A/N Sorry about the delay. I wasn't feeling too good, and this was a difficult chapter to write.

Elizabeth had difficulty sleeping that night. Something was keeping her awake, and it took her several hours to figure out what. Once she had, she had even more difficulty sleeping and could only sit upright in bed, trying to come to terms with it.

The Major wasn't having such a problem. He was fast asleep, snoring loudly and occasionally muttering things under his breath. He'd certainly recovered from the fall he'd had that afternoon, although he had a few bruises and hadn't looked very comfortable as he climbed into bed beside her.

"I'm perfectly alright, Elizabeth," Mint had insisted. "Cup of tea and a good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain."

Well, he might be, but she wasn't. There are occasions in one's life when they get the feeling that something is just not right and, if they don't figure out just what it is and try to put a stop to it, it will cause a lot of damage to themselves and the ones they care about. Sitting there, her hand resting on her stomach, Elizabeth realised exactly what this threat was. The modern lifestyle. These attempts to be 'cool'.

She didn't like them. She had never liked them, but actually coming out and saying so took up a lot more bravery than Elizabeth could muster. She had never been good at saying 'no', especially when the person she had to say 'no' to was the Major. A lot of this, she knew, came from her desire to avoid confrontation. That, and she loved her husband dearly. He had to be in charge of everything and she was normally content to let him. Not this time, however. This time – she was certain – he was leading them all into trouble, and Elizabeth couldn't have that. Mint could throw his weight around as much as he wanted and she'd put up with it (after all, she'd married him of her own free will), but she drew the line at anything which might hurt the children. This modern lifestyle, she was sure, would damage them beyond repair.

It's probably easy to assume that Elizabeth was reluctant to change, and that wouldn't be too far from the truth. Elizabeth thought their life was perfectly fine the way it was; her husband was happy, the boys were thriving and she was sure her baby would be born to a comfortable household. And, for a very long time, she trusted the Major to run that household. He certainly knew a lot more about the world than she did. She'd grown up in a small village where everyone knew each other and there were only two books in the whole place. Of course he'd know more than her; that was another reason she was so content to take a back seat. Elizabeth's life may not have been a feminist's dream, but Elizabeth didn't know what feminism was and she knew her life could've been a lot worse. She didn't even mind change that much, as long as it was good and could actually benefit her family. But this change wasn't good at all. This modern world with its fashion obsession and skirts which went high above the knee didn't belong in her family's life.

She couldn't say this to the Major. After all, he thought he was helping them. He thought that, by forcing this modernization upon them, he'd be saving them from poverty. Maybe he would; but at what cost? No amount of money was worth this. But how could she say that to him? He was sacrificing even more than they were. It might make her seem ungrateful, and Elizabeth didn't want to upset him like that.

Then, as she watched him sleeping peacefully, she remembered there was someone out there who could make him stop. He didn't care if he offended the Major or not, so he wasn't afraid to put his foot down whenever Mint did something too ridiculous. He'd always managed to bring Mint to his senses in the past. If anyone would be able to nip this plan in the bud, it would be him. Tomorrow, she'd pay him a visit.

Captain Candy was surprised to see his friend's wife standing at his door. In fact, he was surprised to have any visitors; like Major Mint, he had faded into obscurity and the only visitors he ever had were Mint and his own friend, Prince Eric. Still, he wasn't doing too badly for himself; his house was small but it was nice enough and, since the Captain didn't have to provide for three other people, he made his money go a lot further than Mint's salary ever could.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," he said politely. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"May I come in?" she asked.

The Captain, who was preparing to go out, wasn't sure what to do. Then he saw her face. The woman looked extremely worried.

"What's happened?"

"It's Robert, Captain."

Candy thought it might be.

"I really need your help. He's got this plan and... well, you know what he's like."

Yes; Candy did know what Mint was like.

"Come in, then," he told her. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"That would be lovely. Thank you."

She told him everything. The Captain listened in amazement, taking an occasional sip from his cup. It was only when Elizabeth finally stopped that he finally spoke.

