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-Bella-

"I have messed everything up. I didn't mean to." Alice whined, her face buried into her pillow. I brought in a tray of tea, with two pots; we were going to need it.

"My lady, what were you thinking of? Jasper would have married you whether you had a title or not. I know him; he would have waited for you. Years if he had to." I placed the tray on her bedside table and sat down beside her. "So does that mean you're married now… Officially?"

Lady Alice slowly lifted her head and smiled softly. "We are. However, my father is furious, he didn't want to talk to my mother. Esme seemed to be the only person who calmed him down. She was with him for most of the morning."

I smiled to myself, knowing Esme would have done all that she could to help the Duke, how she always would.

"So did Jasper say anything to you? Give you any reason as to why he couldn't marry you?"

"Oh Bella, it was all such a daze. We were together in an inn, you know a place where people stay the night when they are visiting somewhere new. One minute we were together and having a good time, going to visit his family the following morning and then he told me that night that he couldn't be with me anymore."

"Why though, my lady?"

"That he didn't disclose. The next morning he had gone and left me a note saying that he loved me and that he was sorry. It was then that Edward found me, he had been awake for two days looking for me. After that he brought me home, he must have then gone to see you. My brother has not spent any time in his room once so I know he hasn't been sleeping."

My heart sank a little for Lord Edward in that moment. I saw something in his eyes when he came to Sue's house to ask for my return. I could see the pain that he was supressing. Even if he does not admit to feeling pain, it can be seen. Not that he would ever disclose such things to me.

"So Jasper still loves you? That is something you can be grateful didn't disappear completely, Lady Alice."

"I love him too, Bella. This is why I can't understand what went wrong. I know that us staying together in the same room is forbidden and my reputation may never be the same again but I don't care. I'd give all this, up Bella. That is what I want my family to understand, I don't want the money and I don't want to marry some rich man who has no personality. I am meant for other things, Bella. My family should know that by now."

"My Lady, they just care so much about you. They want you to be happy, all of this is because they want what is best for you. I must admit though, this path may not impress the Duchess."

"I will talk to my mother when she talks to me. We cannot all marry for convenience, perhaps we are living in the wrong times, Bella but I want to marry for love. Shouldn't all women have that?"

I could only shrug in response, what did I know about love? I did not know what being in love felt like or what it was like to be loved by another. I bit on my lip and stood up and poured the tea into a cup and brought it to Lady Alice as she sat up on the bed.

"Oh Bella, Miss Horton asked me to come and fetch you."

As I stepped outside of Lady Alice's room an hour later, I was greeted by another second maid from downstairs.

"What does she require me to do, Anna?"

"Daisy has gone sick and cook needs an assistant to help out with the dinner this evening."

Without responding, I walked down to the servant quarters with the maid and went to directly speak to the cook.

Back to work, again.

-Esme-

I watched as the Duke paced up and down the room, I continued to stare at him but I feared it would send off all the wrong impressions if I carried on any longer. I glanced at the floor whenever I could and kept my hands close in my lap. Whenever Carlisle asked me for an ear to listen, I was always so eager to comply to his request. The two of us being 'friends', helped with this. The term 'friends' however was not the same for us as it was deemed in every day society outside of the great mansion. We were not childhood friends but we had been companions once in the past, before , before he got married and before he had his children and came into fortune.

"I am afraid I am keeping you from your duties, Esme." Carlisle slumped down on his armchair and poured himself a glass of liqueur.

"I am your wife's maid, my lord. Unless she requires me to run errands then I do not have much to do for the day. Tell me, what is going to happen now? With Lady Alice?"

"Jasper has refused to marry her due to the fact that he would be bringing shame on this house. I for one would not be able to look at him in the face again. I am torn though, Esme. Jasper Hale has been one of my longest serving and best workers, he has hardly put a foot wrong. Alice has spirit, that spirit can sometimes be persuading to others. I do not know what to do or what to think."

I stood up and walked closer to him, not enough to be considered 'inappropriate'. "My lord, perhaps if you allowed someone to talk to Jasper. Perhaps invite him to the mansion when your wife is not around? Or get someone else to see him, maybe Bella?"

Carlisle frowned. "Isabella Swan? What has she to do with it?"

"Jasper and her are quite good friends, plus Bella is the only person standing between Lady Alice and Jasper as her maid. Perhaps she can find a solution."

"Would Isabella mind? To be tasked with such a command as this?"

"I am sure if I asked her she would be willing, she has a heart of gold, my Lord. Why else would Edward go to fetch her back for his sister? If he didn't believe in her."

Carlisle thought for a moment before nodding once. "Very well, right now I cannot do anything to console my wife or to sort out this possible threat to our reputation. I need time to tell what our fate will be, what my daughter's fate will be."

