The rest of the dinner passed without incident, but she had felt Edward's eyes on her throughout. She tried to avoid eye contact despite seeing his gaze through her peripheral vision, but she could see that he was managing to eat his meal and participate in the conversation. However, every time she looked directly at him, he would either be already staring at her or would raise his eyes to meet hers. It was all extremely unnerving and didn't do much to make her feel more comfortable through that dinner.

As they cleaned up afterwards, Mike came to her and asked her if something had been bothering her during dinner. Bella guessed her discomfort must have been obvious by the way she had just stared at the wall for the duration of the meal.

"Everything's fine, Mike," Bella gave him a weak smile. "Thanks for asking."

"You looked…. Nervous or something."

"I think I was just nervous about it being my first dinner." Bella didn't want to mention the real reason for her nervousness- the odd look in Edward's eyes.

Mike put a hand on her shoulder. "No need to worry, Bella, you did great for your first time."

"Thanks Mike." Bella looked down at his hand and back to his face. "Well, I suppose we're pretty much done here. Think I'm going to go to bed."

Mike seemed somewhat wounded and moved his hand away. "Ok. Next time though!"

Bella nodded and moved towards the stairs. All she could think of was her small bed, which she shared on the fourth floor attic of the estate, with Angela, the cook. The whole night had been exhausting, and Bella was not at all sure that she would sleep through the night without being awoken by an enraged Jessica kicking her out for failing at her first dinner service. From the intensity in Mr. Cullen's eyes, she could only surmise that he had definitely noticed her exchange with Mike, and Bella was afraid that he intended to do something about it.

The next day came and went without incident. Jessica constricted Bella to work in the kitchen the whole day, helping Angela doing the preserves as well as polishing silverware. Bella enjoyed this ability to work with her roommate, as they already got along well. Throughout the day Mike would sneak in to grab an apple and then stay for a chat, overstaying his welcome at times until Angela shooed him back to work. Bella was just glad to be assured of not seeing Edward again, and especially relieved when Jessica told her that she would not have to serve dinner that night. To be honest, when she woke up that morning she'd just been glad to see the dawn sun coming in the window and realize that she had not been awoken overnight and told to pack her things. Working all day behind the scenes just added to her sense of relief. Dinner that night for her was a much easier affair- she remained down in the kitchen and helped prepare and plate the food. Afterward she helped clean up, and then joined some of the servants for a game of cards. Mike sat next to her and gave her tips and the rundown on each of the players' techniques, so she felt much better equipped to play.

By the time Bella awoke the day after, she felt as though she could breathe easy. Clearly were Edward intending to do anything, he would have acted by now. But Bella knew she must try her best to be vigilant about proper decorum at all times, particularly in front of Edward. She got the feeling that he was the watchful type. Bella went through her morning chores, helping prepare breakfast and lunch, sweeping all the rooms, scrubbing the floors. Jessica had orchestrated everything so that there was a precisely timed schedule to when the Cullen family members would be least likely to be in the rooms. Therefore, scrubbing the floors corresponded to morning activities and ran into lunch, with Bella starting earlier in bedrooms where the inhabitants had an earlier activity planned or usually could be expected to be out of their rooms. In this way, she managed to avoid seeing any Cullen family members, which she was grateful for. Servants were to be "seen and not heard, and optimally, not seen at all" Jessica would constantly remind Bella. And Bella had to say she agreed. The money and status that each member of the Cullen family had intimated her greatly, and she was in no hurry to have to deal with them face to face anytime soon.

After lunch Jessica informed Bella that she would need to dust again, a chore that apparently needed repeating every couple of days. Bella carefully went through the delicate silver fish that adorned the dining room table, and all other surfaces in the dining room, hall, music room, and drawing room. Next was the heaviest task of them all, the library. The sheer number of old books and beautiful figurines seemed to draw and give off dust like a magnet. Bella took her duster and dampened cloth and settled in for the task. A couple of minutes later, she heard the sound of loud footsteps, almost as though someone were wearing heavy boots. Something about the sounds made Bella feel on full alert, almost as though the noises were coming for her. She couldn't imagine who it could be- most of the Cullens had gone into town for some shopping, and she knew Edward was supposedly working on some of the landscaping and surveying the property. The footsteps moved into the dining room, stopped briefly and then stomped into the music room. Next was the drawing room. Bella heard the footsteps pause before continuing down the hall. She knew what was coming next, and she dreaded it for some reason. This room would be the next destination and she mentally cursed herself for having done the rooms in this order. If only she had done this first she would be in some other room by now. She reminded herself that she would have had no way of knowing that a Cullen was coming back to use the library, they were all supposed to be gone. Bella felt that her palms were now clammy and she forced her eyes back down to the figurine she was wiping in order to make sure not to break it. The footsteps stopped outside the door, and paused for a couple of seconds. Bella felt a brief moment of hope that maybe the intruder would continue walking as he had done with all the other rooms. But apparently he had found what he was looking for, whatever it was, as Bella heard the boots stride in and cross to the bookshelf behind her. Bella focused hard on the little nooks and crannies of the porcelain gosling she was cleaning, not daring to look behind her or cause attention to herself. But when he strode from the bookshelf and over to a sitting chair, she chanced a look and realized with horror that it was in fact Edward who was disturbing her peace.

