell him about Renee? It might set him off-balance…and could work in our favour.” It was a gamble, though. If they spilt the truth to Richard, he could either become defensive or give up all the dirty family secrets, even one capable of murder. If it were one of the family members.

Once they reached the house, Rhiannon wrapped themselves in a towel. ”First things first, though. I need to change. Maybe get a toasted egg sandwich into me, and then we can be off,” they said, rubbing their cold nose into their towel.

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With a semblance of a plan set in motion, Millicent walked back towards the manor, allowing Brendan to catch up. She had wanted to speak to Eleanor for two reasons: The first being that she wanted to gather more information on her husband and the second to see if relaying information about Renee sparked anything. She would be careful, of course.

"Okay, let's find Eleanor. Or maybe get some food first?" Though seeing Miguel's remains didn't spark hunger, she still felt it necessary to get something in her. She had a feeing it was going to be a long day.

"How are you holding up, by the way? I can't imagine seeing that helped any, but I am glad to know what happened, at the very least. Better than running around not knowing where he was or what happened."

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Constance was a bit glad that it seemed that idea of trying to search the La Lune's rooms was discarded for the moment. She could be graceful, elegant, but sneaky and snoopy? Those were not her greatest qualities, despite what some might think of her. Talking to others, however, she could do. She could be charming, warm, and receptive. It had served her well, and hopefully it could get some of the La Lune's to open to them.

"I don't mind seeking out and speaking to Jeanne. If she was concerned about Miguel, then she might truly have no idea what is going on, or a very good actor." She hadn't really interacted much with any of the La Lune's, but she would take Tony's cue on which one to talk to first. Also talking to one of the younger ones, maybe around her own age or so, might be a bit easier than trying to talk to one of the older ones first.

As they headed back to the house, she kept close to Tony and paused as he asked her that question. "Everyone is hiding something. We know that. But... tragedy makes for strange bed fellows. It is a hesitant trust until we have more information." She whispered back to him and leaned in closer. "I do trust you, but I am also aware you were with me all night. I don't need to know your secrets, those are your to keep."

Once they reached the house, Constance sighed as she looked at her boots. "Drat, I really liked these ones too... Oh. Towels!" She reached for one and gently started to use it to dry off her hair, which was probably beyond ruin at that point. She would have to fix it later.

"Shall we grab some lunch first?" She looked up to Tony, and then offered him a small smile.

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Tony had brought up a good point. They needed a way past their locks, and there was a good chance that between Millicent and himself, they could do exactly that. Sam was a known youtuber and paranormal investigator, that alone afforded him some degree of camera work without seeming too suspicious. All he had to do was ask for interviews about the house's history for his channel, maybe some ghost stories from the families, talking heads style documentaries. But to make it more personal, more real, each section would be filmed in their own rooms. Sam would need to see the location the keycards were placed in on their bodies, if it was a code he'd have to try and memorize it. Millicent could use her sleight of hand later to snag a card if needed and get them all in. But it seemed too easy, and he wasn't with Mil right now.

It was clear that even being with Tony and Constance he was a third wheel. That wouldn't exactly fly for their look…for now. After all, the show must go on. So as they entered the door, and after they'd rudely been whispering in front of him, he clapped his hands on both their shoulders as if they were all chummy together. He spotted the towel and the nurse nearby, he needed a way to get them alone. Letting go of the pair he grabbed his own towel to help dry himself off, ringing water from his hair into it. ”Before we snag lunch, mine stopping by my room first?” Sam draped the duplicate around his neck and shoulders, kicking his shoes off one at a time. ”Don't want to track mud all over the place so I figure I'll drop them off in there for now.”

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Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan nodded as Millicent suggested food, ready to follow her to wherever. Probably no one was actually hungry right now after seeing...that...Brendan tried to push the image out of his mind. Oh gods, what if he just actually full on passed out from hunger? That'd be bad. He did not want to add to the number of bodies on the floor that these poor people had seen.

He tried to focus and hoped that Millicent was going in the direction of food. She was saying something else now, something about Miguel and how at least now they knew what had happened.

