It was a quarter to nine before Belle finished her morning duties, dreading the moment when Mrs. Mills would ring her for assistance with dressing. Replying to invitations were always the most grueling task for Belle as Cora would sometimes become frustrated when Belle would throw away an invite that on a previous occasion Cora would have considered unworthy. During those occasions, Cora would carefully explain to her as though she were a child the importance in accepting this specific invitation at a specific moment as to further her social status. To Belle's relief, there were only two invites which she was sure Cora would accept, but what had caught her eye was an unstamped letter addressed to her. She opened it to find a few words scrawled in an unfamiliar hand
"Forgive me. I was very rude last night."
That was all. No signature, and no salutation, but Belle noticed the seal on the envelope to be of the hotel's, giving her an idea who it was even though she believed Mr. Gold had behaved perfectly reasonable given the circumstances. She put the apology aside, placing the letter into her pocket while continuing her chores.
Cora woke half an hour later and informed Belle her services were not required until the evening as she was expected for a hair appointment and tea with Mademoiselle Coeur. Belle happily accepted the order and headed downstairs to the dining room trying her best not to appear out of place since her plain blue sun dress was not to the dress code of the restaurant. People were staring straight at her where she began to think that the older group of women not three tables in front of her were talking about her and to make matters worse, as Belle sat down, she had not noticed her surroundings and her elbow hit the vase full of flowers decorating the center of the table. Causing the vase to fall towards the table spilling the water soaked into the cloth and dripped onto the floor. Causing the vase to fall towards the table spilling the water into the cloth on the floor.
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry." She told the waiter. At that moment, Belle wanted to hide into the corner and die; perhaps her remains could be placed into the furthest point on earth. She fervently apologized as she and the waiter cleaned up the mess until she felt a hand brushed up against her shoulder. She turned around to find Mr. Gold behind her.
"You can't sit at a wet tablecloth, it will put you off your food." he said casually. "Garcon," he turned towards the waiter, "Put another place on my table; Mademoiselle will dine with me."
"Oh no, it's alright." She continued dabbing up the water. "They only need to change the cloth, not to worry." Belle began to wonder if it was possible for lightening to strike her. Anything to escape this embarrassment.
"I wasn't being polite; I would have invited you to dine with me even if you haven't knocked over the so clumsily. Come along, we don't have to talk to each other if you don't want to."
"That's very kind, thank you." Belle nervously stated sitting down as Mr. Gold followed suit. They ordered their meals trying their best not to notice the other while Belle fiddled with the buttons of her camera standing on the edge of the table.
"Did you receive my letter?" Mr. Gold asked catching Belle's attention.
"Oh….yes I did, thank you. Although it was not necessary, I got the impression you simply wanted to be alone and we had interrupted you."
"Nevertheless, I'm afraid the best excuse I can come up with is I have become rather boorish after living alone for so long." He smiled back at her and Belle's face flushed.
"In that case I accept your apology. To be honest, I must apologize for the behavior of Mrs. Mills, you see she's been a widow for a while and tends to forget herself"
Mr. Gold interrupted. "Even when her husband was still alive, Cora was always forward. Her family has been part of my acquaintance for many years and I happened to know her daughter would do just about anything to get away from her. Tell me, what is your connection to Mrs. Mills? Is she your aunt by any chance?"
"Oh no, she's my employer. I'm what is known as a paid companion."
Mr. Gold rolled his eyes and Belle looked down at her drink.
"Normally the idea of paying for companionship seems absurd, but Cora is someone who I can honestly believe would purchase it." Gold bit out.
Belle felt a sudden need to defend her employer.
"Regardless, she is very kind to me. You see Mrs. Mills believes her mentorship can help me move up in the world and I have been fortunate in following my dreams to see the continent, although it is not exactly what I had hoped. We mainly being in places Mrs. Mills prefers."
"Pardon my intrusion Miss French, but haven't you any family?" he asked
Belle's smile quickly faded. "My mother died when I was sixteen and my father shortly after I finished prep school. I didn't know were to turn as home was no longer an option, I took this job nearly a year ago for a fresh start."
"I am sure your parents would be proud of you for being so brave in going to the other side of the world by yourself at such a young age. It appears even giving you such an unusual name has worked in your favor."
Belle giggled. "It was my father's idea to name me; he was such an unusual person."
"What was he?"