What he said, much to her annoyance, was: "this is bad."

"I know it's bad," replied Elizabeth, "but he thinks he has to do it. He thinks it's the only way he can provide for us, so he just keeps at it. The worst part, Captain, is that he knows it's bad. He hates all this modern business just as much as I do, but he... he just..."

"It's like an order," Candy finished for her. "An order he has to follow. We both know what he's like about orders. If they come from someone he respects, and if he's sure they'll work, he'll follow them no matter how ridiculous they sound."

"But it's not from someone he respects! He barely even knows her!"

"But he thinks she can help him; and let's face it, Elizabeth, no one else has." Heck, he hadn't. Until Elizabeth had arrived, he'd had no idea how badly his friend was dealing with his lack of profits. Mint had never spoken about it, and he hadn't been to the Major's house in quite some time.

"I'm worried about this Delphine person," he continued. "Where'd you say he met her?"

"When he was out shopping for groceries. He didn't say exactly where, though."

Which, knowing Mint, means it was somewhere particularly awful, the Captain thought. He didn't say this out loud, of course.

"I assume you don't know where she lives, or what her occupation is?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "All I know is that she's from one of the newer films. She never said which one."

There was silence again. Neither of them were in the habit of watching the movies which were responsible for the kingdom in the first place. It wasn't a mandatory rule, and it really depended on whether or not anyone in the household was interested in watching them. Since Elizabeth's sons were raised to avoid anything girly and Candy wasn't much of a TV watcher anyway, neither of them had seen any of the movies besides Barbie in the Nutcracker.

"I really think you ought to see Stacie about this," said the Captain after awhile.

Elizabeth shook her head again; so violently, in fact, that it almost shook her hair loose. "Oh, no, Captain, no-"

"She's more likely to know about this girl than we are. It's her job to know about this sort of thing, Elizabeth. If she can find out more about this Delphine, that'll probably help put our minds at rest."

"But then she'll start asking why we want to know about her, and then she'll start questioning Robert, and he'll know..."

"He'll know if I come around and try to talk him out of it." Candy looked Elizabeth straight in the eye. "That's why you came here, isn't it?"

Elizabeth couldn't answer that. "She'll probably be busy, anyway," she insisted. "Doing... whatever movie representatives do. She won't have the time..."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Elizabeth still looked reluctant. Candy smiled at her reassuringly.

"Look, I'll come with you. I'll talk to the Major, as well, if you really think that'll work. Besides, you may be right. She may not have the time."

Lady Eustacia Hall, it turned out, had plenty of time, and within moments of their arrival, Elizabeth and Candy were ushered into her office. The young woman sitting behind her desk gave them a polite smile as they sat down.

"Good morning Captain, Aunt Elizabeth. What brings you here?"

"Elizabeth has a problem," the Captain replied. Then, to the other woman, he whispered; "just tell her what you told me."

So she did, feeling extremely uncomfortable as she repeated her husband's goings-on. The problem, really, was that Stacie looked so much like her uncle. She was nearly a decade younger than Elizabeth, but she was taller and had a stern, pointed face. Like Mint, she did her best to look as dignified as possible and always kept her dishwater blonde hair away from her eyes. The result made Elizabeth feel as though she was talking to the Major on one of his "rough days". It also didn't help that the girl liked to make her position so damn obvious. Stacie was proud of her job, and it showed, but it made Elizabeth feel like a schoolgirl snitching on her best friend.

"And it never occurred to you to ask where this girl came from?" Stacie asked her aunt.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I just took Robert's word for it."

"I see. And it never occurred to him to ask me for help?"

"You know what the Major's like, Stacie," said the Captain. "Begging his niece for money would be difficult for him."

"True."

"What we were hoping," he continued, "was that you could find out something about Delphine. Maybe you could find out where she lives, what she does for a living –"

"Or at least what movie she's from," added Elizabeth. "Find that out, at least."

"She hasn't even told you about that?" asked Stacie. "That is odd."

"Well?" asked Candy. "Can you do it?"

"I'll see what I can find."