~.~

Chapter Fifteen

~.~

Carlisle wouldn't hear of Esme doing any work after breakfast, because of the terrible shock she had endured the night before, and practically commanded her to remain idle. Esme protested a little, but settled down on the long bench, propped up by cushions, wrapped in blankets which Carlisle took time to carefully tuck in around her legs. The men were leaving to search the remains of the house to see if anything could be salvaged, but Carlisle lingered by the door as though he were worried to let Esme out of his sight.

Bella promised him Esme would be all right and nudged him out the door behind Edward. Though she tried not to show it, she was impatient for them to leave so she could talk to Esme in private. The words had burned on her tongue during breakfast, and her hands had tightened into nervous fists below the table whenever the fire was mentioned. But Esme hadn't said a word about Bella's rescue.

Alice hummed as she loaded the basket on her arm. She had intended to have one of her prayer meetings at the house tonight, but she had gotten so many messages that her usual guests had taken cold that she had cancelled it and was headed out to visit them in their homes instead.

"Every year," Esme sighed. "The miasmas must be terrible here. Every winter, the colony is afflicted by sickness. Alice, perhaps you shouldn't go and expose yourself."

Alice pecked a kiss on Esme's cheek and one on Bella's as she tied her cloak closed. "God will protect me as I do His work."

Bella stifled a groan. Perhaps tonight she would have a chance to talk with Alice as they sewed by the fire. An image of her friend Anne Askew flitted through her mind. Anne, too, had expected God to protect her and that faith had made her reckless.

Alice headed for the door. "The babies are napping. I should be back before they wake."

"At least make sure you bring a pomander," Esme called after her.

Alice held up a small bag she pulled out of her pocket. "Filled with cloves!"

"Keep it close to your nose the entire time you're inside," Esme ordered.

As the door closed behind Alice, Bella settled down beside Esme with a basket of mending. "How are you feeling?"

"Quite well," Esme replied, plucking a stocking from the basket. She selected a silver needle from the embroidered silk hussif Bella had laid on the bench beside her. "Bella, I need to ask you ..."

"I know. Your curiosity is only natural." Bella carefully pulled the stitches from the hem of one of Emmett's dresses to let it down. "I hope you're not angry with me that I asked you to say something that ... wasn't strictly true."

"Well, I did push through the roof," Esme said. "I but omitted the fact that you were the one doing the pushing below me. But I must know: why did you ask me not to mention that you were the one who rescued me? What you were able to do ... 'Twas like a miracle."

Bella stuck the needle into the cloth. "Because I didn't want people to think I had any ... special abilities."

Esme paused in the middle of a stitch, her needle suspended in the air. "Do you?"

"I have only what God has given me," Bella said. She spoke truthfully, though she believed her existence was due to other deities than the one Esme worshiped.

"I think I understand," Esme said, her words slow and measured. "But Bella, I know that even if you do have ... special blessings ... you use them only to help, not harm. There is only good in you."

"Others might not see it the same way." She took a deep breath. "Do you know much of my family? The Cullens?"

Esme pursed her lips as she thought. "They are relations of Queen Elizabeth, are they not?"

"Aye, and Queen Mary before her. My family witnessed terrible things that happened to those who were different." Bella's throat tightened as she fought back the memory of the screams. "Some of those ... stories are so terrible ... Esme, Do you understand?"

Esme nodded.

"The Duchess was served by Anne Askew -"

"The martyr!" Esme's eyes lit up. "She actually knew her? One of your relatives? What did she say about her? What was she like?"

Bella smiled and folded over a smaller hem on Emmett's dress. "She was kind, but stubborn to a fault. And very ... focused."

"Well, we should all be focused on our faith. It should guide all we do."

