Chapter Ten

"Absolutely not!"

From the windowsill, birds scattered in all directions at the booming sounds of Cogsworth's shouting. He did not even turn to face Lumière as the latter followed him throughout the castle.

"One night, mon ami, just one! I don't have to meet with her until half past nine, and the master goes to his chambers at least an hour before that. I just need time to get everything planned and ready! Faint work never won fair lady, to rephrase the saying."

Cogsworth spun on his heel so suddenly that Lumière barely missed tripping over him. "You love struck twit! The entire point of you talking to her yesterday was to take her mind out of that horrible state you forced her into, not to arrange a romantic rendezvous!"

"Your wish may still have yet to come true."

Cogsworth scoffed, "Rubbish, you will do everything in your power to see that she falls madly in love with you."

"Cogsworth please!" Lumière begged, staying close behind him as he started walking once again. "One night off for us both to see exactly how she feels; I have no intention of forcing her into anything."

"As if I have not heard it all before; the answer is no!"

Lumière's mind was racing. "Extra work for a month?"

"No."

"Yours and the master's eternal beckoning call?"

"No!"

Lumière stood in front of him blocking his escape. "You leave me no choice then. I give my word that no matter how Babette feels, I swear off all other women forever, either in loyalty or of a broken heart."

Cogsworth gawked in disbelief. "Dear Lord, man, you are seriously obsessed over this..."

"No, just madly in love." Lumière put one hand over his heart and raised the other. "I mean everything I said; no woman but her."

Cogsworth stuttered in shock for a moment as he threw in a desperate expression to follow his plea, but it was no use. He swallowed the lump in his throat building up the effort to reply. "You are the biggest fool on the face of the earth, Lumière. Why in the world would you be telling me this...when...you will need all your courage to tell her tonight?"

Lumière laughed heartily as he swept the poor man into the air. "Cogsworth, you soft hearted saint, I knew you wouldn't let me down!"

"Let you down?! Rethink that statement and let me down, you ninny!"

"You won't regret this, I swear!" Lumière shouted shortly after releasing him, running to get everything ready.

Cogsworth groaned. "Can't live with him, and just can't kill him."

"I can't do this...can't and won't," Babette muttered silently, bracing herself against a wall, pausing to wince as Madame laced her tiny figure into a corset. "Would he believe I am too sickly to go through with this?"

Madame laughed. "The finest actress could not teach you how to do that--take a breath, dearie--he would see right through the lie."

When the lace was tied, Babette looked miserably at the glass as she ferociously brushed her hair. "You make the idea sound like a bad thing."

Madame took the brush, giving her a comforting glance through the mirror as she took over. "You are going to straighten every curl if you keep at it so roughly."

"I think he likes my hair curled; do you think it would stop his interest if I did straighten it?"

"Straight or curled, it is too late to avoid his attentions; now relax, everything will be fine," Madame insisted while she gathered every lock, pinning them to one side. When Babette pouted at her reflection, she asked, "You don't like it? I could just pull it back."

She shook her head. "No, don't...it's perfect."

"Then why the face?"

Babette rose to get her mother's dress, the single one she had not attacked with the scissors blade. "That is just the problem," she explained, buttoning it up. "It's perfect! Everything is going to be perfect! That's what I'm afraid of. Why can no one understand that?"

Madame listened as she brought over her shoes and cloak. "Babette, listen to me. There is no reason to be afraid of accepting love that anyone has to offer. Love will hurt you sometimes, but it is only natural! Nothing about life is perfect. Certainly if life and love were just peachy, the world would be wonderful! Hurt, pain, no one wants them, but there is one good reason they exist. They make love stronger." She smiled. "Don't turn him away; you know you love him. You'll only regret not taking the chance."

Babette looked at her with admiration; she had never thought of it in such a way as that. Taking a deep breath, she hugged Madame quickly, whispering a thank you, before walking down to the great hall, at last feeling at ease.

Pacing the dark hall quietly, frustrated as the bell tolled a quarter to ten, Babette started to give up hope. The moon shone through the window, and she looked out at the sudden snowfall that signaled an earlier than expected winter. A fool for actually believing, she thought as she turned to tread back to her room, which was fortunately the right choice as she had walked right into Lumière.

"I apologize for being so late," he offered sheepishly. "Many last minute changes to details, courtesy of the snow."

Babette sighed impatiently, but when she looked at him to reply, she met his glance in the flame light of the lantern he carried. She wouldn't have recognized him at all. He was dressed more casually, his hair freed of the powder that status demanded, and she noticed that in actuality its true color was a rich light brown. The girl thought she would never breathe again.

"Are you all right?"

"What?" The words brought her back to her senses. "Oh, yes...startled me, that's all...took me by surprise."

He grinned and could have mopped her off the floor right then to stop her from melting. "I suppose fresh air will do us both good. Your beauty alone has done the same to me." Taking her hand, slipping a kiss to it gently, he led her to the doors. "Shall we begin then?"

Babette could not have dreamed a more extraordinary night. In spite of the cold, they laughed, wined and dined, and walked into the moonlight, never letting go of each other's hand amidst the lustrous snow. The moment she showed the slightest sign of shivering, Lumière drew into his arms. "The last thing I need," he explained, kissing her cheek lightly, "Is for you to hate me forever simply because you caught a cold on the first date."

She giggled under her breath, drawing his arms instead of her cloak tightly around her. "The master himself does not own a better coat than this; I would have to forgive you, out of gratitude at least."

He reached to cup her face in his hands. "Are you all right, mon amour? You look positively flushed from the cold; tell me what to do to make you feel better."

"Only this, perhaps..." she answered, sealing the short reply with a tender kiss, breathing everything in deeply to keep it in her memory.

"That..." Lumière responded, coherent thoughts properly vanished from his thoughts, "That could definitely help." Holding her close beside him, they continued their walk, until he felt her steps growing slower. "My coy little mouse, your feet grow weary and you have not told me?"

"Perhaps, I barely had a care to notice..."

He stopped walking and smiled down at her. "Then...how about...a ride instead of a walk?"

Babette looked at him puzzled. "A ride?"

Lumière grinned mischievously, lifting her into his arms as she screeched in surprise, and he brought her to the stables where a readied sleigh awaited them. "Yes, a ride. hence the reason for my being late."

Placing her inside and climbing next to her, Lumière smiled as he drew the blanket around them, and snapped the reins starting the anxious horse into a walk. Babette blissfully grinned, cuddling beneath his arm that draped around her shoulders. Leaning up to his ear, she whispered fondly, "You win."

"Hmm?"

"You win, won me over."

Lumière beamed. "You had doubts that I would do so? I knew all along that I would."

Babette nuzzled into his shoulder comfortably. "Your conceit will be your downfall."

"Never conceit, amourette; more like self assurance."

"Same thing."

He laughed gently before they both slipped into silence once more, feeling their dreams of each other at last coming true.