Bella went over her options in her head. I could stay here and keep cleaning, or I could make my apologies and leave. After all, Jessica said servants were best if not seen. She didn't know what it was, but something about being around Edward made Bella feel uncomfortably alert and aware of herself, and of him. And she didn't like it.

Her mind made up, Bella placed the porcelain figurine back on the table. "Excuse me, sir- I didn't know… I'll just finish this up later and leave you in peace."

Bella began striding to the door, and her movements were so quick that she was almost there before she heard his voice.

"Stay."

Bella turned to look at Edward. He hadn't even lifted his head from the book, just issued the command so confidently that Bella had no choice but to obey.

She turned on her heel to walk confidently back to the table. Bella resolved that she would just go about her business and not let this bother her. Bella guessed it was his stern judgment at the dinner the other day that had her feeling so tense around him. Regardless, she wasn't about to allow anyone to ruin her job performance and get her fired. So she turned away from him and resumed the cleaning of the figurines, picking each up and brushing the dirt away with her damp handkerchief. As she put down the last piece, she looked up and saw Edward staring at her again. She quickly averted her eyes again, moving to another table to begin on that. How she wished she had gotten far enough through this room to have the option of just leaving or rushing through. She didn't even know why Edward was here. From what Jessica had said in her lovesick way, Edward should be out riding around the property now, checking on various tenants on some of their lands and overseeing the landscaping and groundswork. She made it seem as though that was all he ever did, so from that description Bella would have thought an afternoon spent reading in an armchair, while the cloudless sky beckoned outside, would be highly unusual.

Edward cleared his throat. "You're new here?"

It took Bella a couple of seconds to realize he was addressing her, but her hyperawareness of him and the fact that there was no one else in the room helped with that.

Bella looked up at him hesitantly. "Yes, sir." She focused back on her work, concentrating on making herself appear as inconsequential and unobtrusive as possible.

A couple of minutes passed in silence.

"Where did you work before this?"

Bella could not imagine this gruff and imperious man being at all concerned with where most of his servants had worked before, but it was not like she could refuse to answer or question him in any way.

"The Wellingtons, sir."

"The merchant's family?"

Bella nodded. Seemingly with his curiosity satisfied, silence passed for the next few minutes. Bella found herself able to relax, with Edward reading his book on the other side of the room. She focused on getting each nook and cranny of the porcelain figurines, and making sure all the tables were wiped clean, and in this way several minutes passed.

Soon Bella finished that area and realized she had been totally engrossed in her thoughts and cleaning, and glanced up towards Edward. She saw he was staring at her, with the same fearsome expression as the other night. Startled, she held his gaze, openmouthed, for a couple of seconds before becoming aware of herself and looking back down.

She heard the ruffle of movement and heard Edward rise from his chair and throw the book on the chair. She heard his footfalls as he strode out of the room. Relieved, Bella felt as though she could breathe for the first time since Mr. Cullen had entered the room. She heard the sound of Edward taking some kind of stairs, it almost sounded like the basement stairs- but of course that let down to the kitchen and servants area, so of course that could not have been it. He must have been going upstairs and Bella heard wrong. Bella finished cleaning the room but mercifully Edward did not return. Once she finished, she turned to leave before remembering the book. She strode over to the chair, and picked up the book to return it to the shelf. Bella found herself unable to resist looking inside, to see what Edward was reading. Opening what appeared to be a historical text, Bella couldn't help but notice that the cloth bookmarker inside was only at page one.

Bella headed down to the kitchen to begin getting ready for the dinner service. Jessica had told her that Angela would be needing her help again, so she wouldn't be serving the family. Although Jessica had delivered this like a punishment, Bella considered it a complete relief, despite the fact that it meant some additional physical labor for her.

Heading into the kitchen, Jessica stopped her in her tracks, the most curious expression on her face. "Bella," she sniffed. "There's been a change in plans- you will be serving at the table tonight. It certainly wasn't MY decision-" with this Jessica looked her up and down disapprovingly. "But it wasn't up to me. Go wash your hands and see what you can help Angela with."

Bella was shocked, but knew not to question Jessica. She couldn't help but ponder how bizarre Jessica's words were: If it wasn't her decision, than whose could it have been?