Bella suppressed a sigh. "That may be, but sometimes, we can let it lead us into difficulties which aren't necessary. I don't believe God wishes us to throw away -" She stopped because she had jabbed the needle into her finger. A bright spot of blood welled on the tip and she stared at it for a long moment before drawing out her handkerchief to blot it away. "Life is one of the greatest gifts God gives us. We should safeguard it if at all possible. Sometimes, we have to sacrifice it to save others, but we shouldn't lay it down unless we have no other choice."

Esme stared at her, the stocking in her hand forgotten. "You have been wounded." She didn't mean Bella's finger.

"What I'm trying to say, Esme, is that I've learned there must be great caution when it comes to ... matters of faith and the gifts of God."

Esme nodded again. "Of course. But Bella, we're not like that here."

Perhaps not yet, Bella thought.

~.~


The black pit of tangled, charred timbers still sent up sullen streams of smoke in the icy morning air. Though the bucket brigade had done all they could, the house had burned until there was nothing left but charred rubble. A few items had been plucked from the mess. Esme's iron kettle, and some barrel hoops that could be given to the blacksmith to be recast, but that was all they had recovered so far.

Edward picked his way through the rubble. He tried to balance himself on a charred beam and it broke beneath his weight. He fell into the ashes with a stifled curse. The black muck coated his hands and clung to his stockings and breeches. Attempting to wipe it away only smeared it over the fabric. He gave up with a small sigh that puffed out in a white cloud in the icy air.

Carlisle didn't seem to have noticed Edward's fall. He picked up a branch to poke into the ash. His face was tight and his movements brisk. "I suppose it's useless to speculate as to a cause. I had banked the fire well. I know I did. There shouldn't have been any sparks or embers that could roll out of the hearth."

"There could have been a spark in the chimney that smoldered," Edward pointed out. Their chimneys were wattle-and-daub, mud plaster laid over a wood frame. If the plaster lining it fell away inside, a spark could land on the frame and set it alight.

"Aye, perhaps," Carlisle said, but he sounded unconvinced. He looked down at the stick in his hand and hurled it into the ashes. "Nothing ..." he said and stopped. But he didn't need to say more. Edward understood. Everything Carlisle owned in the world was gone, and it would be the work of decades to replace everything and rebuild. Carlisle hung his head for a moment and Edward saw his shoulders tremble.

"Father, you know that I can -"

Carlisle turned to him with a gentle smile. "I know. But let us not speak of it now. It is not easy to come to my son, hat in hand, to ask for help. A father's pride is being able to assist his children in achieving a better life. And now -"

He cut off his words because they heard footsteps crunching in the snow behind them. They turned to see Jasper coming up the path. Carlisle greeted him with an embrace, as though Jasper were part of the family already, and it further cemented in Edward's mind a decision he had already reached.

"Jasper, what brings you here?"

Jasper licked his lips. He took off his hat and put it back on, then removed it again, clutching at the brim. Edward gave his shoulder a pat as though to help him force out the words.

"Carlisle, as you know -" Jasper paused, because his voice had come out far too loud. He took a deep breath and started again. "I began building a house on the other side of the marsh in the late summer in preparation for ... well ... " Jasper's cheekbones flushed and he twisted his hat in his hands. "I have been saving, hoping to buy the land on which it sits from the company. As it adjoins your property, I thought ... Well, no matter now. The crux of the matter is I now have a house. It's not fully finished. Not fitted out inside, but that's a small matter. I would be pleased to offer it to you and Esme."

Carlisle's eyes were sharp. "I assume, in consideration for my daughter's hand."

Jasper blinked. "No! I mean, that's not why -" He shuffled his feet. "Carlisle, I would be honored to wed your daughter if she would have me, but I don't think that's something she wants right now. In any case, it's not a consideration in my offer. You need a house. I have one. As an unmarried man, I can easily lodge with a family that needs my labor."

Carlisle blinked. "I have - I have no way of compensating you for your generosity."

Jasper gave a small shrug. "You can do the finish work on the interior. That is payment enough. In the spring, I will help you in building a new house of your own. We can work out the details of compensation for that at another time."