"A painter," she pronounced proudly
"And was he a good one?" He leaned towards her
"I thought so but most people had a different opinion. He mainly worked with my mother in writing children stories but his passion was drawing trees and flowers. He had this theory where if you find a person, place, or thing you really love, then you should stick with it." She laughed nervously. "Seems rather silly doesn't it?"
"I don't believe so, those sounds like words to live by." Their food arrived and Mr. Gold noticed her camera. "If you would like, I can take you wherever you want to do your photography. After lunch, perhaps?"
Belle eyes widened as she took a bit of her eggs. "I couldn't intrude; surely you must have plans of your own."
It was Mr. Gold's turn to laugh. "Nonsense, it would be my pleasure. Now finish up quickly like a good girl and we will head to my car as soon as possible."
Belle quickly complied as they finished their meals they disused the places they wanted to go, ultimately deciding to drive up towards Monaco City. Belle unable to suppress her happiness; Monaco City was one of the places she hoped to visit on her trip to Europe. Belle believed the time had flown by when they had made it but she suspected this mainly had to do with the fact the pair spent most of the drive arguing over which radio stations to listen.
Mr. Gold revealed himself to be a fan of classical music while Belle was a Jazz aficionado. Gold found hilarious as he jokingly said she was committing blasphemy to his ears when she changed the station and belted out Louie Armstrong songs in a voice that was woefully out of tune.
"We're finally here," Gold blurted relieved she had finally stopped singing when Belle quickly became overwhelmed with joy at the thought they were in the older part of Monaco. As soon as Mr. Gold parked the car towards the Monaco Rock, Belle began to bombard him with flashes from her camera as her excitement was unable to be contained when she got out of the car.
"Come on, let's go!" Belle dragged him out of the car an, Mr. Gold quickly followed her when Belle puled short, suddenly remembered he needed to get his cane in order to keep up. "Oh I am deeply sorry, I had forgotten…"
"Forgotten what, dearie?" He looked at her with a manner of annoyance almost as if he was daring for her to point out his cane.
Belle took a deep breath and slowed her pace as they began to walk towards the higher ends of the jagged ground. To ease the tension between them, Belle began getting her film ready carefully explaining to him the right angles and lighting to use while taking photographs at the main city square.
"I could use a model for some of the photographs since it can be boring taking only scenery shots." Flashing the lens towards Gold's face she pretended to press the shutter acting as though she were a news reporter.
Gold complied with her request in which she began placing him in several spots each time explaining something about the lighting or the shutter being out of order whenever he would complain if the shot was taking too long. She decided it was best not to tell him about the few instances were she took his photo while not being aware since it captured when Belle at his most natural state.
Eventually Belle decided she no longer needed a human model leaving Mr. Gold to look around waiting for Belle to capture some of the remaining scenery. Eventually she took out her sketchbook and began drawing in a pencil the same flowers she had only taken a photo of not a few minutes ago. What caught his eyes were the drawings pertaining to some of the background they had passed along the drive there.
"It seems some of your father's talents rubbed off on you, my little Atget."
From that response, Belle immediately closed her sketchbook hiding it behind her back placing her head down. "I'm not that good; it turned out my film canister is running low and I only began to indulge a little."
"Come on; let's have a look at it. From the way you were so focus, I expect a great work of art." He leaned closer to get a glance at her sketchbook and Belle snapped the book closed and crossed her arms.
"It's not finished, yet and I really am not very good," she pleaded softly.
"It can't be as bad as all that, perhaps one day I will torment you with my poor attempts at pianoforte." He coaxed.
Still unsure, Belle slowly opened the book and turned the page towards Gold tilting her head away as Gold examined the sketch. In his attempt at surprising her, he had not noticed she was sketching his portrait where the technique left a little to be desired as his eyes too expressive where they could have been confused for a demon. "I had not realized my ears were this pointed, I would weep at the idea of being mistaken for a fairy." He began to place his hands over his back as he circled around. "Although it appears my wings might have been taken away by the head fairy for my dastardly deeds."
That got her to giggle, and she taking back the sketchbook. "Well you are not an easy subject to do. It's mainly because your expressions keep changing. As I said before, I am not so good at sketching and people are even trickier."
"Then I suggest you should stick to sketching the scenery in order to improve." He walked over towards the side looking at the city below as it had a view towards the Mediterranean. "The coasts here remind me of the view back home, but with less fog. Tell me, have you ever been to Scotland?"
