I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! I am sorry for the delay, here's the new chapter!
Belle was curled up in a large armchair, perusing a copy of All's Well that Ends Well that she had snuck out of the library, when she heard a soft knock on the door. She glanced up, and seeing that neither Ms. Potts, nor Lumière, nor even Madame Armoire was present, carefully marked her place and went to the door herself. Outside was an elegantly dressed manservant, who looked her over imperiously.
"Excuse-moi, is Prince Adam within?" he asked with an arched brow.
"I'm afraid he is not," Belle answered with a friendly smile, hoping to soften the man's demeanor. It did not work.
"Do you know when he might be back?" the manservant asked in an even haughtier manner, "I have a most important letter for him."
"I don't think he'll be back for a couple more hours," Belle said, "But I can hold the letter for him, I am his wife."
The man looked startled, and glanced over her quickly again before regaining his composure and bowing deeply.
"Forgive me, Princess, I did not know it was you," he said quickly, "Of course, here is the letter. The king hopes to entertain you both soon."
He scurried off, leaving a shocked Belle behind. Apparently Adam had been telling the truth when he mentioned his first visit with the king…
Ms. Potts came in from the inner chambers, broom in hand, followed closely by Madame Armoire.
"Did I hear you talking to someone, love?"
"Yes," Belle said absently, and turned to Ms. Potts in amazement with the letter in her hand, "I think Adam and I are being invited to meet the king," she quickly broke the wax seal and skimmed over the words within. Her voice was strangled as she added, "Tonight."
Madame Armoire squealed loudly in delight.
"Oh how wonderful! I knew something like this would happen! Come immediately Belle, we must find the perfect dress! I have just the thing, I am so glad I had it sewn before we left the castle!"
She stopped suddenly, and frowned at Belle, "Madame, you didn't answer the door yourself did you? Especially wearing that?"
"I was the only one here and this is a perfectly clean dress," Belle answered, annoyed.
"Oh Madame, we must be quite a few steps above clean here!" Madame Armoire exclaimed, and looked to Ms. Potts for support.
"She is quite right, my dear," Ms. Potts said, giving Belle a kindly stern look, "And you must have one of us answer the door for you. We wouldn't want the other servants to talk."
"But I don't care if they talk," Belle insisted, "I do not know anyone here and no one knows me. I will not act here in a way that I would be ashamed of back home."
The two older women looked at each other and Ms. Potts began wringing her hands together.
"Love," she started, "we aren't home. We are in a strange place among powerful people and we must play by their rules. Think of the master – right now, his fate rests in the hands of his father. If the master missteps here, under his father's gaze…"
"I understand," Belle said with a sigh, "I will do better, from now on."
"That's the spirit, love," Ms. Potts said with a relieved smile.
"Now, Mistress," Madame Armoire said with barely-concealed excitement, "Shall we go look at your gowns?"
Adam walked along the corridor slowly back to his apartments, exhausted. Running around the palace, the scene with the comte, then the interaction with that Henriette woman… He was greatly looking forward to a quiet evening with his wife. Maybe she could read to him before he fell asleep.
"Master!"
Adam looked up in surprise to see Lumière running towards him.
"What is it?" Adam asked, his heart suddenly sinking, "Is Belle alright?"
"Yes, yes, yes, of course Master," Lumière said, waving away the question impatiently, "But we must return to the rooms tout de suite – the king wishes to dine with you and Madame tonight!"
Adam groaned even as he was pulled along by Lumière, "Can't we say we're busy? I think I've become ill from our journey, I should stay in bed so that I don't infect the king."
Lumière looked at him incredulously, "Too busy for the king? Pretending to be sick? My dear master, there is something not right in your head. Come, we must get you dressed and you must see Madame. She looks magnifique!"
Adam decided that it probably would not hurt to go along with this.
His clothes were neatly laid out just inside the foyer, and with the speed in which Lumière helped him change, Adam suspected this had been carefully planned out.
"I see you anticipated me running late," he said dryly to Lumière. The other man shrugged.
"Old habits die hard, Master."
"Has Belle gone on ahead of us?" Adam asked, looking towards the other door as he adjusted a cuff on his jacket.
"No, Master, it seems she is running late too. Although in her case, I would not say it is her fault…"
Adam grinned, "Go ask Ms. Potts and Madame Armoire to release my wife."
When the inner door reopened some minutes later, Belle emerged, resplendent in a dark blue dress. Adam found that her frown as she maneuvered her skirts through the door only made her more adorable.
"My lady," he said, bowing and offering his hand to her, hoping he didn't sound too breathless in the face of her beauty.
"My lord," she said with a playful curtsey and a giggle as she placed her hand in his.
"Master," Lumière said discreetly from behind them, "I have arranged for the carriage to meet you at the door, it shall take you over to the main palace."
Bell frowned, "Do we have to? Can't we just walk over there?"
"That would not be proper," Lumière told her sternly, then smiled, "Besides, Madame, you have no time to lose! You must hurry! Go! Go!"