Edward silently blessed Jasper, who offered a solution that would also spare Carlisle's pride. He wouldn't need to feel like he was a burden on anyone, and he could feel he was working off his rent. He looked like he was searching for words, but couldn't find them. Instead, he gave Jasper a hard hug, patting his back over and over as they embraced.

Edward heard the crunch of snow again and turned to see James Hunter emerging from the back of the ruins, a cloth bag in his hand. He waved, but didn't come over to greet Carlisle. Instead, he headed for back for town. There was something about his grin that felt like a stab of ice.

~.~


It was quiet. The only sounds were from the crackle of the fire and the soft shuffle of crumbling embers. Bella glanced up from her stitching and saw that Esme had drifted off in a nap. The stocking she'd been darning dangled from her limp hand. Bella took the needle from her and stuck it back through the little patch of wool sewn inside the hussif so it wouldn't be lost. Needles were hard to come by here, and had to be imported from England.

She settled back into her seat and resumed sewing. The conversation with Esme had gone better than she hoped. Esme wouldn't say anything, but Bella suspected Esme had questions she didn't want to yet voice. She saw it in her eyes. One day, Bella would have to tell her the truth, but she thought Esme could accept it. It would come in time, as it must.

She heard Rose wake with a soft cry upstairs and laid her sewing aside. She climbed the steps to Alice's room and reached down into Rose's cradle. Tears sparkled on Rose's lashes and she laid a hand on Bella's cheek to show her the nightmare that had awakened her.

Fire.

Bella drew the little girl in for a hug, stroking a soothing hand over Rose's tumbled hair.

It can't hurt you now, she told her. It's gone. Another time, far away.

Bella could only hope these terrible memories would remain on the edge of Rosalie's mind, emerging only as half-remembered reams, never to taint the life she had now. This Rose would be happy, she vowed. This Rose would be the person she could have been if her life had not been one of hardship and fear.

Bella jumped when someone rapped at the door. She laid Rose back down into the cradle and put her finger to her lips so the little girl wouldn't awaken Emmett. Rose would fall back asleep in a few moments, she guessed. She tiptoed down the stairs and saw Esme still asleep as well. Bella made her way to the door with swift steps to try to answer before they knocked again. It had to be Alice, she thought. Maybe she had her hands full and couldn't work the latch. Bella wasn't expecting anyone else.

She opened the door and found James standing on the step, his fist raised in the air to hammer on the door again. He lowered it, and his teeth gleamed in the sunlight as he gave her a smile. But it wasn't a friendly, engaging smile. It was an expression meant to intimidate, a predatory leer.

"Good day to you m'lady," he said, and swept into a mocking bow.

"James Hunter," Bella said, her tone as flat as mud. She didn't give him a courtesy title in her greeting, which was impolite of her, but she felt no respect for this man. She stepped outside closed the door behind her, refusing to even entertain the idea of letting this man cross her threshold. She hid her hands in the folds of her skirt so he wouldn't see how they clenched into fists.

"How does the day find you?" James let his gaze drift down over her body, glancing up to see how she would react to his appraisal.

Bella wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of allowing her disgust to show. "My husband is not at home. If you would call again later -"

"It was not your husband to whom I am paying this call." James grinned again and her stomach churned. " 'Twas you, Mistress Masen."

"As you are aware, it is improper for a man to call on a married woman. I fear I shall have to bid you good day." Bella turned to go back inside and he grabbed her arm.

Her jaw fell open in shock that he would dare lay a hand on her.

"Come with me," he ordered and tugged her around to the side of the house. "I have something to show you."

His grin was genuine this time, making his eyes sparkle with malicious glee. Her instinct was to knock him on his back in the snow for daring to touch her, but she wanted to find out what it was that had delighted him so. It couldn't be good.

James opened a cloth bag and from it he pulled her slipper, the one she had lost last night. It was caked with mud, but there was no questioning it was hers.

