I was at the bakery when it happened, trying to purchase some bread and a few pastries to get me through the week. The baker, a remarkably unathletic man in his thirties, looked at me with contempt as soon as I walked in, although I couldn't understand why. Somehow, I'd done something wrong already, but I couldn't imagine what it could be.

I walked up to the counter and looked at the pastries. They all looked delicious, and I had to remind myself not to waste too much of my hard-earned money on sweets. I looked up at the baker, and I said, "I would like two baguettes, an éclair, and..." I pointed toward the soft, sweet bread at the corner of the display, but I couldn't remember its name. However, it soon came to me. "It's called a brioche, isn't it?"

"It's pronounced brioche," the baker said, but I was sure that was how I had pronounced it. "Listen you silly girl, you're not in England anymore, and this is my bakery. If you showed even a single ounce of respect to this establishment and to the art of baking..."

All of a sudden, someone burst into the bakery. I turned around and saw the soprano from The Lost Shadow. "Mr. Crémieux," she said. "Leave that girl alone, or we might have to take this into the fencing hall."

"I'm not afraid of you, Valencourt," Crémieux said. "Thibodeaux says you're not that good of a fighter."

"Oh, really?" Valencourt said. "My undefeated record begs to differ."

I looked back at Valencourt: she looked different offstage, but no less glamorous. Her dress was more practical than fashionable, her light brown hair was loose and messy, and from this distance, I could see that she had a jagged scar running across the bridge of her nose. Nevertheless, she still radiated effortless beauty and charm, just like she had on the night of the premiere.

And here she was now, trying to start a fight in a bakery.

"I can still beat you," Crémieux said. "I'll make you wish you never walked into Chez Jean."

Valencourt laughed. "Good luck with that," she said. "I'll meet you in the fencing hall, and we shall duel for the honor of..." She turned to me and asked, "What's your name?"

"Matilda Brackenborough," I said.

"We shall duel for the honor of Miss Brackenborough!" Valencourt exclaimed. "Also, I think if I beat you, Crémieux, you owe me a free box of those delicious éclairs of yours."

Crémieux rolled his eyes. "And if I win, you'll never come to my bakery again?" he said.

"Sounds like a deal," Valencourt said.

"Wait a second," I said. "You two don't have to fight over me!"

"It's already done, Miss Brackenborough," Valencourt said. "Just be glad that I'm on your side." I sighed, and Valencourt asked, "Would you like to come with us to the fencing hall? I'm sure you'll want to watch me beat the shit out of Crémieux."

"I suppose so," I said, still shocked both by Valencourt's rude language and by the fact that she and Crémieux were fighting over me. Nothing about this situation made any sense whatsoever, but nevertheless, here I was.

"Crémieux!" Valencourt exclaimed, just as he was about to walk out the door. "Which sword are we using?"

"Women usually fight with the foil, don't they?" Crémieux said. Valencourt nodded. "Épée it is, then," he said with a smirk.

Crémieux walked out, and as soon as he was gone, Léa looked at me and smiled. "I think we're going to be just fine," she said.

"What makes you so sure?" I asked as I followed her out of the bakery and to the fencing hall.

"He's overconfident. He has no idea how many hours I've spent training on every possible weapon. He could ask me to fight with my bare hands, and I'd still defeat him."

"But you're an opera singer, aren't you?"

"Singing is just what I do to pay the bills. Sword-fighting...now, that's one of the real pleasures in life." She paused and then said, "So tell me about yourself, Mattie. Is it okay if I call you Mattie?"

"You can if you want to, but it seems strange when I don't even know your first name."

"It's Léa."

"Usually, only my sisters call me Mattie."

"You have sisters? That must be nice."

"Sometimes, it is, and sometimes, it isn't," I explained. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Léa said. "It seems like it would be nice to have siblings though. It's like a built-in best friend."

"Yes, when you're not trying to kill each other," I said.

"So how did you end up here of all places?"

I told Léa Valencourt my story, how I'd come to Paris for the premiere of The Lost Shadow and stayed for the opportunity to learn how to compose from Bertrand Sylvestre. In return, she told me some fanciful story about how she'd learned how to fight, complete with four explosions and a band of ninjas.

