Evening! Thank you, once again, for all your kind words and messages.

November 2nd, 1843

Lady Cullen

Matters of the heart were so hard to deal with sometimes and even though my sons were grown and had lives of their own, it comforted me to know that when in trouble or strife, they still came to me.

Jasper seemed to be holding his own the last few weeks when it came to Miss Alice and I could not wait until Friday when she would be visiting with her father and sister. Jasper and Alice seemed to have grown close and although she was younger, she was still a full two years older than Isabella.

It was hard though, to watch the happiness radiate off him while I thought about the contents of the letter that Edward had sent me just this morning.

He was worried and concerned that although he had sent a few letters to Isabella, she had yet to respond. He fretted in his correspondence with me that he might have divulged too much information or stepped into an area of personal space that had upset her. I could even tell by the tone of his words that he was restless to come home, and I would have to think long and hard before I replied to him.

I thought a visit to Isabella would also be needed before I could reply properly to either put him at ease or unfortunately break things to him gently. I hoped it was a simple matter as to why Isabella had not yet responded to him, but I could not tell until I saw her.

It had been a month since she came to stay for dinner and she was put into that embarrassing situation with Edward and although I had seen her on a couple of occasions in the village since then, I had not been back to the farm.

I knew that she had been busy planning with Timothy, our land agent, and plans were now coming along nicely to convert the Oast houses. Timothy had also hired some extra farmhands to double plough the fields and clear some land for a new hothouse. Isabella, from what Carlisle had explained, was on the verge of hysteria when he told her of the plans for the hothouse. He, of course, was paying for it, but it did not sit well with Isabella, and they fought long into that afternoon.

Carlisle won the argument, of course, and once he had got a smile from Isabella, he was happy to come home.

Now it would be my turn to visit her and see if there was anything I could do to help her and find out why she had not replied to Edward.

…

After a late breakfast with the children, I ordered the carriage to be readied and I was soon on my way to Isabella's.

It did not take me long to get there and I was thankful that no snow had fallen yet. The roads were always notorious when either wet or filled with snow and it made traveling especially difficult.

As soon as we pulled up to the house, I knew that something was amiss as soon as I saw the windows.

Where they should have been closed with drapes over them, they were open and bare.

"Marcus, please do not wait for me. Could you go back to the house and prepare Betsy for possible further instructions?" I said to the driver and disembarked the carriage, hurrying up the path to the front door. I did not even knock, but opened it and walked in.

I was shocked to see the state of the rooms as I walked through, room by room until I got to the kitchen. I could not even see the kitchen for all the pots and bowls, dirtied and caked with spoiled food.

"Isabella!" I called out, shocked that the small but once spotless house looked like this.
She did not answer and once I looked out of the back door and saw no one, I hurried upstairs in the hope of finding her there.

I found her in an exhausted heap on a small bed with a poorly looking Charles. It pained me to leave her there, but I needed to find someone and see what had become of Isabella, Charles, and the farmhouse.

I rushed back down the stairs and headed out of the back door in the hope of finding anyone who could explain to me what was happening here.

I finally found Master Emmett and another farmhand outside the Oast houses and as soon as they saw me, I could have sworn that Master Emmett sighed.

"I knew that you would come, Lady Cullen, even when Isabella insisted that I should not call for you," he said as he laid his tools down.

"What is the matter here, why are they in bed?" I rushed out as I came to stand in front of him.

"Charles has been ill this past week and Isabella has been tending to him and the farm, despite us telling her that we could handle it. I have even offered for Rosalie, my wife, to come and help, but Isabella refused. She stated that she could do both and you know how strong a character she is. We have been trying to help out where we can, but she has been shooing us away like we were chickens and geese," he tried to smile, but it did not reach his eyes.

"Master Emmett, please, if you will, take a horse back to my home and ask Betsy to come here with three maids of her choosing and to bring whatever will be needed to help with the cleaning. No doubt Isabella would turn away a doctor if I sent for one?" I asked and the smile told me all I needed to know.

