Author's note: I do not own any part of Once Upon a Time

Chapter 4 Brought into the Light

Belle was prepared once Friday came round again. The previous Saturday had been a curt affair with a simple presentation of lesson plans that conveniently left out her cunning plan. He had not made the room any brighter, and simply held up the documents to the candle and came no closer, squinting his one good eye to take in the words. His sheer stubbornness baffled Belle, and perhaps surprised herself. What did she care that he came out of the shadows and stopped hiding like some demon fiend in the shadows? She found that she did care, however, and she could be just as stubborn. So when Friday came, she was ready.

She had taken great care with her dress that day, making sure that though she was still bathed in black, she looked the professional governess. She had made sure her pupil was in good command of the material and they listened eagerly for the thud and scrape that would tell them that his father had come to see what accomplishments he had obtained over the last week. Just as she suspected, he was even more determined to cast himself in darkness, and made no intentions of even coming inside the schoolroom.

'Please come in, Mr. Gold.' She smiled.

'Papa! You must come into the school room so I can tell you everything I've learned!' The bouncing six year old was her secret key to the entire scheme.

'I'd rather stay out here, you may go fetch the documents Miss French has compiled for me, Bae.'

'But we don't have papers, Papa.'

'What? What is the meaning of this, Miss French, did I not tell you…'

'Bae would like to give an oral demonstration of his improvements this week, sir. He has compiled a presentation, will you not sit down and allow him to show you what he's learned?'

Apparently the Monster of Dark Manor could growl.

'Please Papa?'

Belle bit the inside of her mouth to keep a smirk from forming. The little boy's soft brown eyes could melt even the coldest heart, and since his father had a soft spot for only his son, she knew she had won. A steady clack and drag followed the steps of her employer, and the sun's rays caught every roughened ridge of his skin, and she fully saw him for the first time. She had told him she had a strong constitution and she was determined to make no gasp nor shocked expression when she saw the extent of the damage to him.

She then found that there was no need for the inner determination to resilience. The scars littering one side of his body only made him appear more human than he had before. He had built such a darkened wall around himself that the places where she knew fire had once been made her feel only compassion and her heart softened at the sight. She said nothing and schooled her features to not betray her inward emotions. She smiled instead, and motioned Bae to come before his Papa so that he could give his recitations.

Bae stood at attention and rattled off the set of sums they had struggled through, the poem that Bae had particularly loved, and the set of spelling words they had given focus. At the end he beamed at his father in hopefulness and he was rewarded by his father's tight smile and nod and a quick, 'you did very well, son'. Bae, remembering that Mrs. Lucas promised him sweets at the end of his school week, asked to be excused and bounded away, leaving Belle alone with the gaze of Mr. Gold's eye. She could see so clearly now the sightlessness of the glassy one, surrounded by his tight burned skin, pink with scars. She only now shuffled a little where she stood.

'Alright, Miss French, you got your way and got to stare at the monster. Are you satisfied now?' His tone was angry and hurt.

She looked sharply towards him, angry herself at the insinuation.

'I have done no such thing, how-how could you think so low of me? It is obvious that you have survived something, that is all I can see from what I've observed. I wanted you to come inside to the light, because I wanted you to feel comfortable with me. I can tell how much Bae's education means to you, and I did not want your avoidance of me to cause you to avoid your son.'

Her tone softened somewhat towards the end, especially when her words seemed to confuse her employer. He said nothing, but swallowed hard. He stood slowly, grimacing as he clamored up, her assumptions of the pain of standing confirmed when she saw how much he struggled. He bowed his head to her his voice raspy as he spoke.

'Thank you, Miss French. I apologize for any offense. Good day to you.'

Belle trembled as he left, all the nerves she had built up in anticipation leaving her feeling lightheaded and shaky. She sat a minute in thought before she began to tidy her desk.

'G'dafternoon, Miss French, the little master give you much trouble today?'

Mary had appeared as she finished resetting the classroom.

'Oh no, Bae is never any trouble.' She smiled, while Mary snorted.