"That can't possibly be true," I told her as soon as she was done.

"I swear it is!" she exclaimed, but before she could elaborate, we arrived at the fencing hall.

When Léa got there, she immediately grabbed her sword, ready to fight. However, Crémieux took his time, carefully inspecting each sword and warming up with a few basic moves.

"What's taking so long?" Léa whined after a while. "Too scared to fight, Crémieux?"

"Of course not," Crémieux said. "I can fight you whenever you want."

"Let's start now then," Léa said as she lunged toward her opponent. Crémieux attempted to parry, but his movements were slow and clumsy, and Léa easily touched her sword to the center of his chest.

"That wasn't fair," Crémieux said. "Let's do that again."

"Okay," Léa said as she stepped away from him. "Mattie, tell us when to start."

"Uhh...how about now?" I said.

Léa immediately attacked, while Crémieux parried. Léa slashed her sword in Crémieux's direction once again, and this time, she hit him almost exactly in the same spot where she'd hit him the first time.

"Best out of three?" Crémieux said.

"It doesn't matter how many times we fight, Mr. Crémieux," Léa said as she lunged toward him again. "I'll beat you every time."

This time, the fight lasted a little longer - Crémieux used practically every technique he knew, but Léa had the clear advantage. She defended against every attack, and when the time was right, she flicked her sword, successfully landing a hit on Crémieux's arm.

She smiled and said, "So does this mean I get that free box of éclairs?"

Crémieux sighed. "Yes, yes, it does," he said, sounding completely defeated.

Léa cheered and then said, "Come on, Mattie. Let's go back to the bakery."

The three of us all headed back to Chez Jean, where I finished buying my groceries and Léa took her free box of éclairs. "Mind if I walk you home?" Léa said, already stuffing éclairs into her mouth.

"Why not?" I said.

The two of us started walking toward the boarding house, and as we did, we started up a lively conversation about The Lost Shadow. "You said you came to Paris to see Bergmann's opera," Léa said to me. "What did you think of it?"

"It was great before the audience started rioting," I said. "I absolutely loved your performance."

"Thanks," Léa said, and I swore I could see a faint blush on her cheeks. "It's a challenging role, and I was really struggling with it in rehearsal. I'm glad all of my hard work paid off."

"You were wonderful, Léa," I said. "It's just a shame about Bergmann."

"Yeah, it really is," Léa said. "I hope they catch whoever killed him. They deserve to be brought to justice."

"I agree," I said. "Have there been any new developments in the case, by the way? I haven't been paying attention to the news."

"Not really," Léa said as she chomped on another éclair. "There just wasn't a lot of evidence at the crime scene, apparently."

All of a sudden, the two of us arrived at the boarding house. "Oh, I remember this place," Léa said. "One of my exes lived here."

I shrugged and said, "I've only been staying here for a few days. It's a nice place, I suppose."

"I guess," Léa said. "Anyways, do you want to meet up sometime? I'm usually free during the day."

"I might be able to swing by the fencing hall tomorrow afternoon."

"Sounds great. I'll see you around, Mattie."

She winked and then walked away, making me feel more confused than anything. As she continued down the street, I climbed upstairs, walked past Moreau's room just to immerse myself in his beautiful violin playing, and went into my room to work on my latest composition. I'd started the string quartet over again, but I couldn't get it to sound quite right. I would write a few notes and then erase them, write and then erase, write and then erase. It became an endless cycle, and I never found anything that worked. My inspiration was running out.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw that I had a letter from Gertie. I immediately tore it open, eager to hear more about her job as an assistant to a well-known physics professor at Cambridge. Of course, my sister did not disappoint, telling me every last detail of life at the university, where she was busy unlocking the secrets of the universe.

As soon as I was done reading, I started writing a reply, because this time, I had a few stories of my own.

The next day, I thought things would go back to normal. I went through my normal routine - waking up with the sun, eating my breakfast, and walking to Sylvestre's house - but when I got there, something was very wrong.

There was a police officer standing in front of Sylvestre's house, and I immediately recognized him as the youngest of the three officers who was at the premiere of The Lost Shadow. "Are you Matilda Brackenborough?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Come with me," Robiquet said. "I'd like to ask you a few questions."