With a nod I walked over to the door, letting my hand linger a moment on the door handle before turning back to Carlisle.

"My Lord, it may not seem like it now but everything will turn out right. Right now, as long as your children are cared for, their fates will be sealed. Whatever they may be." I lowered my eyes, not wanting to see the sadness in Carlisle's eyes, seeing it and knowing I cannot do anything to ease his stress and pain hurt me more than it should.

Once in the privacy of the hallway, I allowed my tears to fall, no one ever came this way apart from the family and I knew I would be safe for a moment or two.

-Bella-

"Isabella? You are wanted in the grounds." A second maid had come down to the stables to tell me, I was feeling groggy from the long journey returning to the mansion and I could barely complete each of my chores without day dreaming. I turned to look at the maid, feeling responsible that the hem of her uniform was now ruined thanks to the muddy ground beneath us . I thanked her and said my goodbyes to Cordelia, Lady Alice's horse. The stablemen allow me to be alone with the horses whenever I wish, knowing that the animals took a liking to me and that they knew briefly of my faming background.

I straightened up my uniform and walked out of the stables and towards the gravel grounds, taking a short cut through the gardens.

"Bella!" I halted at the sound of my name and the all too familiar voice, I turned around and sighed when I saw Jake sitting on the fountain.

"Jake." I muttered his name and rushed over to my friend. "Jacob you cannot be here. You will be punished for trespassing."

"I don't care. Bella I wanted to come back to get you. Why did you come back here with him? What does he have that is so special?"

I grabbed Jacob's arm and led him around to some hedges, hoping we had not been spotted by a member of staff, or worse, a family member. "Jacob, this is not about Lord Edward. I did not come back for him. I came back for Lady Alice."

"You are Alice's maid, Bella. A member of her staff and you cannot be anything more than that. You have to remain professional, Bella and you have been. You have done so much for this place, why is it that they will not allow you to take some well-deserved rest for yourself? You are gone from this place not even a mere twenty four hours and someone comes back for you. Are they more important than us?"

I backed away in disgust, I was used to Jacob's passionate nature but this kind of behaviour was not something I had been used to seeing. "No one will ever be more important than Sue or my father's farm to me. I am offended that you would even ask me such a question. Jacob, this is my job, my duty is to Lady Alice, that is what I was employed for and if you do not like it then you can go back to the farm right now."

Jacob scoffed a little and folded his arms. "What will happen when your Lady is married, Bella? When she moves out of this house, a life full of riches and all the comfort she will ever need, where will you be? What will you do? Will you stay?"

In all honesty, I had not even begun to think about what may happen to my employment once Alice had moved onto another stage of her life. I wanted only the best for her and all the good wishes in the world but I had neglected the fact that I may at that point have to look for another position. Right now, it was not worth thinking about.

"You won't just be away from your Lady, Bella but the rest of the family." My heart sank a little at the reality of not being close to all of Duke Carlisle's children. I had grown so fond of them all.

"If you say that this Edward means nothing to you then you will be happy to find another position once this situation occurs, is that correct?"

I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "That is correct."

Jake took my hand and led me back towards the fountain, as he sat back down again, I followed suit beside him. "What about me, Bella?"

"What about you, Jake?"

"What if you were to live with me, be with me, marry me?"

"Jake…" This felt all too real. Jake had spoken of his feelings for me back at Sue's and Edward's arrival had cut off the conversation we should have had. I had always assumed that Jake stayed so long at the farm because he cared for my father and once he found who he wanted to marry then he would move away from the farm altogether. He was still young after all. However, now, our relationship was never going to be the same again. Jake has feelings for me that I cannot return and he was asking me to commit to him which is something I could never do.

"It was your father's wish, Bella. I know it, Sue knows it. It would be so convenient for the both of us, I would not have to leave the farm and I could still take care of it but I would also be able to take care of you. I love you, Bella. I always have, ever since we were children you have been the one I wanted to marry."

"Jake … Please stop."

Jacob backed off a little and frowned. "What is it?"

I stood up and faced away from him. "Do not continue to talk to me in this way. It is not the way of a gentleman."

"So now I am only a gentleman to you Bella? I am no Lord Edward but I should mean more to you than that. Why do you reject me? What have I ever done to receive such a cool response?"

"Jake please don't get angry with me. My father always wanted me to follow my own ambitions and my own choices in life. I believe that he would respect me to decline this. Deny myself a life of misery because it would not be real, Jake. I cannot force feelings for you and as I said back at the farm, you deserve more than someone like me."

"Bella, I don't want anyone else. I will never want anyone else."