'The boy thinks you're a wonder, that's what. Always going on about Miss French this and Miss French that. I did wonder with you being such a sad, little thing when you came if you and little Master would get on, or if Mr. Gold might scare you away, but here I am to tell you that they both request your presence at dinner.'

'Me?' Belle gasped.

'It's a funny thing.' Marry shook her head, not noticing the shock on Belle's face. 'The master eats with his son-The household I worked for, before, the children were hardly noticed at all, let alone allowed to eat with the adults. Mr. Gold doesn't care much for the ways of others though-dotes on the boy, he does. His whole world.'

'So I've gathered.' Belle said, smiling. 'And what time does Mr. Gold dine, Mary?'

She gave her the hour and Belle was left in stunned silence. She wondered whose idea it was for her to dine with them. It broached no protocol, but after being only seen in literal darkness until today she was amazed by this. She readied herself for dinner and for the first time since her arrival, she made her way to the main dining hall.

The dinner was a silent affair. Bae continued to be all smiles and had greeted her with a 'Good Evening, Miss French,' confirming in her mind that it was most likely the smallest of the Golds who wanted her to be there. Mr. Gold had given her a solemn nod, and a servant had assisted in her seating. No conversation was had-Bae smiled, Mr. Gold ate, never glancing towards her, and though they were in light, seemed to hide himself behind the glasses, and lowered head. He only gave a look or two to his son from time to time. Belle did not want to overstep, so she kept to herself and wondered which was worse, a noisy yet lonely dining hall for the servants, or the stiff meal she had now that was only broken up by sweet dancing eyes. She soon found out which one was worse.

Dinner over, Belle went to retire and Mr. Gold stopped her once Bae had retreated to the nursery. He kept his head down, in an attempt to keep the attention away from his face.

'It was at Bae's request that you come tonight. I do not wish to impose this.' He paused, unsure how to continue, she though. 'On you. Should you find it too unsettling, please tell me, so I can let Bae know gently without sullying the very high image he has of you.'

Belle thought over it for only a moment. 'I am honored to be invited, sir. I will be honored for any future invitation, thank you.' She gave a shy smile and curtsied her leave.

'Surprised to see you down here with all us lowly folksl. Thought you would be dining with the family this morning.' James, the gardener, scoffed. 'I knew it when I first seen you. Knew you would deem yourself too high and mighty for the likes of us, though you aren't but a poor dead parson's daughter.' The words spat out in disdain.

Belle steadied her shaking breath not knowing exactly how to reply when Mr. Gold's own right hand man, the man who had always stood in the shadowy study as the one onlooker to their stilted conversations, the man who helped with his business arrangements, and the man who was now standing towering above Belle, kindness written behind his eyes.

'Take no stock in what the man says, Miss French.' was all Mr. Dove said, but his eyes said 'back off' to James, and when he turned his eyes then gave warmth and assurance to her, so she smiled and nodded a thanks to him and took her seat to the looks and icy stares of the staff. Mrs. Lucas scoffed at them all and muttered any number of complaints towards them, that the hall was as silent as the dinner before.

Slightly dejected, she pulled her chin up a little, to cover any sorrow she may have felt, and left the room to prepare her lessons. It was settled, the stilted diner with the masters of Dark Manor was much preferred to the pretentious diners of the servan's hall. Thankfully, the following morning, a certain foul mouthed gardener was absent, and remained so for some time afterwards.

Weeks followed and a routine emerged. Belle woke, dressed and sat through a breakfast of glares and smirks. She then taught her energetic pupil, who became dearer to her with each passing day, and as the days grew warmer, they would spend their afternoons outdoors. Dinner continued to be shared with her employer and his son. The silence became less stifling and more companionable, though there was still little dialog shared. On Fridays, Mr. Gold would listen to his son chatter on and demonstrate what they had learned, and on Saturday, she would present her lessons for the week ahead. Soon he told her he trusted her with the lessons, though he still requested the weekly Friday visits to assure the continuation of his son's progress, though she had a suspicion that he simply enjoyed hearing his son's prattle.