He traced the embroidery on the toe. "You nobles and your habit of putting your family crest on everything. Finding this was interesting."

Bella lifted her gaze from the shoe and met his eyes squarely. Selkies naturally disliked lying, so she posed it in the form of a hypothetical. "Perhaps the shoes were stolen from me."

He wasn't buying it. "Did you report the theft?"

"Those are summer slippers. I might-

not have noticed they were missing until I went to look for them next spring." Bella affected a shrug. "And even if I did notice them gone, I wouldn't go to the trouble of reporting them missing." Even as she said it, she knew he wouldn't believe it. Those slippers were worth several shillings and their theft would be a serious crime. Even the most wealthy, indolent ladies would report something like that.

"And now you see the folly of not keeping closer watch over your possessions, I'm sure."

Bella waved a hand. "I cannot say that I do. What of it if my shoe was discarded in the swamp by the thief?"

James gave a small laugh. He reached out to trace a finger over her jawline and Bella slapped his hand away. "You women. Such small, slow minds. Do you not think it suspicious that Master Masen's house burned shortly after your shoes were ... stolen?"

"I cannot fathom a connection betwixt the two, and there is certainly no way of knowing when the shoe was lost there."

"Perhaps it has something to do with your filthy savage friends?" James's grin reminded her of a shark approaching wounded prey. "Perhaps they've been sniffing around here again, and you gave that savage lover of yours a gift, hmm? Or maybe he stole your shoes after you ... took them off during his visit?"

"You are vile," Bella said. "How dare you accuse me -"

"I think that you did. I also think your savage friend was the one who set fire to Carlisle Masen's house and left his bare footprints in the snow."

The bottom dropped out of Bella's stomach and a cold chill slithered down her spine. It took a great deal of effort not to react, because he was watching her so closely, but she managed to keep her face still and impassive under his scrutiny. She reminded herself she had faced far more dangerous judges than James and managed to survive it.

He didn't realize the footprints were hers. That was the most important thing. She almost wanted to laugh at his ridiculous belief that the Wôpanâak walked around barefoot in the snow. But he did believe it, because he didn't account them as human with the same sensitivity to cold as other people.

James tilted his head. "In his haste to get away he dropped something you had given him, or he had stolen from you. It matters not which - it proves he is in contact with you, which is all that matters."

Bella shook her head. "Why on earth would they burn Carlisle's house if - as you say - Jacob was having a relationship with me? That makes little sense."

"Because they're evil!" James spat, and his eyes narrowed to ugly glints. "You are just too blind to see it. All of you pacifists, wanting peace with those filthy demons. We should have hunted them down and destroyed them. And you, the most disgusting thing of all, allowing that creature to touch you -"

It was time to put an end to this farce. "You will leave, and take your nasty insinuations with you."

"I think not." He put his hands on the wall beside her head, clearly enjoying the sense of power he felt over her. "What would your husband think, I wonder? If he knew his wife's habit of losing her clothing when there's a savage man in the area? Perhaps I should tell him during Meeting on Sunday. Your neighbors could find it interesting as well. Or ..."

He let the last word slide from his lips and dangle in the chill air.

Bella just stared at him, daring him to complete the sentence.

He stepped so close to her that their clothes brushed as they breathed. "Or, you could tell your husband that Alice is to accept my suit for her hand. People say he listens to you. Well, you'd better hope that he does."

"Alice?" Bella repeated.

"Yes, Alice. Because of her father's ... situation, I won't ask for much of a dowry. Say, ten pounds? With his new trouble, and the stir she's been making with those prayer meetings of hers, he should be grateful to get her off his hands and safely wed. And the elders will be pleased when her husband stops her from creating these distractions." He leaned in and the smile left his face. "Alice will be my wife before spring, Bella. I will have her. It won't bother me to destroy your reputation to get her. I won't stop until she's mine. Do you understand?"

Bella laughed.

