Chapter Two
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When Bella returned to the manor, her spirits still high, she felt as if nothing could perturb her. Her pleasant mood faded instantly, however, when she was met with Alice, whose expression was one of sympathy, and although Bella didn't realise it – fear for Bella's reaction. Bella wasn't going to take the news lightly.
"Mother seems to have rescinded her permission for you to spend your leisure outside of the manor. Once she discovered – and it is really no surprise anyway – that Edward was the one accompanying you, she had quite a temper," Alice said nervously.
"Why should something as routine as that infuriate her?" Bella cried.
"Well you see, a young man called on our house earlier today, and wanted to ask father for your hand in marriage. So father asked me of your whereabouts. When I explained that you were with Edward – Mr. Black I believe it was – said coolly that it was not in his knowledge that you were already courting someone, and left before any of us could correct the mistake. He was rather chagrined." Alice cringed, but then her face smoothed out and became alight.
"Oh, but, Mr. Black is so handsome, you can't imagine how amiable he is. To be his wife would be the most wonderful thing in this world! You must accept him! I expect that you're adverse to the idea at the present, but you'll soon see what a wonderful match you two would be! Oh, if only he'd proposed to me, I would accept without a second thought!" Alice gushed, all nervousness forgotten in the excitement of a handsome suitor.
To her utmost surprise Bella began to laugh.
"Mr. Black? That man isn't even close enough to me to be considered my acquaintance. We've had only a few discussions, and they were about the most mundane topics ever thought up. I was introduced to him by one of mother's friends at a ball a few weeks back."
"Which one?" Alice asked.
"The one that mother forced me to attend at the Newton's estate. Mr. Black was quite…dull. As if I'd ever marry that ass. He's hardly the perfect suitor for me."
Alice frowned at Bella's impolite use of the English language, but otherwise ignored it, more curious about Bella's words than the purpose of their conversation, all thoughts about Mr. Black forgotten.
"Then who is the perfect suitor?"
Bella's face turned a deep shade of red and she scowled at her sister.
"No one."
"Dear sister, the lies on your face are easier read than the pages of a book. Pray, tell me," Alice pleaded.
"That is the one thing which I cannot tell you. For the teasing would be unstoppable," Bella half lied in an effort to change the subject. Fortunately for her, Alice bought it without doubt.
"All right then, but I will find out." She grinned.
"If you value your life then you will not," Bella snapped, feeling a headache coming on from all the questions.
"Ha, I don't even know the hue of his eyes or the first letter of his name. As if I could even take a guess close to the truth. Do give me a clue," she pleaded, her brown eyes shining and her face in a pout.
"No," Bella replied stubbornly. Alice seemed to realise that her begging was a lost cause and they both glared at each other for a minute.
"Alright. It's your privacy I suppose." Alice's brow furrowed, and her expression turned tragic.
"I'm not falling for that." Bella snorted.
"Isabella!" Their mother's shrill voice rang out from the sitting room. Bella and Alice both sighed at the demanding sound; Bella in exasperation, Alice in fear for her sister.
"She's going to throw a fit, isn't she?" Bella guessed. Her mother's predictability was such that it was a rhetorical question.
"She certainly will if you don't go to her immediately," Alice replied, biting her lip anxiously. Bella sighed again, and smoothed her skirts with her pale fingers nervously, before walking as gracefully as she could manage towards the drawing room. Perfection was something that Bella had to uphold when her mother was present.
The second Bella entered the room, her mother's detached expression became warm. It was all false, of course. She was simply using the first tactic in her plan, to persuade Bella to do something her mother knew she wouldn't accept lightly.
"Sit here, child." She gestured to the lavish royal-red recliner, which would have appeared inviting to anyone but Bella.
Bella would rather had have crouched down on the dirty gravel and miss a conversation such as this, than to sit back into the pure relaxation of the recliner and discuss important matters with the woman who was supposed to support her every decision, but evidently did not.
Only she could hope for such a world, even her mother wasn't oblivious to the lack of affection between them.
Without a word, she sat down stiffly but obediently, and trailed her fingers over the contours of the cushion while she waited patiently for her mother to speak. Her eyes swept the room as if she had never been in there before, welcoming any distraction with open arms. She stared at the embroidery of the rich dark blue curtains, perceiving shapes hidden there, seeing a dog, no a fox, then a fish concealed in the fabric. It was one of her favourite games to play when she was trying to escape stress and the penetrating glare of her mother. Edward had suggested it to her once when she had been complaining about the length of the conversations held in the drawing room, and the awkwardness of her mother's critical stare. Her eyes then followed the shapes engraved on the ornamental vase in the corner of the wooden cabinet before she began examining the detail there. A faint smile touched her lips as her game continued. Her tranquillity was maintained.
