A/N: Thanks so much to Musette Blanchard for recommending this little tale on the Fanfic Angst H00rs Facebook group. I have so many new readers and kind reviewers!

A quick note about some of my 1901 characters' names: Tanya and Sasha are diminutive forms (like nicknames) of the proper Russian names Tatiana and Alexandra. These diminutives wouldn't be used outside the family, so I had to changes things a little from canon to make this society proper. My character Alexandra Gardiner claims to be related to Russian royalty and has a Russian name herself. She gave her oldest daughter a Russian name but went with English names for her other daughters. Hence Sasha becomes Alexandra, Tanya becomes Tatiana, Irina becomes Irene, and Katarina/Kate becomes Katherine. This is minor and probably no one really cares, but I actually took Russian so it would bother me otherwise.

So, on with the next chapter…

Chapter 10

2013

Ness awoke with a lingering frisson of unease after her evening at the Pub. She regretted that the walk to the waterfront with Jake hadn't occurred and hoped he wasn't annoyed with her. But she also felt guilty for possibly hurting Nate's feelings, although she couldn't fathom what he was thinking to approach her while she was with Jake. She sighed in aggravation as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes in front of the bathroom mirror. This type of dilemma was so foreign to her. She considered asking Rosalie for advice but decided Rosalie didn't know much if she would choose Royce over Emmett.

At least nothing had happened to Serena. She had been locked in her room with Embry when Ness and Rosalie got home. Ness knocked and received a shouted "Fuck you!" through the door. Relief had overpowered indignation, and Ness had gone to bed smiling and shaking her head.

Ness pushed all thoughts of her personal life aside and focused on the professional. Today she planned to visit Swan Court and then pitch her thesis idea to Shelley Cope. Rosalie had been up at the crack of dawn and was already at Osgood-Pell organizing her excavation. She hoped to start it before too many more days passed.

After she was dressed, Ness put through a call to Mrs. Goff, who was the managing curator for Swan Court. Her secretary transferred Ness immediately, and Ness marveled at the ease with which her visit was confirmed. Mrs. Goff welcomed her to arrive at any time that morning and arranged for someone to grant her access to any restricted areas she needed to see. Satisfied that her day was going according to plan, Ness took some time to pour a bowl of cereal and sit down at the kitchen table.

"Good morning," Emmett entered the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator. He reached in and grabbed a Diet Coke, popping the top and leaning back against the refrigerator door. "How's it going? You and Rosalie went back to the Pub last night?" Emmett tried to look casual, but Ness could tell he really wanted information. She wondered again what Rosalie could possibly see in Royce.

"Yeah, we did," Ness confirmed. "And Jake warned me about Royce. He's not sure about his character," she told Emmett soberly. "He implied Royce was only interested in a summer fling." Emmett tried to preserve his casual stance but Ness could see his jaw clench and his fist tighten around the can he held.

"Summer fling?" Emmett muttered. Ness knew he was interested in much more than that with Rosalie. She awkwardly cleared her throat.

"I don't have much relationship experience," she started and thought wryly about her own situation, "but maybe you should tell Rosalie how you feel. She might get rid of Royce if she knew she had other options."

"I don't know, Ness," Emmett said stepping away from the fridge to rub his toe over an imaginary stain on the floor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, eyes focused down. "She doesn't remember me from the conference, so what are the odds she finds me even remotely interesting. It would probably just make things uncomfortable in the house for the rest of the summer." He shrugged. "But I'll definitely keep my eye on that guy." Ness nodded that she would, too. She grabbed her bowl and rinsed it in the sink.

"Well, I'm headed to Swan Court for a little research," she told Emmett. He waved her out of the kitchen and wished her a good day. He was headed back to Cullen House to work on some of the stone carvings. When Ness left him, he looked deep in thought.

Swan Court was both older and smaller than the grand Cullen House, but Ness, with her trained architectural historian's eye, could see the similarities especially in the stonemasonry. She idly wondered if the same stonemason had worked on both constructions and decided to try and prove that in the archives later.

Mrs. Goff met her at the ticket counter herself and offered a personal tour of the house. Charles Swan had built the house as a young man and lived in it every summer of the rest of his long life. He died without an heir in his nineties during the Depression. Swan Court had been one of the first museum houses in Newport but had quickly been followed by a few others. Several families had been forced to sell off their homes due to the poor economy in the 1930s. That had been the end of the Golden Age in Newport.

