They did indeed meet in the following days, but even after discussing a number of ideas at length, they were no closer to deciding on a fitting project or even a strategy for dealing with the town. Adam was impressed by Belle's work ethic and admired how completely she threw herself into the project. She was in the library at all hours, pouring over numerous volumes and manuscripts, researching successful examples of charity, examining the political situation and the town's economic needs, considering the long-term impact and possible adverse side effects of a variety of possible works. Belle took her role in the undertaking very seriously, and did everything she could to educate herself as thoroughly as possible about the matter so that they could make the most informed decision. She so rigorously held herself to impeccable standards that it made the prince, for the first time in his life, want to take the matter seriously.
It was perhaps several weeks after Belle had come to live at the castle when, one morning, the prince awoke at a decent hour, for him, and dressed. Finding he desired some fresh air, he wrapped a cloak around himself and and took his morning tea out onto the balcony. As he stood in the crisp early winter air, he heard the sounds of voices, laughter. He walked to the end of his balcony and peered over the edge. To his delight he saw Belle playing with a group of servant children in the gardens. The children clearly adored her. They called out to her with their arms outstretched, and she gathered them up and spun them in circles. One child, dizzy, fell sideways into the snow. Belle joined her, flopping into the snow and moving her arms and legs to create a snow angel. The children imitated her, and as Belle praised their beautiful angels the children laughed in delight.
Adam had not realized he had been smiling while surveying the scene, nor had he been aware of Lumiere's arrival until the maitre d spoke.
"Forgive the intrusion master," Lumiere said, startling the prince. In his surprise Adam jostled the teacup he had been holding, causing hot tea to spill over the lip and onto his hand. As Adam swore and plunged his burning hand into the snow that had accumulated on the bannister of his balcony, Lumiere cleared his throat to cover the sound of a guffaw he failed to suppress.
"Yes Lumiere?" the prince bade the servant testily.
"Will the mademoiselle be joining you for dinner?" he asked, approaching his master.
"Of course,"Adam responded, not taking his eyes off of Belle running through the gardens. Lumiere glanced over the edge of the balcony, and then at the prince. A knowing smile spread over the maitre d's face as he realized the cause of the prince's distraction.
"She is an exceptional beauty, non?," Lumiere said, glancing back toward the gardens appreciatively.
"Do you think so?" the prince asked, his attempt at nonchalance undermined by how he nervously toyed with the cuffs of his shirt.
"Do you not?" Lumiere asked, enjoying the opportunity to see the master squirm, for once. Lumiere was not one to hold a grudge, but he would be lying if he said he did not get at least a little pleasure out of the master's discomfort since the scene with Babette.
"I've never really though about it," Adam responded, turning away from the balcony and walking back into the west wing so that he would not need to look Lumiere in the eye.
"Of course," Lumiere agreed, able to lie far more convincingly than the young royal, "There are so many other qualities to appreciate about her."
"There are," Adam said earnestly, "She's so clever. To see such intelligence and drive in a woman, a peasant woman no less, is so unexpected."
"It would probably be best if you did not tell her that," Lumiere advised. Adam furrowed his brow in confusion and Lumiere wondered at the young man's worldly ignorance.
"But truly, she has risen to the occasion so admirably," the prince effused. He thought for a moment and then his face lit up, "I want to do something for her! But what?"
"This is no ordinary girl," Lumiere told the prince, considering the young woman, "It has to be something special, something that speaks to her intellect."
"Then that rules out the usual presents I give to women," Adam responded with a frown, "Flowers, chocolates, promises I don't intend to keep…"
"Wait a minute!" Lumiere exclaimed, thinking of the young woman's adeptness in her role as the prince's counsel, "I know what you can do for her!"
Adam entered the castle library a little timidly. Belle used the room so much more than the prince and had such a personal relationship with literature that it seemed to belong more to her than to him even though it was in his home. Whenever Belle was not in her room, the library was the first place the prince and the servants looked for her and, far more often than not, it was where they found her.
It did not take long for the prince to spy the beauty on a walkway far above him, leaning against a ladder and thumbing through a volume thoughtfully.
"Belle?" the prince called up to her. She looked up from her book with the slightly disoriented look she always wore whenever anyone interrupted one of her reveries and peered over the rail of the walkway. When her gaze settled upon the prince, she smiled.
"Yes your highness?" she asked.
"It would seem I should be calling you that," the prince joked, craning his head back to look up at her.
"I'll come down," Belle said, laughing, and she deftly climbed down the system of walkways and ladders that lined the walls of the library to stand in front of the prince.