Of course Isabella would say no.

"It would be my pleasure, my Lady," he replied and then gave me a bow.

"No bowing is warranted, Master Emmett, but could you also ask for my large carriage to be ready to take Isabella and Charles back home. Also, I think it a fine idea if your wife visits here and if Isabella and Charles are to stay with us until he recuperates, would you be able to do everything in Isabella's stead?" I asked and he nodded.

He was gone as soon as our last words were exchanged, and I made my way back into the house.

I sat at the table until Betsy arrived with the maids, and I gave them quick instructions on what to do while I awaited the larger carriage. I was miffed that they hadn't traveled in the same carriage, but I knew they would never have done it.

Once I heard the other carriage arrive, I went to the door to signal the footman but was shocked to find Carlisle alighting it.

"As soon as I heard Emmett's flustered voice and saw the maids scamper, I knew something was amiss, my love. What is wrong here?" He asked as he hurried up the garden path and I wanted to weep. He was always by my side in times of strife, and I knew today would be no different.

"Isabella has worked herself into exhaustion and young Charles is poorly. You should see the house, dearest, I have never seen it so and I am so worried about the pair of them. I knew the moment I walked in that something was terribly wrong. Isabella would never dream of leaving the kitchen in the state that it is in," I sobbed as I looked up to the window of the room they were in.

Carlisle called for the footmen and before I knew it, they had gone up the stairs and were back down, one of the was footmen holding Charles in a blanket and Isabella was in my husband's arms.

"Charles is burning, but Isabella is not so. I do not think she is ill, but we will not know until we are back at the house," he said somberly as we walked down the path to the carriage, neither of them stirring at all.

It did not take us long to get home and regardless of any protests from Isabella, I sent for the doctor. I needed to know how they were. Isabella was like a daughter to me, and I needed the doctor to calm my own nerves.

I knew that she had worked herself into this state and she needed to rest, but what if she became ill, too?

…

The doctor us exactly what we knew already. Young Charles has a nasty head cold and poor Isabella was exhausted. They both needed plenty of rest and in Isabella's case, little to no stress.

Once the doctor had gone, I made sure that Charles was settled in a bed next to the nursery, and then I turned my attention to Carlisle.

"Has she been exerting herself with these business plans, my dear? Is this all too much for her?" Had our plans for her future just been too much for her? I was beside myself with worry.

"I think the plans themselves are fine, but I think she does not know how to delegate, or if she does, the farmhands are not listening to her, excluding Emmett, of course. She has ended up doing everything, according to Emmett, and that worries me a great deal. It is not just now that is important. She has been running her body like this, I fear, since Charles Senior passed. She has taken too much onto her small shoulders. The running of the house with young Charles, the farm, of course, and now the new plans. She is stubborn, but even a grown man would buckle under all of this," my dear answered me and I found myself shaking my head.

Edward was going to have a fit when he found out about this.

"I am going to put Emmett in charge of things for the time being. He has agreed to have his wife keep the farmhouse going until Isabella is fit to return and with Emmett in charge, I feel as though the farmhands will get the work done. This is in no way to prove to Isabella that we see her as the weaker sex, dear. She needs to recuperate, and she will not do that if she frets over the farm," he continued and passed me a small cup of sweet tea.

"I just fear that she will hate us, me, for taking her from her home," I said, letting my worries out into the open.

"I think she will thank you, Esme. Maybe not at first, but once she is well-rested, she will,"

I left Carlisle after our quick talk and made my way back to Isabella's room. I thanked the maid who had been watching her and took up a chair by her bedside. She looked so peaceful, but you could also see that she had been a bit sickly. Her color, which was usually a healthy pink, was now on the verge of gray. Her hair looked limp, and she looked thinner.

No, she needed to get better.

I would not lose another daughter.

Some saw this coming. Will Edward come back from town? I'm sure you know he will. Not many cliffhangers in this story LOL. See you tomorrow and we hear from Isabella. xx