The house had been kept as close as possible to its state when Charles Swan died, so the furnishings and decorations were classic of the Roaring 20's. The entire home had a distinctly masculine feel. One of the most beautiful rooms was Charles' office. It was paneled with dark wood, the walls covered with bookcases. The desk was large and imposing, probably hand made in the 1840s, if Ness was correct. She figured it had belonged to Charles' father. The office was in the corner of the downstairs and had a beautiful view of the water. She could imagine Charles taking a break from work and gazing out over the sea, maybe with a cigar in his hand. She knew she was looking in the direction of Cullen House and decided to explore the grounds when the tour was over.

Charles' bedroom was also lavishly decorated with an enormous carved four poster bed that probably weighed a thousand pounds. It was draped with heavy and dark fabrics that matched the curtains. Ness was surprised that it did not have a water view. It was attached to a modern (for the time) bathroom which was beautifully tiled with pastel accents very out of character with the rest of the decor. Mrs. Goff led Ness through the bathroom into another bedroom that was blandly but tastefully decorated in beige and white. Here was the sea view that Ness had expected for the master bedroom. She was surprised that a guest room would be situated so and connect with Charles' bedroom. She said as much to Mrs. Goff.

"Well, this was Mrs. Swan's bedroom, of course," Mrs. Goff told her. "Susan Swan died young, and Charles was devastated by all accounts. We've learned from letters that he didn't allow the room to be used after that, but I guess someone at least convinced him to keep it furnished and decorated."

"That's why the bathroom is decorated so contrary to the rest of Charles' style," Ness guessed. "He probably didn't change it." Mrs. Goff smiled and nodded. She didn't get very many visitors to the house who were as interested as Ness. Not many interns used the property for their projects, and she was enjoying herself today immensely.

"Charles had to deal with a lot of tragedy in his life," she told Ness getting warmed up on her subject. "He also lost his daughter not long after his wife." Ness felt a tingle go up her spine.

"Yes, I think I heard something about that. What happened?" she tried to ask calmly and casually. Since she, as a Cullen, had known nothing about Edward Cullen and Rosalie had found the information fairly deep in the archives, she wasn't sure if Mrs. Goff would have details. But if anyone would know, it would be the house curator.

"Her name was Isabella, and she went over the cliff right outside, pushed." She pointed out the window in the direction of the Cliff Walk and the water. "Lover's quarrel, they say. It was quite a scandal in its day, although there's not a lot you can find in the archive about it. I'm sure the influential families around here were able to bury the unsavory details. The only thing I've ever seen about it was a newspaper clipping from New York." Ness nodded since this was exactly what Rosalie had told her. Mrs. Goff motioned for Ness to follow her out of the room. They went back through the second floor parlor at the top of the stairs and entered the opposite wing of the house.

"This was probably Isabella's room," Mrs. Goff said as she led Ness into the bedroom at the opposite corner of the house. The first thing Ness saw when she entered the room was the water view. Something drew her to the window, but before she could look down over the expanse of lawn and water, she was gripped with a crushing feeling of despair. It took her breath away, and she had to steady herself against the glass. The world was ending; she would never be happy again.

The overpowering emotion passed as quickly as it had come. Ness looked around in bewilderment. Mrs. Goff noticed something was amiss. "Are you all right?" she queried, concern writ large on her face. Ness nodded slowly afraid to answer too hastily. Was she all right? Before she turned her back to the window, she noticed a small flat area of sand at the bottom of the cliff. It faced the beach on Cullen Island where Rosalie's excavation was to take place. And she could just make out what looked like path amongst the boulders that made up the cliff's face.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just a sad story; I guess I let it get to me a little," Ness said. She was able to take in the room's furnishings now. It was impersonal but lovely, decorated in blue and cream. There was no sign that a young lady had lived here. She wondered aloud if Charles had redecorated after his daughter's death.

"We don't know that," Mrs. Goff told her as they peered into the en suite bathroom and moved back into the hallway. "We don't have a lot of information about Isabella. Her father didn't write about her often. We know from his accounting logs that he held a ball in her honor in 1901, probably a coming out party, and that he paid for her boarding school in France. She probably only lived here for a year at most before she died."