"You come here with no invitation from the family, Jake and you bring this proposal to me out of the blue in the middle of my employer's grounds. You've caught me off-guard and I am sorry that you have come all this way to receive such a 'cool response' as you so put it. Now if you'll…"

"Isabella Swan?!" I turned and saw Carlisle standing a few feet away with Edward by his side. I released Jacob's hold on me.

"Jacob … Go….Go!" I urged.

"This is not over, Bella. Not by a long way." With a angry glance at the men, Jacob ran away from the mansion and disappeared into the distance.

Dear Lord, what have I done? What's going to happen to me?

I walked back to the Duke and Lord Edward, biting down hard on my lip. My heart thumped in my chest as I approached them, clasping my hands together.

"My Lord, I can explain…"

"What you do in your own personal affairs is none of our business, Isabella. I ask that you keep it away from the house and your work. If that man is seen trespassing on our land again, we will take matters into our own hands. Now if it is not too much trouble, please join me in the library, I have something to ask you." Carlisle turned away and walked back into the house.

I could feel Lord Edward's eyes on me; I looked into the bright green orbs and felt myself an urge to justify myself, and to explain that what he had seen was not what he was assuming, if he was assuming anything at all. Why did his opinion mean so much to me? Why did I need to justify myself when Jacob had been the one to shock me?

Without saying a word he walked past me, towards the direction that Jacob had just left from and I watched him go, biting the insides of my mouth, wanting to cry and shout murder at the same time. Without being able to do anything, I could only go and follow the Duke inside.

I stepped into the library, forcing myself to stay calm. I did not know how much they had seen of mine and Jacob's exchange and I could not worry about my fate when I did not know it, yet.

"My Lord I really must…" Carlisle silenced me with one hand as he sat down in his chair.

"Isabella, the reason I called you in here was first, to say thank you for coming back. I did not know that Edward had gone to fetch you, believe me if I had you would still be at home right now. I understand that we have taken your rest time away from you, Bella and I assure you that you will be able to take it again very soon. I just want you to do something, first. Esme and I have been talking today, trying to find a solution that will make my daughter's situation a happier one. Is it true that you and Jasper Hale are friends?"

I could only nod. "We are not the best of friends, sir but we enjoy each other's company. Plus we have always had good things to say about one another. I must admit, sir I am as confused with this situation as you are."

"Isabella, would you go to Jasper and talk to him about this? You know where his family home is, he must have gone back there."

"My Lord I…"

"I would not normally ask this of anyone, Isabella and I have no reason to use you as a prop into my curiosity. I just want to know why. Why he did not come to the Duchess and I in the first place to tell us that he had feelings for Alice."

I didn't want to admit to the Duke that I already knew why Jasper had avoided going to him and speaking of his feelings. Jasper has always felt himself inferior to Alice and her reputation in society. Jasper did not come from money, prospects or good family and he had never disclosed as much to anyone but me. I felt like he and I kindred spirits when it had come to our upbringing.

"If you believe that it will help sir, then I will go there and try my very best to find out what is going on." I had no other choice, I myself was bound to the same curiosity that The Duke was feeling. What surprised me was that the Duke did not seem to show any anger towards Jasper or to any decision he may have made to break things off with Alice. Or if he had it was long gone, now.

Without another word, I stood up and left the library.

That night I lay in bed, watching the moon glow down onto the lands of the mansion. Esme stirred in her cot bed next to mine and I looked at her, seeing that she was fully awake, too.

"How are you feeling throughout all this, Bella?" Esme whispered, moving onto her side and clutching the pillow under her head.

"Like I had some freedom and then out of nowhere, it has been taken away from me. Esme, how am I going to talk to Jasper about all of this? It's their business, by talking with him am I not breaching my lady's trust?"

Esme got out of the bed and sat down beside me, sighing softly as if she were internally battling with herself and searching for a response at the same time. "I wouldn't ask you to do this kind of task for me Bella if I knew it didn't mean so much to the Duke."

I closed my eyes for a moment, I was not so impertinent as to forget how much the Duke and Esme meant to one another and how much they did care about one another. Esme was right, she would never ask me directly to get involved in any one else's business and neither would the family, although I would not assume as much for the Duchess but somehow this event had changed everyone's outlook.

"Everyone wants Jasper and Alice together then?"

"Well, even if Lady Alice and Jasper do not marry, even if they end up being married to other people, all the family want is for her to be happy. This doesn't add up, Bella and you must see that. All you have to do is just talk to Jasper once to find some answers and then, perhaps we can all have some closure to deal with this, no matter how it turns out."

That night I couldn't sleep a wink. It was now my responsibility to find out what was going on with Jasper and what his intentions were before he and Alice lose each other for good.