Someone, they would never say who, let it slip that it was the Master's birthday. The birthday they had been dreading for some time now. But with Belle there, it may turn out just the way the castle residents had dreamed. They had spent the whole week preparing the castle. Washing windows that hadn't been washed in years. The gardens tended even with the winter snows still on the ground. The ballroom was mopped and polished. The brass was shining so brightly that all reflections were visible. It was the first grand party the servants had planned in a long time. It was hard for Mrs. Potts to say who was more nervous and excited; the Master or Cogsworth.
The Master was pacing the halls of the West Wing. He was filled with a nervous energy that couldn't be contained. Tonight he was going to tell her. He was going to tell Belle the truth, or as much of it that could be told. He was going to tell her that he loved her. And he hoped and prayed beyond all that he was allowed that she felt the same. He didn't know what would happen but he could only hope that it wouldn't scare Belle away. He couldn't bear to lose her. Not now. Not when he's come so far. Belle was his future and he had to make it happen.
For the first time, they were dining a formal dinner together. Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts had been working in the kitchens all day to make a feast grander than any they had ever attempted. For Lumiere, he was charged with getting the Master clean and tidy for his dinner. His grand suit, the enchanted sewing supplies worked endlessly to find things that A) fit and B) looked regal enough for a formal dinner setting.
Belle spent hours in the castle going from room to room to see what was in each of the wardrobes. In the dark corners of the East Wing, where his mother's apartments had been, Belle found wrapped away a bolt of golden silk. Having never owned anything as grand, Belle hurried down the long corridors to her rooms. There she found the enchanted scissors and her assistants, and together they created a voluminous gown, fit for a queen.
Belle grew up poor but had always dreamt of a time when she would look the part of an elegant lady. As a girl in Paris, she would see the elegant ladies about with their escorts and wonder where they had come from; who they were. She would make up stories about the lives they led and wondered if there would ever come a time when it would be her turn.
Now it would be...