"How sad," murmured Ness, her thoughts a tangle. Mrs. Goff continued talking as the two descended the stairs back to the main floor.

"There's more mystery surrounding the girl because we don't have a birth certificate. Susan Swan was not her mother, and Charles wasn't married before, so that's very odd." That statement stirred something in Ness' memory. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't voice it. She was missing something but could do nothing about it. Ness frowned, but Mrs. Goff was still talking and what she said recaptured Ness attention immediately.

"…she's buried in the Trinity Church cemetery…" she was saying.

"Excuse me," Ness exclaimed a bit sharply. "Do you mean Isabella Swan?" Mrs. Goff looked at her in confusion.

"Well, yes, of course. She died here and that was where she and her father attended church," she trailed off a little surprised by the intensity of Ness' reaction.

For some reason, Ness thought of the carving in her family pew. It featured the name of the mysterious Edward Cullen's mother, Esme, and the name Renee, which Rosalie had been unable to link to anyone. Now she learned that Isabella's mother was unknown. Could she be Renee? The newspaper clipping to which Mrs. Goff had referred had accused Edward Cullen of Isabella's death, but Ness felt sure they had it wrong. As a historian Ness knew she was jumping to wild conclusions, but was there a way to find out for sure? And why did it matter so much to her? This wouldn't help her with her thesis project and looking into it would probably just waste time.

"Mrs. Goff, thanks so much for the tour. I'm just going to take a look around outside at the lawn and grounds. I really appreciate you taking the time to show me around. I think I've already got some great information for my project," Ness tried to be polite but her mind was racing. She had already decided to visit the cemetery, but first she wanted to check out the small beach she had seen from the second floor. She wasn't sure why it was so important to her, but her instincts told her to climb down that path.

"Oh, Ness, it was my pleasure," Mrs. Goff replied. "Good luck with your research. What was your last name so I can be sure to find and read it when you're finished?" Ness froze having already taken a few steps away toward the front entrance. She had deliberately not disclosed her surname, and now really didn't want to share it, knowing that Mrs. Goff had read the newspaper clipping and probably knew that Edward Cullen was generally thought of as Isabella's murderer. But she had to answer.

"Cullen," she said with resignation. "My name is Ness Cullen." Mrs. Goff's eyes widened and lips parted in shock. She tried to compose herself quickly, but Ness saw all her emotions play out. Ness watched her struggle with what to say next.

"I see," she said tentatively. "Cullen. Hmm, surely, you're not related to the Cullen House Cullens, though." Ness sighed and forced herself to smile.

"Yes, in fact, my grandfather sold it to developers many years ago," she said quietly. Mrs. Goff looked decidedly uncomfortable, so Ness decided to put her out of her misery.

"My roommate found the newspaper clipping about Isabella Swan's death, so I know what else was in it. That's one of the reasons why I was interested in Swan Court. But, I'd really like just to focus on the architecture here." The last was a plea for Mrs. Goff to drop the issue, and thankfully, the older woman went along with it.

"Of course, I can tell you are very professional. Again, it was a pleasure to meet you, and good luck." Mrs. Goff wasn't rude, but Ness could tell she was anxious to get away from her. She was a kind woman, but definitely embarrassed right now. Ness gave her a small smile and a wave and headed out to the lawn, anxious to get down the cliff.

Ness walked around the side of the house and stood on the large back patio. It extended from large glass doors which led inside to the house's ballroom. Ness tried to picture it decorated, the doors thrown open during a grand ball, like the one Mrs. Goff had described. The view was definitely beautiful. The patio flowed into a large, green lawn, meticulously maintained by the NCPS landscaping staff. Ness thought briefly of Nate, picturing the way he moved with confidence and enthusiasm when talking about or performing his job. She was sorry that he couldn't be that way all the time but realized they shared shyness as a stumbling block. Jake had confidence to spare, and that was why Ness found him so exciting. Just thinking about him gave her stomach a flutter.

Ness focused on the issue at hand and started across the lawn toward Cliff Walk. She paused at the small retaining wall where she had had the strange experience with Rosalie. She climbed on top and looked carefully along the rocks until she located the small dirt path she'd seen from upstairs. It was tricky but looked safe enough. She glanced around to make sure no one saw her. There were many signs warning hikers to stay on the path.