From the shock on James's face, laughter was the last reaction he had expected. He had expected her to tremble, to cower, while he reveled in his power over her. He looked lost and confused for a moment.

Bella ducked beneath his arm and marched past him, intending to go inside and shut the door in his smug face. James grabbed her arm again and without thinking, Bella lashed out, striking his chest with the heel of her palm. She didn't hit him with all of her force, else she would have crushed his rib cage, but it was still hard enough to knock him off his feet. He slammed against the side of the house, clutching his sternum as his legs lost their strength. Gaping at her, he slumped to the ground in the snow.

Bella laughed again as she thought of the smug glee on his face moments ago compared to this expression of wounded bewilderment. "You think you can destroy me? I warn you, greater men than you have tried. And if you ever lay a hand on me again, I'll see you hang for it."

James gaped at her, still clutching his chest as he struggled to get his breath back. Bella turned and left him there, sitting in the snow, but she could feel his eyes boring into her back as she strode away.

~.~


One of the traits Edward had retained in this incarnation was his fastidiousness. The black muck that clung to his skin and the smell of smoke that lingered in his hair offended his sensitive nostrils, and so he did something generally considered risky: taking a tub bath in the winter time.

Esme tried to talk Edward out of the bath, with dire predictions he would catch cold like the people Alice had just returned from visiting, but Edward could be stubborn. Washing his hands and face hadn't removed the smell of smoke, and he wanted a bath.

While Bella dragged her washtub in front of the fire, Edward went out to fill the pails with water from the well. She stoked the fire so the water would heat more quickly, shoving the wood in place with her long iron poker. The flames leapt up to catch the new wood and she shuddered at the serpentine waves of orange, hissing and popping.

"Bella?" Edward put the buckets down beside her. "There were a man's boot prints by the door, and this lying in the snow." He held up her muddy slipper. James must have cast it aside when she had laughed at him and robbed it of its power.

Bella carried the buckets inside and dumped the water into her largest pot and hung it on a hook over the fire to warm as she told him the story. Edward was furious when she told him that James had grabbed her, but he grinned when she told him how she had knocked him onto his backside in the snow.

"Good for you." He patted her arm and then lifted it to look at it in concern, as if he would be able to see bruising through the layers of cloth she wore. "He didn't harm you?"

Bella snorted. "Hardly."

"He still should not have dared to lay a hand on you."

"I think he may have learned the folly of that."

"Though I doubt he will attempt it now, his clumsy attempt to blackmail you is alarming."

Bella sighed. "I know. He's becoming reckless, and I'm afraid of what he might do now he's been thwarted again."

"Worry not about the footprints at the house. I saw them after James left and stomped over them when Carlisle wasn't looking."

"Thank you, but that is not my main concern at the moment. Alice must marry, for her own safety. I can protect her when I am by her side, but I fear what James may do to her if he catches her alone. You know that I would prefer for her to be allowed to make up her own mind on the matter. In ordinary circumstances I would support her decision to remain unwed all her life if that is what she preferred, but Edward, these are not ordinary circumstances. She must marry, and Jasper is the obvious choice for her."

"I should speak to Father -"

Bella shook her head. "You are the patriarch of the family now, Edward. You are the one Bradford has marked for an Elder. Everyone knows of Carlisle's situation. Next fall, he won't be able to make payment on his debt to the colony without our help, and everyone knows it. You're the one who will pay Alice's dowry. You are the one who must make the decision. Frame it to Carlisle however you like to save his pride, but you are the one to whom everyone will turn now."

Edward took the steaming pot from over the fire and poured it into the tub. "Every son faces this moment when he must take the lead because of his father's age or infirmity, but I'm not ready for it. I've always looked to my father as the authority, and now I must assume the mantle and take care of him? It feels like I am a usurper."

"You do only as you must. I think Carlisle will see that." Bella put her arms around her husband and laid her head against his chest for a moment, listening to the strong steady thump of his heart. "Alice is not the only one to have an awakening recently."

