This is the morning after the last chapter, if you couldn't figure it out. Please review! Oh, by the way, if anyone wants to talk about the books, or MI (especially CoFA!), I love discussing theories.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters...

Chapter: Belle

Belle headed down the staircase, still exhausted, intent on finding Charlotte. As it was breakfast time, she was in the kitchen, but she wasn't alone. Will and Jem were there, as well as two others Belle didn't know. The man sitting next to Charlotte was tall and broad-shouldered, with hazel eyes and a pleasant face topped with a shock of untidy ginger hair. The other was a girl of about eighteen, almost ridiculously pretty, with creamy pale skin, brown eyes and thick blonde hair. She was staring at Belle with a curious expression.

"Belle," Jem said quietly, "let me introduce everyone. You've already met Charlotte and Will, of course." He indicated the red-haired man. "This is Henry, Charlotte's husband." He waited as Belle shook hands with Henry.

"Hey, is that clockwork?" Belle asked, gesturing to a piece of metal Henry was fidgeting with. His eyes lit up. "Are you interested in such things?"

The conversation between them continued for a few minutes before Jem interrupted with a hand on Belle's back. "And this is Jessamine Lovelace."

Belle nodded in Jessamine's direction. "Pleased to–"

Jessamine interjected. "Charlotte, is she to be my lady's maid? You wouldn't mind, would you?" She turned back to Belle, studying her closely. "I suppose you're pretty enough. Can you speak French?"

Belle smiled, ignoring Will's cool amusement, Jem's speechlessness and Charlotte's mild annoyance. "Certainly." She chattered away in fluent French as Jessamine nodded, clearly pretending to understand.

Will laughed aloud, and after a moment Jem gave a small smile. Belle's sentences were all along the lines of, "Absolutely not. I am no lady's maid, and who do you think you are to suggest such a thing? I'd rather die than subject myself to something such as that. By the way, that dress makes you look like a cheap whore."

Jessamine glared at Will. "Excellent, then. You can help me dress, I'm going out later."

"Jessie!" Charlotte admonished. "She is a guest, not your personal servant."

"And by the sound of it, she doesn't fancy the position anyway," Will added lazily, rocking back in his chair so that the front legs were off the ground.

"I concur, vehemently," Belle agreed, sitting down in one of two available spots– one next to Henry, and one next to Jessie. Unsurprisingly, she chose the one next to Henry, leaving Jem to sit next to Jessie, who didn't look pleased about it.

As he sat down, Jem turned to Charlotte. "Charlotte, after breakfast, Belle and I need to speak to you about… something of importance."

Will's eyes widened and his chair legs fell back down with a bang. "What is it?"

"I don't believe that's any of your business, William," Belle said coolly.

"If it involves Jem, it involves me," he asserted, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"If has nothing to do with me," Jem broke in. "I'm merely there for moral support."

"And I can't be there for the same reason?"

Belle snorted. "I doubt you've ever done something for moral reasons."

"Not true. Don't act like you know me."

"Ask me if I care," Belle replied, commencing to eat in the soft morning light from the windows in front of her. Will stood, looking furious, and left the room.

Charlotte laughed. "I quite like the way you manage Will."

Belle sighed. "No one manages Will."

Five more reviews before I post again! I'd say I'm a review whore, but I'm really more of a review dominatrix. You can practically hear the whip cracking. *sscchhwwiinngg* By the way, I realize that many people might think I steal, borrow, whatever, a lot of lines from MI and ID. I just like them, and I like using them in my own context. Don't hate.