"I was hoping I could speak with you," Adam told her, "That is, if you have a moment."
"Of course," Belle said, smoothing a stray hair back from her brow.
"Well," the prince began, clearing his throat, "I may have an idea."
Belle waited for him to continue, her expression open and interested. It was not like the prince to doubt himself in any capacity, but she had a way of making him nervous. He hesitated, worried for a moment that she would hate his idea. However, he quickly reminded himself who he was, and fils de France, a prince for goodness sake, and pushed himself to continue speaking.
"I thought perhaps we could build a library for your town," the prince said. Belle's expression instantly transform into a brilliantly beatific one, and the prince was surprised at how much it pleased him to see her enthusiasm. He was enjoying this tremendously, making her happy, seeing her smile.
"Truly?" she exclaimed, "Yes! That's a wonderful idea! Books are so expensive and our poor bookseller often simply lends out his volumes or gives them away because no on can afford to buy them. We could have tutors there that can help teach people how to read, a lot of the women in the village can't you know, and we can have stories for the children! It's a project that will benefit generations of townspeople!"
"Well, obviously, I would need someone to oversee the running of the place," the prince continued, "I was hoping that after the construction is complete and we've chosen which volumes the library will house that I could trust you with that responsibility."
"Me?" Belle responded, seeming a little dazed.
"If you want to," the prince said hurriedly, "I'd pay you, of course. And I want you to know that I intend to allow you the freedom to run the facility as you see fit."
"You would allow such freedom even when you know my proclivity for treasonous material?" Belle asked, leaning in toward him, nearly daring him to forbid her from supplying certain authors. Far from taking offense with Belle's boldness, the prince looked down at her pretty upturned face and was overcome with a strong desire to plant a kiss on on her full lips.
"I trust that you will not incite the citizenry to riot against me," the prince murmured with a half smile, feeling that he needed to busy his mouth with speaking to keep his lips from seeking hers. Belle's expression softened, honored by the gesture, touched by the prince's trust in her.
"I would love nothing more than to run a library," Belle told him, "This is like a dream come true! Thank you so much. I can't tell you how excited I am!"
Belle, in her excitement, reached over and took the prince's hands in hers. There was such a sweetness in the gesture, such open gratitude and affection. The prince was not accustomed to receiving such sentiment. His interactions with anyone were buried under the weight of hundreds of years of complex tradition, so that he was only used to the barely suppressed disdain from his royal family and obsequious deference from everyone else. But this was something else. There was a feeling of genuine warmth between them, a connection rooted in mutual caring. And besides this, she was looking very, very pretty. She was all innocence and excitement, and she squeezed his hands in her enthusiasm before realizing that perhaps she had crossed a boundary.
"Forgive me," Belle said, pulling her hands away, "I seem to have forgotten myself."
Adam reclaimed her hands with his and looked into her face, wordlessly striking down the social hierarchy that stretched between them. A lock of hair, ever rebellious, had loosened once more from her ponytail and rested on her brow. Tenderly, Adam reached up and tucked the stray strand behind her ear. His heart pounding, he waited for Belle to pull away. She didn't. She watched him, her cheeks a little flushed, her hazel eyes focused on his own blue ones. He hadn't realized he had been leaning in toward her until he found her face was perhaps six inches from his own. He hesitated, smiling softly at her, not sure of what was happening, moving uncertainly as though he were in a dream.
"Master! There you are! I've been looking everywhere!" a British accent called loudly, intruding clumsily into the prince and Belle's delicate communion like a misbehaved child playing with fine china. Belle blinked slowly as though she had been under a spell and pulled away.
"This had better be important," the prince snapped at his servant, glaring with considerable irritation at the man.
"Forgive me," Cogsworth said, looking from Belle to the prince with a perplexed expression, "But we must review the household budget, I've some concern that our outlays are—"
"I'll take my leave," Belle demurred, curtsying in the prince's direction.
"Wait," Adam said, ignoring his servant, "We still need to discuss—"
"We can talk," and here Belle emphasized the word talk, "Later. You have other matters to attend to."
With this, Belle hurried out of the library, the sound of her heels echoing down the marble corridor until the clicks faded and finally disappeared. Adam sighed deeply and turned toward Cogsworth, a man with the widely established reputation as the castle's biggest destroyer of romantic moments. Cogsworth, at last sensing his intrusion, cleared his throat and checked his pocket watch awkwardly. Adam rolled his eyes in irritation and reluctantly resigned himself to Cogsworth's company in lieu of his lovely houseguest's as the servant prattled on about debts and overspending.