"I know, but -"

"Talk to him this evening, Edward. I'll keep Alice and Esme out of the way so you two can have some time together."

Edward gave her his sweet, crooked smile. "I don't know what I would do without you, my love."

Bella helped Edward undress, folding his clothes aside to be laundered, then went outside to get more water while he climbed into the small tub. There were only a few inches of warm water in the tub and it made for a pitifully shallow pool. In their old life at the Dower House, she and Edward had installed a large bathing tub several feet deep that could have comfortably seated half a dozen people, but it was just for the two of them. They had spent many winter evenings in its steamy confines, giggling as they splashed in the scented water.

But bathing in Plimouth Colony was difficult. The tubs they used were the same ones used for laundry, low, with wooden sides held in place by iron hoops around the outside. It was no more than a couple of feet in diameter. Edward hunched at in the bottom of it, his legs crossed and his knees crammed up against the sides of the tub. He looked very uncomfortable as he began to scrub himself quickly before the water cooled.

He had his face crunched in deep thought as she poured more water in with him. "I really doubt James try to say anything to the rest of the colony. He has to know how flimsy his so-called evidence is. He may have thought he could intimidate you with it, but if he presented it to the Governor, he'd probably be chided for even thinking such a ridiculous thing. There hasn't been any sign of the sav- I mean the Wôpanâak - since they said they were leaving. He'll look like a fool to the others when all he has is a shoe he found in the swamp."

She added a few more pieces of wood. Despite the cheerful blaze, the room was cold enough that their breath was visible.

"Making an accusation against a lady of quality is a serious business. He could be punished for trying to tarnish your reputation if there was nothing to support his allegations."

" 'Tis not me I worry about. It's Alice. She would be miserable as James's wife. She belongs with Jasper. Their souls ... Well, they are not bound the way we are, but there is some magic at work. Magic I don't understand, but I know they were meant to be together, just as they were before." She glanced at him because it always worried her how he would react when she mentioned previous lifetimes.

But he didn't seem troubled by it. He scooped some soap from the little jar and rubbed it into his rusty hair. "How did they fare... before?"

"They lived long and happy lives together. Jasper was the cleric of the local church, though he always retained some Catholic elements to his worship." Bella smiled at the memory. "Bess was angered by it once when she came to visit. Jasper elevated the host in her presence during a service. Bess interrupted the service and snapped at him to stop it. The whole congregation froze in shock when she shouted. Jasper ignored her. She yelled at him again and when he didn't respond, she turned around and stomped out, and her ladies had to follow, which meant for a lot of stomping."

Edward remembered enough of Elizabeth to be able to laugh at the mental image. "Did she punish him afterward?"

"Many dire words, and Jasper never did it again when she was present, but in his own private services, he did as he liked."

Even near the fire, the water was chilling rapidly. Edward took another scoop of soap from the dish and began to scrub his skin with a rag. Bella's eyes followed the cloth as it moved across muscles toned from a life of hard labor, smooth as marble. When he spoke, it took a moment for her mind to register the words, so intent was she on the visual feast before her. "I think my toes have frozen solid. Is the rinse water ready yet?"

Bella went over to the kettle and poked a finger into the water. It was still tepid. "Almost."

"I don't know how you can tolerate swimming in this weather," Edward said. "I can barely stand this bath and the water was warmed."

Bella gave a little shrug. "The cold doesn't bother me. Some of the places I've been are far colder than this."

Edward had that curious tilt to his head she found so adorable. "Really? What sort of places?"

Bella sat down on the floor beside him and railed her fingers through the cooling water of his bath. "Far, far to the north, there's a kingdom of ice. An eternally frozen expanse of ice and snow that never melts, even in summer. Men don't venture that far north. No trees, nothing but ice and snow, all the way to the horizons."

"Nothing lives there?" She could see he was trying to imagine it.

"Some things do. Great fat seals live on the ice floes and are hunted by the white snow bears."