It was some time later when she was summoned not to the study, but to another room she had yet to enter. Mary led her to said room, curtsied and left her to enter alone. Belle walked into the largest collection of books she had ever seen. The room was done up in the same dark woods as the rest of the house, but the ceiling to floor bookcases, with spines spilling out from every corner, instantly warmed the place. Belle reached out a hand and traced the spines lovingly, sighing pleasantly at the feeling beneath her fingertips. She had always teased her father for wasting money on books for her, when she devoured them so quickly. Here there were enough books to pay a clergyman's salary for a lifetime and then some.

'Bae tells me you finished Gulliver's Travels, last week.' Mr. Gold's voice behind her caused her to jump and gasp. She held her hand to her fastly beating chest and breathed in and smiled. Mr. Gold stood strongly leaning on his cane, his hands planted over top one another, the good one on top of the bad one. His hair fell long around his face, unlike most men of fashion-but Mr. Gold was not one. He was one of wealth, enough so that he could laugh in the face of fashion and do things to please his own eccentric tastes. His hair, however, she knew he must keep long, and if positioned just right, it could somewhat hide the glassy sightlessness of half of his face and allow the smoother side to show through. Though he was becoming much more comfortable standing in the light in her presence, he was still the master of hiding his scars.

'We did.' She breathed.

'I thought you might find something suitable to replace it here.' He used his good hand to motion to the shelves.

'Thank you, sir, I am sure I shall. We would never tire for new volumes were I to school him to manhood!' She laughed. Mr. Gold seemed pleased with her answer, and rolled his shoulders back in what could be translated as pride.

'As you are well aware of the reason, you may imagine that I do not find myself among society very often. As such, this is my refuge from business affairs.'

'It's a beautiful refuge, Mr. Gold. I've never seen a more wonderful collection.'

She began searching for a book for her reading's with Bae when Mr. Gold nervously cleared his throat.

'If you are ever in need of a new volume for your own reading, you may borrow any you please.'

'Thank you so much, sir.' Belle couldn't help the warmth with which she spoke, and excitedly added, 'would you mind very much if I borrowed one now?'

His brown eye lit up and the soft side of his face twitched.

'Be my guest.'

Belle smiled widely and started her perusal. 'Dickens! This is wonderful, you must have his entire collection. I've only read Great Expectations when Mr. Jeffrey let me borrow his copy, and I loved it.'

She knew she was speaking too much. She was the governess, his staff, she should find a book and walk away, in fact, she wondered why he didn't excuse himself, but this was his sanctuary, his refuge, after all. There was no blunt or cold retort to her ramblings, in fact when she caught sight of him he seemed quite pleased.

'Great Expectations' is a good one, one of his best, in fact. If you enjoyed that one, you would probably like David Copperfield.'

His eye sparkled, but she could tell that his lean was heavy on his cane. She nodded quite appropriately and quietly. She chose the recommended title as well as Oliver Twist to read together with Bae and gave a 'Thank you again, Mr. Gold.' and curtsied a leave.

This time when she left the presence of Mr. Gold, there was a little bit of spring sun tickling the edges of the coldness of the previous encounters. It was as if a layer of ice had been melted away. She as yet did not understand the man, but walking back to her room to devour the new book, she couldn't help the smile that came involuntarily to her lips and it had much to do with the owner of Dark Manor.

Author's Note: When writing this story, I do try to anchor it in some sort of reality, so it won't seem so far fetched.

For instance:
It is true that most children ate separately from their parents, and often with their governess. However, there are instances in Victorian and Regency literature that suggest some deviance from these 'rules'. For instance, Helen from Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a doting mother who wants to do everything with her son, despite her husband's tendancy to override her wishes. There's also the closeness you see in the scenes from Emma with her own governess. It's clear that 'poor Miss Taylor' was treated as part of the family.
So, I saw Mr. Gold eating with Bae, and I saw Bae being so enamored with Miss French that he requested that they dine together.

Also, I am not doing this from Mr. Gold's point of view, as I want there to be mystery around the reasons why he is what/how he is. So, a little author's sneak peak into that side of Dark Manor-I totally saw Mr. Dove reporting the gardener's cruel words to Mr. Gold, and Gold not liking it one bit!

My apologies for such a long Author's note! Thank you for the comments and input so far, I hope you continue to enjoy the story! This was such a fun chapter to write.