The path was steep, but she had on sturdy sandals and picked her way down slowly. Soon, she was standing on the sandy spit of land. She paused to catch her breath, hands on her hips, gazing out over the small strip of water toward Cullen Island. There was a small group of people on the beach across from her. Ness was pleased to recognize Rosalie's blond head. The group seemed to have marked off squares with rope, designating the sections for excavation. It actually looked like they had already started in one area. Everyone was crowded around brooms and digging tools in hand.

Ness put her hands up to shield her eyes and try to get a better look, when a strong breeze suddenly kicked up. She shivered and dropped her hands to rub her bare upper arms. That's when a cloud blotted out the sun, and she realized tendrils of fog were spreading toward her from around the tip of the peninsula. Her uneasiness grew quickly as she recalled her experience on the other beach just the day before. She started to turn to clamor back up the path, but suddenly there was someone next to her.

Ness whirled toward the interloper, but instead of facing someone as she expected, the presence remained in her periphery like it was pivoting around her. She stood still. There was a girl next to her; Ness could see tendrils of long brown hair blowing in the wind off to her side. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice shaking. She didn't try to turn her head and just waited. The fog thickened.

Ness' scream froze in her throat as the girl slowly moved into her line of sight. Her skin was pale, unnaturally so, and there were dark hollows around her eyes. The eyes themselves were dark brown but glowed with a mystical light. They bored into Ness. Her dark hair swirled around her beautiful but frightening face. She was dressed in an old-fashioned cream-colored dress that tied at the waist with a silk ribbon. There were lace details at the neck, sleeves, and hem. Ness wanted to run, but she was rooted to the spot. The girl was fully in front of her now and took another step toward her.

"I need him," the girl pleaded, raising her hands imploringly toward Ness. "Please, you can help me," she said. Then, she flickered and vanished. The fog immediately dispersed, and Ness was blinded by the sun in her eyes. She was shaking as she covered her eyes. Had that really just happened, or was she losing it?

Ness moved mechanically, her mind blank, as she climbed the slope back to Swan Court. She rested on the retaining wall in an attempt to recover from the incident. She didn't know how she knew, but she was sure that she had just encountered Isabella Swan. She reconsidered what had occurred on Cullen Island. Had she also seen and heard Edward Cullen? Were they looking for each other? But why would he be on the island if he had run away all those years ago? There were definitely several pieces of the puzzle missing.

Ness was startled out of her musings by her cell phone ringing. She considered letting it go to voice mail but pulled it out of her bag and glanced at the screen. It was Rosalie.

"Hello?" Her voice sounded shaky even to her own ears. What was she going to say? Should she confide in Rosalie?

"Ness?" Rosalie asked uncertainly. "Are you all right? You sound funny." Ness let out a forced laugh.

"Sure, I'm fine. I just finished touring Swan Court. I got lots of great information," Ness decided not to mention that she'd seen Rosalie on the beach. That would require more details of her Swan Court visit than she was willing to share at this point. "What's up?" She managed to steady her voice this time.

"Oh, okay, you didn't sound right for a second. Anyway, we got the excavation site plotted out and did a test dig. You won't believe what we found," Rosalie told her excitedly. Ness took a deep breath. She had a feeling things were about to get even more complicated.

"What?" she asked as Rosalie had intended her to do.

"Charred wood with traces of white and green paint," she replied. "It looks like the gazebo burned down," Rosalie concluded. Ness felt chill run up her spine. The now familiar sensation of something forgotten just out of her reach plagued her once again. She didn't know what to say.

"Ness?" Rosalie called across the line. "What do you think? I'm going to hit the archives hard and try and find something." Ness struggled to come up with something normal to say.

"I need to hit the archives hard myself," she finally managed.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Rosalie asked again. "I know tomorrow's Saturday, but I think I'll head over tomorrow. Not tonight, though, it's Friday. Back to the Pub for us, right? Are you in?" Ness wanted to say no, that she was headed to archives right now to try and make some sense of what had happened to her. But, she found herself agreeing with Rosalie. She probably did need some relaxation, some distance, some time to try and clarify her experience. So, she found herself agreeing with Rosalie.

"Sure, I'm in. See you at home."

Well, Ness is getting in a bit deeper. Unfortunately, I lied about alternating time periods chapter to chapter here on out. I can't keep that promise, although the next chapter will be 1901. Thanks again to all the new reviewers. Please keep it up!

EG