Brendan nodded again. "Yeah. It's better to know..." Brendan went quiet as all the memories of the past month came flooding back. The Finding Out to Fucking Around ratio had been insane. He thought he'd learned his lesson back home. But here he was, still finding out all the worst things in the worst ways. He vowed that if he ever got off this island alive, he'd swear off fuck aroundery forever. "I just really hope we aren't...getting ourselves into danger." Brendan took a deep breath. "Sorry. Yeah I'm holding up...okay enough, at least....are you okay Millicent?"

He tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, then hesitated, not wanting to seem weird. Probably standing here with his hand just out while he waited for her to answer was weirder?

Whatever. It was all weird. Just as long as everyone was okay in the end. That was it, that was all that mattered. Protect anyone he can. Don't think about anything else.

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Tony left the graveyard the same way that he arrived; staying close to Constance, holding their umbrella they were sharing. Tony believed the rest of their competitors-turned-allies were equally victims in this disaster of a vacation, and was willing to trust them to a certain extent out of necessity, but he would not trust them more than he had to. The stakes were too high. For him, at least. Tony found it hard to believe that the stakes of everyone else's blackmail could be as high as his own, but he supposed that the possibility shouldn't be ruled out. But still, no more trust than necessary.

He did trust Constance, though. Maybe it was that he did not believe she was capable of doing something bad enough to break his trust. Maybe it was just the fact that, as she pointed out, they both knew for a fact where each other was last night, and knew neither of them was involved in whatever had happened. And maybe it was just a subconscious hope that she might be someone that could look past the decisions he'd made in his life. Not that he saw anything wrong with them, but... well, enough of that.

Tony nodded as Constance explained her hesitant trust of the others, more or less echoing his own thoughts. He hadn't expected any other answer, in truth, but it was always good to get a second opinion.

As they entered the foyer, Tony noted the fact that there were towels waiting for them, and a maid witnessing their arrival. He suppressed a groan; the conspicuous absence of every single nominee had undoubtedly been noticed. He had known that would most likely be the case, though, and it had been a necessary sacrifice. At least this once. Constance sighed over the state of boots, then suggested getting lunch. Before he could answer, Sam clapped his hands onto their shoulders, almost hugging them from behind as if they were close friends. Tony instinctively cringed away, belatedly trying to suppress his reaction. In truth, while lost in thought he'd barely registered the fact that Sam was in fact following them. He tried to play his reaction off as stepping away to close their umbrella, then return it to the closet, but he probably was not entirely successful. He did not bother with grabbing a towel for himself; most of his time had been spent under their umbrella, and beyond that he'd dressed accordingly. His hair was a little wet, but as far as he was concerned that just made it easier to keep it just how he liked it.

So... Sam wanted them to join him in his room. Tony's gut instinct was a firm no. For more than one reason, one of which being that it would look strange if anyone noticed them joining him in his room. Undoubtedly, someone would; in his experience, waitstaff always noticed more than one would like. But he was hesitant to actually say so. If Constance was fine with it and he immediately shut it down, then he'd look like an asshole. Normally he wouldn't care too much, but as much as he was forced to trust these people, he also needed them to trust him. Tony turned towards Constance.

"I'm not sure how much longer they'll be serving lunch, but I can wait," Tony answered, glancing towards Constance. He hoped that this struck a good balance between giving Constance a reasonable out if she did not want to do this, while hopefully not making obvious the fact that he would rather not. After they had both commented on their muddy shoes, Tony considered his own, and groaned. His oxfords were most definitely not made for trekking through the mud, and they were in a sorry state. They certainly needed to be cleaned before the ball tonight, and what would he wear until then? Had he even brought his other pair of oxfords - brown, for variety - for this trip? He couldn't remember. Frowning slightly, he took them off and left them near the door, as Sam had. If one of the maids didn't take care of it in the afternoon, he'd have to make sure to clean them himself before the evening's events.

"Either way, I think I'd like to change first," he added. Tony didn't fancy walking around the chateau in his socks. This award ceremony may have quickly turned into an utter disaster, but he did still have appearances to upkeep.