"White bears? Completely white all over?"

"Aye, massive bears, twice the size of any you have ever seen, all blinding white except for their eyes, bright and black." They swim to the ice floes -"

"Swim?" Edward laughed. "These white bears swim?"

"Aye, they do. Under the water, too. They don't eat selkies, of course, so we play chasing games in the caverns on the underside of the ice sheets. The light is shades of blue there where it filters through the ice."

"What are floes?"

"Pieces of ice that break off. You've seen it in the pond and lakes, only much larger. Massive mountains of ice break off and crash into the sea. They float on the water and the animals of the sea climb onto them. The bears silently swim around until they catch a seal unaware and then ..." Bella gave a small shake of her head. "The cycle of life, I suppose."

Edward shivered as he finished washing. " 'Tis too cold to talk of frozen kingdoms. Tell me of someplace warm."

Bella went over to the fire to get the rinse water. Edward stood and she poured it over him slowly as he ran his hands through his hair to rid it of the soap and sluiced his hands over his body. She admired the view.

"To the south, the waters are a warm, bright blue. The fish have bright colors too, orange and yellow and blue, and they swim among the coral reefs. The sandy beaches are as white as the snows of the north under the hot sunshine. The trees grow tall and thin along the beaches and they have giant seeds that fall to the ground, as big as your head."

"As big as my head?" He laughed.

"Tenga, they call them. They are covered in brown, light bark, and inside is delicious juice."

Edward laughed again. "Some of the tales you tell! I believe you tell the truth, but it is so hard to imagine."

"Perhaps we'll go there someday."

His smile fell. That he could not imagine, being able to travel freely with Bella. He had a family to head and support now, and the heavy responsibility of it pinned him here. She could tell he could almost feel the weight on his shoulders. He took the length of linen toweling from Bella and began to dry himself.

"If not in this lifetime, perhaps the next," she said softly, sensing his disquiet.

He stopped rubbing his hair and smiled at her. It stood out in wild spikes around his head. "You're right, my love. I keep forgetting we have an eternity ahead of us."

"A thousand years. And a thousand more."

~.~


Bella tapped on the door that used to be Alice's room, but was now occupied by Esme and Carlisle. When Carlisle answered her summons, she told him to go downstairs and speak with Edward, who was wrapped in blankets and seated before the fire to ward off any health consequences of his bath.

Esme watched him go from the doorway, shivering lightly in her shift and the nightgown she had thrown over it when Bella knocked.

"Come into my room where it's warmer," Bella invited. "We need to talk to Alice anyway."

She climbed the ladder and tapped on the small door above until Alice opened the trapdoor and peeked down at her. Soon, both women were crowded close to the brazier in the center of Bella's room. Bella added a few more pieces of charcoal from the bag by the door, feeling sorry for mortal women.

Very little heat made its way up to the attic and Alice was shivering despite wearing her thick woolen dress and layers of flannel below. Bella had set up one of her charcoal braziers up there, but Alice was afraid to use it lest she cause a fire. She insisted she was warm enough once she was tucked in bed. She had been saying her prayers when Bella summoned her.

Bella took a seat on the bed beside little Emmett and Rose, who were laying on the counterpane, playing with their toys.

"Alice, I'll not dance around the subject," Bella said. "Edward is speaking to your father now. I cannot tell you why, but it is imperative that you make your decision now about whom you wish to wed."

Alice blinked. "I thought I would have a bit more time. Did you not say before that I would have until the spring to decide?"

Bella shook her head. "Alice, I'm sorry, but you're out of time. You must decide now."

"Might I pray on it tonight?"

Bella sighed. "All right, but you must tell us in the morning. We can wait no longer. We'll have to have the wedding some time this week."

Alice nodded as she took out her handkerchief and wiped her nose.

"Are you crying?"

"No, my nose is a bit congested from the cold of the attic, and then coming into this warm room."