"Once, when I was twelve on holiday with my parents. We stopped by this little village outside Edinburgh where I remember walking by this souvenir shop and the first item to have caught my eye was a postcard of beautiful castle by the sea. I asked the shopkeeper what was the name of the castle and she said 'that's Eurwyn" I felt ashamed not knowing it."
"Eurwyn's is beautiful, to me it's the place I was born and lived in all my life. I don't suppose I shall ever see it again."
Belle wasn't sure how to take his words, and when his mood became somber, she quickly changed the subject.
"I haven't been too keen on the beaches in Britain because of the cold weather." Belle said, tryng to break the strained silence.
He smiled at her remark allowing Belle to carry on the conversation with ease.
"The water here is much warmer though even back home there was always an excuse to go bathing, you can just lie on the water for hours." She continued. There have been a few accidents causing the beaches to be closed down. One such incident involved a man who drowned on his boat last summer during the Australia Day celebrations. The beach closed down for nearly a week! I've never been afraid of drowning, have you?" Belle turned around finding Mr. Gold was no longer next to her but on the other side of the rock. His back was towards and he speared to be lost in the view in front of him.
"Come, I'll take you home." He said.
Quickly he headed to the car leaving Belle to wonder what brought this change of mood.
The ride back to the hotel was a somber affair this time as neither spoke. Occasionally, Belle darted an anxious glanced at Mr. Gold but he was fixated on the road and paid no attention to her whatsoever. He dropped her off at the lobby without a world of good bye, leaving Belle both astonished and embarrassed.
He must have been so bored with me, no that I blame him. I am such an idiot. The only good out of this was that Mrs. Mills wasn't with us or I would have never heard the end of it from her.
Shoulders slumped, Belle boarded the elevator then slowly walked down the hallway to their suite. Checking her watch, she knew Cora would probably either getting ready for a party or in the process of leaving which meant she wasn't sure how the rest of the evening of the would go. When she opened the door, Belle found Cora still in her cardinal satin robe, shoes in place, brown hair cascading down. She was seated on her vanity trying to apply makeup with a martini in hand.
"Oh there you are; it's about time," she said looking at Belle's reflection through the mirror. "I need you to hurry, I am expected at the Gala in less than an hour. Please get my dress off the hanger," Cora concentrated on perfecting her lipstick.
"Yes Mrs. Mills" Belle went to the closet door choosing to ignore her employer's sudden coughing fits. She found the requested dress: a dark red silhouette gown with a mermaid scoop neck and a train cascading towards a ruffle outline. The dress was more sensible that what Cora normally chose; for once she had selected a gown that was age-appropriate, instead of something for a woman twenty years her junior. Belle handed the gown to her employer who raised her eyebrow to indicate the rest of her job had not been done yet. She gathered the zipper on the dress and began getting Cora ready for the party.
"Do you think I should send Robert an invitation to come as a guest? The poor man must be so bored alone in that hotel room." Cora said.
Belle stood silent as she brushed Cora's hair, only half paying attention to the conversation.
Cora looked at back at Belle with an annoyed expression then proceeded to gather her earrings. "Don't tell me you don't remember Mr. Gold from last night."
"Yes Mrs. Mills I remember him, but I don't believe he would be in the mood to be entertained. You said so yourself last night, he appeared to be rather foul. Also, if the party is in an hour, then it wouldn't work for him to respond and get ready since Gala events are invitation only."
Rolling her eyes, Cora lapsed into silence, as Belle arranged her hair.
A few minutes later she said, "I can always invite him for drinks tomorrow. It has been four years; then again Robert was always too much in love with his wife. Milah drowned in a tragic accident along the coastline close to their estate. After it happened, the man turned into a veritable social recluse.
"Drowned?" Belle felt sick as she pondered the afternoon's events. Suddenly she realized why he was upset. Oh my goodness, he must have been thinking about this wife the entire time. At this rate, I need to be given the most inconsiderate person award.
"I remember when Henry and I went to the funeral," Cora droned on, "Robert was absolutely devastated to the point where his son demanded the wake be cut short because his father was too exhausted."
With the last of the laces tied and Cora's hair arranged in an elegant chignon, she gathered her black fur coat and red purse heading towards the door. "I am not sure what time I will be back but I will expect my breakfast and at least two pills in the morning." Cora cleared her throat and Belle offered her a handkerchief. Cora ignored her and departed, closing the door behind her.
With the suite now silent, Belle headed towards her bedroom and got ready for bed with the day's events still plaguing her thoughts.
Robert was always too much in love with his wife.