Good morning!
Let's begin...
Isabella Swan
Trying to explain how I felt to Master Edward about the house and eating was a little unnerving, but I had a feeling that once I was used to being around a man like himself, I would find that I would be able to talk about many things with him.
He placed my hand into the crook of his arm again as he led us over to his parents, my face reddening with every step we took.
What in heavens would they think of me, attaching myself to Master Edward like I was?
"Mother, I will be taking Isabella to find Charles and introduce her to the children, would you like to take a walk with us?" he asked rather formally and then it sank in.
He was asking for her to join us because I needed a chaperone.
"I think too many people in the nursery will make it awfully hot in there, so how about you and Isabella go, and I will find the cook to see how long dinner will take," she replied with a knowing smile and I felt all nervous and giddy again.
It was not a 'proper' thing to do, to be seen or unseen with a man without a chaperone.
I fought hard to keep my composure as Edward nodded to his mother and walked us out of the room.
"Relax, Isabella, you can trust me to be a complete and utter gentleman, I promise you," he said gently as we walked down the long corridor towards the unknown, for me at least.
It didn't take us long to walk the distance to get to the nursery and before he opened the door, he dropped my arm and turned to face me.
"I hope you do not mind, but I wanted you to meet the children with me before dinner. I thought it would also make things a little easier if Charles had met them first. They are not used to strange people and Charlotte in particular can be somewhat clingy when around new faces. Please, if she acts shy or does not talk to you, do not judge her for it," he said hesitantly and all I could do was smile at his own nervousness.
"I see many children in the village school who act in the way you have described Charlotte, I am sure all will be well," I said with my own smile as I turned towards the door.
Not to keep me waiting, he opened it quickly and guided me into the room where his children and my brother were playing.
Charles and a young boy were playing messily with some cards by the window and although they looked sweet, my attention was held by a small girl, no older than five or six, sitting in the window seat, brushing a doll's hair with reverence.
"Henry, as you can see, is a somewhat boisterous young fellow and Charlotte is the dainty little girl in the window," he whispered a little sadly as his hand fell onto the base of my back.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the intimate nature of his touch, I took a step forward, away from him, and coughed lightly to gain Charles's attention.
"Bells! Come and play a game with us, Henry is so very clever at it and has won all the games so far," Charles tried to pout, but his smile won over it.
"It looks very interesting, but how about we let his father introduce me to all who are in the room," I said, making a point that Charles needed to rein in his enthusiasm just a little.
"Sorry," he looked down to the floor, making me smile a little wider.
"There is nothing to be sorry for, you are young, and all things are new at your age," I replied as I turned to Master Edward.
"Charles, I would like to introduce you to your sister, Miss Isabella Marie Swan," he joked, making Charles laugh. "Okay, okay, I will do this properly. Henry, Charlotte, this is Miss Isabella Swan, and she is Charles's sister, how about you come and say hello," he said after Charles had finished laughing at him.
Both Charlotte and Henry made their way over to their father's arms and true to what he had said, Charlotte was indeed wary of me.
After Henry had a few problems with my name, I gave them both leave to call me Miss Bella and Henry was happy with that.
"Good evening, Miss Bella," Charlotte said softly, and she gave a little curtsey. She had the voice of an angel and long ringlets to match. She was beyond beautiful.
"Good evening to you, too, Miss Charlotte," I smiled at her and gave her a small curtsy before she ran back to her window seat and picked up her doll again.
"I never had one of those," I whispered to myself as I found myself wanting to brush the doll's ringlets like little Charlotte was.
"Never had what, Isabella?" Master Edward asked from behind me, startling me.
"Never mind. When should we go to dinner, is a bell rung?" I asked, hoping that he had not hear my thoughts about the doll.
I was no longer a child and holding onto small thoughts about my past would not help me.
…
We left the nursery a few moments later while Charles held my hand and Charlotte held onto Master Edward, young Henry was being held by a maid.
"Remember what I said, Isabella, it's just fanciness," he smiled as we walked into the dining room and I felt my stomach lurch.
"Maybe it would do you well to sit on those hands," I whispered to Charles as I took in the table displays, flowers, and the abundance of cutlery and crockery.
"I will do my best, but I may look like a dog at his bowl while I eat," he giggled.
Smart aleck.
Lord and Lady Cullen were already seated, and I felt horrid we had made them wait, but they waved off my apologies as they stood up to greet us.
Once we were all sat down, with Master Edward sitting opposite me, we fell into small conversations while waiting for the food to be served.
The soup was served first and before I was hit with embarrassment with the cutlery, Lady Cullen tutted to Master Edward, making Lord Cullen laugh.
"Dear Edward, I wonder if you ever put your education to good use," she smirked at him and then looked at me. "He will never get it and I do not know why, all he has to do is work from the outside in when it comes to cutlery, but he makes such a deal of it at every sitting," she winked at me and I was left wanting to smile.
She had made a small mockery of her son to hint me on which item to use first.
If Master Edward was not smiling, I would have felt bad that she had made fun of him, but he was, so I relaxed somewhat.
The onion and nettle soup was very nice, but I was glad that there wasn't much of it because it was very rich. Halfway through, I helped Charles break his bread roll in half, after watching Lord Cullen to make sure I would do it properly.
The soup was over with quickly, followed by a small lull before the maids brought out a fish platter and proceeded to serve us all. I could not tell what type of fish it was, but it tasted divine, and I wished that there was a little more, not that I would ever have dreamed of admitting that out loud.
Lord Cullen and I made small talk about the farm and his plans as the roast beef and vegetables were served and by that point, I could tell Charles would not have been able to fit in much more.
"So do you have any ideas what you would like to grow, Isabella?" Master Edward asked once our plates were whisked away, and I thought for a moment before replying.
"I would like to grow gooseberries and maybe some red currants, but I know it would be good to grow the standard strawberries and blackberries," I answered, confident in my answer.
"Might I make a suggestion?" he asked, and I nodded happily.
"I travel to town on a regular occasion and many times I have seen garden markets that house daffodils and other such flowers. It might be beneficial for you to turn over an acre or two for that purpose, maybe spreading out the blooms into other months to take up the slack of the fruit," he suggested, and Lord Cullen agreed.
"I like the idea, but I am not familiar with flowers, and an acre or two seems a very large area to use upon frivolity instead of using it for food or grazing land," I replied, unsure as to whether I would offend them or not.
Stewed apples and cream followed the dinner, and I was almost begging that would be it, I was so full. Although the children's plates were considerably smaller than the adults', poor Charles looked green as the bowl was placed before him.
"Eat what you can, but do not make yourself sick," I whispered in his small ear before turning my attention back towards the adults.
"Well, if Mother goes to town before Christmas, maybe you could go with her and see the markets for yourself, to see what is being sold this season. No doubt it will be greenery and such with the season offering only evergreens, but it may help you," Master Edward encouraged gently, and I felt my stomach lurch.
How could I turn down an offer of an invitation to town without offending him?
If you followed me on the repost of Amazed, you'll know that my brother has been incredibly ill (2 strokes and 4 brain bleeds).
Well, they found a new clot/bleed by the stent they put in last time. He goes into the hospital today to start his treatment. Today will be a long process of anticoagulant infusions and then tomorrow he has to have brain surgery. They don't know if they can go up through his leg like last time or if they have to do open brain surgery. His recovery stats are not too good at the moment. They've been throwing around percentages left right and center about the loss of speech, walking, and limb movent.
Any and all wishes, prayers, and positive thinking will mean the world to me because at the moment, I'm an utter mess.
See you later xxx