This would be too big to reveal to Aristide right before the Portsmouth ball, but how was she supposed to keep such a secret in that long for Aristide? He would certainly detect something was off about her, and then he would confront her and she would have time to tell him all while Olympe was getting her ready. She couldn't entertain the possibility of not attending the ball either, given that she had helped Florence with it and knew the other debutante was counting on her to attend in support. Merde. She didn't blame Uncle Trystan for telling her this, but it had thrown her off more than she cared to admit. They were supposed to have more time than this. It was only the end of June, for Merlin's sake, they had only just debuted! Which of course meant that she was ripe for the picking.

Her nose curling in disgust at the patriarchal voice in her head, Adrienne stalked down the hallway, the basket in hand as she prepared to apparate to the part of the estate where Ari said he would meet her. Just as she was about to twist on the spot, a thought popped in her head, and Adrienne stowed her wand away, tucking her basket in the crook of her arm and making her way down to the stables.

Without a word to the startled stable hand, the witch seized the reins of a freshly saddled horse (likely one of her cousins was about to go riding) and walked out of the covering. The horse nickered, its ears flicking towards her and then back as if it sensed the tenseness rolling off her in waves. Throwing the reins over the horse's head, Adrienne approached the mounting stand and swung a leg over the horse, basket still in the crook of her arm. With a click of her mouth and a kick of her heel, the horse took off.

The place where she and Ari were meeting for an afternoon tea was nearby, but not near enough for Adrienne to justify walking, as much as that might do her some good. The wind whipping through her hair, certainly would make Olympe's work that much harder in preparation for the ball, but if her maid had blabbed to her Uncle, she hardly cared about such obstacles for the woman. Her annoyance chewed at her heels as she rode, knowing that the end was nearer than she thought, that she would only have so much time to spend with her twin before she was to turn back and never call this place home again. As she made her way around a bend, she spotted Ari's figure in the distance. It should have made her angry to know that she wouldn't be able to see him as often as she did, and yet a sense of calm washed over her as she approached, noting the relaxed stance in her twin's posture. A smile tugged at her lips as she slowed to a trot, then a walk. "Apologies for being late," She called out, slightly out of breath from the unexpected exercise.

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