Quick steps brought them out of the building and into the carriage. The horses' brisk trot brought them to the palace almost immediately – looking over, Adam could see by the stubborn set of Belle's chin that she still thought they should have walked.
One of the king's servants greeted them at the palace door and quickly ushered them to the king's interior apartments, then into the small dining room.
It seemed as though they had arrived perfectly on time. The rest of the thirty or so guests were just beginning to take their seats. Adam hesitated, and looked around quickly to see where he should take Belle and himself. He did not know any of these lords or ladies; he did not want to offend any of them from sitting in the wrong place. He just wanted two quiet, out-of-the-way spots where he and Belle would be able to enjoy their meal and pass the evening away unnoticed by this flock.
Such hopes were dashed, however, when a servant came and quietly told Adam that the king wished for them to sit next to him. He could tell Belle was nervous, and he took a deep breath to calm himself before he led Belle to the head of the table, where the king was deep in conversation with another noble. As they approached, the king looked over, and smiled.
"I'm glad you made it, Adam," he said jovially as Adam bowed and Belle curtsied, "Cutting it a bit close, eh?"
"My apologies, Your Majesty, I was running late," Adam replied quickly, "May I introduce you to my wife, Mademoiselle de Scorailles."
"I am of course very pleased to meet you, Princess," the king said with a kind smile for Belle, and then called to the rest of the company, "Come now, everyone, sit down so we may eat!"
The chatter ceased only briefly as the food was brought out, but once the first few bites were taken, the noise resumed louder than ever. Adam gathered that there had been a fantastic hunt that day, and that this noble over here had performed wonderfully, but that one there had made a fool of himself, and yet another one hadn't even made an attempt…
Adam did not really care. He could sense Belle was still nervous, and the Beast sensed it, and was beginning to stir.
"Tell me, Princess," the king suddenly said, breaking off his previous conversation with the man next to him and speaking directly to Belle, "How are you enjoying your stay here so far? My people give me to understand that this is very new to you."
The Beast lifted his head warily. Adam had a feeling that the king had found out that Belle was not noble-born.
"I have been enjoying myself very much," Belle said, sounding calmer than Adam knew she felt, "Our journey here provided me with a wonderful opportunity to read some things I had never had time for."
"How relaxing," the king commented, "I myself wish I had time to delve into a simple romance or comedy, to lose myself in a silly little world for an afternoon."
"I wasn't just reading romances," Belle said, and Adam tensed more as he detected the note of irritation in her voice, "I have started reading some Montesquieu, and just today started a little bit of Voltaire."
"Pah, Voltaire," the king grimaced in annoyance, "Apparently I may ban his body from my city, but his books roam where they please. But Montesquieu, how interesting, Princess. He is quite good, although I have little use for books on statecraft myself. Might I suggest Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica? I cannot tear myself away from the sciences. Perhaps, though, it may be a little dull for you?"
"If my king suggests it, I'm sure I will find it fascinating," Belle said stubbornly. The king smiled, and Belle smiled back, and Adam watched in amazement as a spark of kinship flashed between them. His darling wife, was no one immune to her charms?
The two of them stayed engaged with each other for the rest of the meal. They spoke of people, places, and ideas that Adam had never heard of before. He tried to remember some of them ask Belle about later, but for the time being he could only sit there, mute.
He did not mind. He loved seeing Belle like this, in her element with someone well-read and boundlessly curious about the world. Perhaps this would form a solid relationship between her and the king, which could not hurt. There were far worse things that could happen in this palace. Perhaps he would find himself in a fortunate place where he was in favor both with the king and with his own father. Then maybe he would be able to take Belle back to their castle, and they could remain there always.
After dinner, the king led his guests into the next room for games and gambling. Belle whispered to Adam that she did not know any of the games, and Adam just as quietly admitted that he didn't know any of them either. They unobtrusively took their leave.
"That wasn't so bad," Belle said cheerfully as they progressed down the corridor.
"No, it wasn't," Adam agreed, and looped his arm around her waist, "How could it be, when I have such a brilliant wife?"
Belle looked worried for a second, "I wasn't too forward with the king, was I? He was just so fascinating to talk to – I really must read more books about science. Did you know there is a man named Mikhail Lomonosov who believes that we are made of millions of little tiny pieces of elements?"
"I did not know that," Adam answered with a smile, "I see you and your friend will have much more to research in the library tomorrow. How did things go today?"
"It was quite dull and I brought back one of Shakespeare's comedies to read afterwards," Belle admitted sheepishly, "But I think I did learn a lot, and perhaps tomorrow will be easier. How did you do today?"
"I ran some errands, was yelled at by a comte, I think the usual fare for as long as we're here," Adam said casually. He did not want to talk about the run-in with Henriette.
"My poor darling," Belle said with a smile, reaching up to stroke his chin, "Let's go back to our rooms and I'll read you some of my book, I think you'll like it."
