p dir="ltr" align="justify"Summer breeze brushed passed her dress as she walked down the dusty lane. Belle breathed deely, glad to finally be alone. After reading, spinning was her thing, her escape./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"Sitting behind the wheel, listening to the whir of the bobbin she could almost forget. She supposed he meant well, maby he believed that marrying Gaston was her only chance for a marginally better life. But whenever it was discussed she'd always felt uneasy. Nobody ever asked her what she wanted, apparently the brides consent, or lack thereof, was of no real importance. She was expected to smile and look pretty. Besides, if she heard one more speech about family duties and womanly responsibilities she'd scream, or cry. Or both./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"She reached the market square just before midday. She made her way to her usual spot beside the fountain and began to empty the contents of her market bag onto the rickety stand./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"By the time she was finished, she had worked up a fine sweat and sat back, the square was full. She saw all sorts of people, wealthy ladies shopping for fine silks that they didn't need and penniless peasants selling whatever the could to get by another day./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"It wasn't long before people started to form a queue in front of her stall, her wool was in demand across the land. The next few hours sped by in a flurry of orders, crowds and coins. She decided to close up for a few hours and wander around, maybe find a place to read for a while. She figured it was going to be a long a few minutes of aimless wandering, she decided on an old, wooden bench, hidden by a cluster of trees. Barely 10 minutes had passed when she heard footsteps she didn't realise was that her hiding spot was not as effective as she had originally thought./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""Hello?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"She jumped about a foot, and dropped her book. Bending down quickly, she scooped and shoved it back into her sachel. She was about to give the mystery visiter a piece of her mind. But he beat her to it./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"He spoke with a strong accent, she wasn't sure how but she thought it sounded somewhat familiar. He was rather well dressed for this part of the forest, complete with waistcoat and gold buckled on his books. Suddenly, she was very conscious of her torn dress, she hadn't had time to mend it last night. He hadn't noticed, as he was currently struggling to tear his eyes away from her face. She was remarkably beautiful. Thick, chessnut brown hair fell gently about her face, her eyes held an uncommon astuteness and he seemed to loose himself in seas of azure blue./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""'Are you lost?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""'Ahh-umm..." he could feel himself turning red, even her voice was lovely./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""Would you like me to fetch someone, maby a carrige to bring you home?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left""Ahh(empull yourself together man!)/em no...no I'm not lost"/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left"He wasn't sure she believed him,/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left""I'm Belle by the way" she smiled "Belle French"/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left"He liked her already./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"Sitting behind the wheel, listening to the whir of the bobbin she could almost forget. She supposed he meant well, maby he believed that marrying Gaston was her only chance for a marginally better life. But whenever it was discussed she'd always felt uneasy. Nobody ever asked her what she wanted, apparently the brides consent, or lack thereof, was of no real importance. She was expected to smile and look pretty. Besides, if she heard one more speech about family duties and womanly responsibilities she'd scream, or cry. Or both./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"She reached the market square just before midday. She made her way to her usual spot beside the fountain and began to empty the contents of her market bag onto the rickety stand./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"By the time she was finished, she had worked up a fine sweat and sat back, the square was full. She saw all sorts of people, wealthy ladies shopping for fine silks that they didn't need and penniless peasants selling whatever the could to get by another day./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"It wasn't long before people started to form a queue in front of her stall, her wool was in demand across the land. The next few hours sped by in a flurry of orders, crowds and coins. She decided to close up for a few hours and wander around, maybe find a place to read for a while. She figured it was going to be a long a few minutes of aimless wandering, she decided on an old, wooden bench, hidden by a cluster of trees. Barely 10 minutes had passed when she heard footsteps she didn't realise was that her hiding spot was not as effective as she had originally thought./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""Hello?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"She jumped about a foot, and dropped her book. Bending down quickly, she scooped and shoved it back into her sachel. She was about to give the mystery visiter a piece of her mind. But he beat her to it./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify"He spoke with a strong accent, she wasn't sure how but she thought it sounded somewhat familiar. He was rather well dressed for this part of the forest, complete with waistcoat and gold buckled on his books. Suddenly, she was very conscious of her torn dress, she hadn't had time to mend it last night. He hadn't noticed, as he was currently struggling to tear his eyes away from her face. She was remarkably beautiful. Thick, chessnut brown hair fell gently about her face, her eyes held an uncommon astuteness and he seemed to loose himself in seas of azure blue./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""'Are you lost?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""'Ahh-umm..." he could feel himself turning red, even her voice was lovely./p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="justify""Would you like me to fetch someone, maby a carrige to bring you home?"/p
p dir="ltr" align="justify" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left""Ahh(empull yourself together man!)/em no...no I'm not lost"/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left"He wasn't sure she believed him,/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left""I'm Belle by the way" she smiled "Belle French"/p
p dir="ltr" align="left" /p
p dir="ltr" align="left"He liked her already./p