Esme sighed. "If only I had my herb box, I'd make you some tea to ward off the chill."

But Alice wasn't thinking about her runny nose. "Married ... and so soon. I hadn't thought ..." She shook her head and a flush came to her cheeks that wasn't from the heat of the brazier. "I mean, I don't even know ... how to be a wife."

Esme's eyes widened. "Your mother hadn't ... talked to you yet?"

"No."

Esme's eyes got even wider and she glanced over at the door as if she was thinking about bolting. "I hadn't thought - I mean, you are my daughter now, but I hadn't considered - I'm rather newly wed myself and I'm not sure what I should - I mean -"

Bella sighed. "Sit down, both of you."

Esme and Alice shuffled closer, their eyes wary. They took seats on the edge of the bed, exchanging uneasy glances.

" 'Tis naught to fret over," Bela said. "Talking of this should bring you no discomfort. It's but part of life, after all. As natural as breathing. But quite a bit more fun."

Alice coughed. Esme patted her on the back, but she was just as red-faced as her step-daughter.

"Taking pleasure in the arms of your husband is what God intended," Bella said. " "Tis why he made our bodies as he did. Now, listen, for this is important. Learned doctors will tell you the same, that a woman's pleasure is just as important as the man's in how babies are made. I have books on the subject, should you need to consult them."

"But how should ... that is ...?" Esme sputtered a little.

Bella lifted an eyebrow. "You must tell your husband when you enjoy something and ask him to do it more."

Both of them watched her with rapt attention. Bella gave them a reassuring smile. "Now, on to the details ..."

~.~


It was very late when Edward shuffled into their bedroom, still wrapped in blankets. He gave a huge yawn as he dropped them on the end of the bed.

Bella was reading by candle light. She put a ribbon in her book to mark her place and laid it aside. "How did your conversation go?"

Edward slipped under the covers beside her. "Well, I think. I told him that I was being pressured by James and I felt it was untoward. Father didn't even ask what it was. I think he was offended on my behalf that James would dare to presume to attempt to push me to a decision in his favor. In any case, he's agreed that Jasper is the best choice for Alice, and he's agreeable to a wedding within the fortnight."

Bella exhaled slowly. "That's a relief. She'll tell us in the morning, she says, but I think we both know what she'll decide. She loves him still, despite the stupidity of what he did this summer."

"I think he's a good man, occasional idiocy aside."

Bella rolled over and snuggled up against him. "We need a bigger house."

Edward was stoking her hair and his hand paused. She turned her face up to look into his eyes. "What?"

"Father wishes to take Emmett when he and Esme move into Jasper's house."

Worse of protest jumped to her lips but Bella held them back. Emmett was Carlisle's son. He should be with his father, and Esme would be a loving mother to him. But she would miss him, and so would Rose.

"When?" she asked, and her voice cracked a little.

"Soon," and Edward sounded apologetic as he said it.

Bella bit her lip and snuggled her face against his chest. From the attic, she heard the sound of Alice coughing.

~.~


~.~

- A "hussif" was a sewing kit. The term is probably a contraction of the word "housewife" by which they were commonly known in the 18th and 19th centuries. Another term for them was the French "estuife." They varied in appearance from embroidered silk down to plain wool pouches, but they usually contained tools like scissors, bodkins, thread-wrappers, needles, etc.

- The story of Jasper elevating the host in Elizabeth's presence comes from something that happened during the early days of Elizabeth's reign. Some claim she stomped out of the service at her own coronation ceremony. The Bishop of Carlisle, Owen Oglethorpe, supposedly elevated the host at Elizabeth's coronation and the outraged queen withdrew from the service, though some historians cast doubt on the story. Some say she merely withdrew for a much-needed rest at that point in the ceremony while the host was being consecrated - a polite way of avoiding witnessing something she would find religiously offensive, but allowing the ceremony to take place without interruption.

- "Tenga" is the Malayalam name for coconut.