Just as her eyes shied away from the burning candlelight of the extravagant chandelier above them, Lady Renee cleared her throat, and it took all of her will not to let her disapproval show there. Her mother had a mission to fulfil, and it wouldn't be any easier with Bella's irritation. If she succeeded in her goal, then she wouldn't have to deal with Bella anymore. One daughter was more than enough.
"Has Alice informed you of our visitor?" Lady Renee asked as politely as she could manage, while still sounding commanding.
"Yes. She told me of Mr Black." Bella had to hold back the impulse to snort. "I suppose you called me over here to berate me."
"Certainly not…yet." Bella paled as the last word hung in the atmosphere like air pollution.
"Whatever do you mean, Mother?" she asked, true curiosity, mingled with fear burning in her voice.
"I'm unsure if you are aware, but there is still an opportunity present. It would be foolish of you not to take it," Lady Renee replied carefully.
"Pardon?" Bella spluttered stupidly in her shock.
"Why, if Mr. Black had known of Edward's…" Her lips turned down in blatant vexation at the mention of the stable hand. "Non-existent intentions, then you would be engaged by now. And you still can be. All that needs to be done is simply calling on his house and correcting the misunderstanding. Then your future is assured."
"You can't possibly…I mean, you can't expect me to…" Bella stuttered, her eyes wide with uncontained shock.
"Oh I do. Mr. Black is a rich man, you deserve nothing less."
"I am not marrying that…that ass!" Bella fumed, nothing else comprehendible to her besides the fact that she was about to be married off to some stranger who she barely knew, who wasn't the man she truly loved. Bella didn't work that way, and Lady Renee knew that. However, that didn't decrease her mother's anger.
"How dare you! You stupid, stupid girl!" her mother screamed in rage, her face turning a darker shade of red with every syllable. "You will marry him!"
"So now I am to be held against my will? You may as well get shackles and chain me up against the wall in a dungeon. It would have the same effect."
"You ungrateful swine! Mr. Black is one of the most eligible bachelors in town, and you send him away like horse droppings, yet you practically court that stable boy who doesn't have a penny to his name! Without the aid of our family, he would starve. How dare you lower yourself as such!" her mother yelled, the vessels in her eyes threatening to pop with the tension that was exerted. Bella however, stood her ground and clenched her fists.
"Edward is more esteemed than one hundred Mr. Blacks. All he has is money; Edward actually has a kind heart and a valued personality," Bella yelled back, the words slipping out of her mouth of their own accord. Naturally, they only made things worse.
"I've put up with that nuisance of a boy for far too long, and this is the turning point. Do you understand?" her mother thundered furiously. Bella nodded minutely and cowered back in fear at her mother's harsh expression. "You are forbidden to see him, and if you know what's good for you, then you will accept Mr. Black's offer. I can assure you that before the week is through, you will have!"
The words were worse than being slapped, worse than even a thousand lashings. For once, Bella had nothing to say, and her hasty words were catching in her throat. Worse than the chagrin, were the stipulations that had been formed by her mother's last words, her prohibition to see Edward.
The only thing that could keep them apart.
Bella sank out of her chair and to the floor despondently, burying her face in her hands as the tears leaked out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks, despite her effort to keep them back. Instead of her mother's face softening at the sight, it inconceivably grew colder, harder.
"Get up you silly girl, and leave my sight! I have no desire to see you, and you shall stay in your room until I say otherwise!" her mother ordered, her eyes narrowed with anger.
Despite her despair and having being pushed to the limit, Bella stood up obediently, her steps faltering as she attempted to leave the room as quickly as possible. Her legs felt comparable to mush, and all she wanted to do was to sink to the floor again and cry her eyes out. Nobody would sympathise with her, everyone was taught to supress their emotions. But at that moment Bella simply didn't care. Holding back her own emotions was like pouring a goblet to the brim with wine and not expecting it to overflow. When her mother inflicted a punishment upon her, it was never lifted, no matter the circumstances or how little the catalyst. And to break it was the equivalent of a death sentence.
No wonder Alice's expression had been so pitiful, she thought.
Somehow – despite the blindness that the tears burning in her eyes caused – she made it up to her bedchamber, and stumbled into her room, sobbing helplessly into her mauve velvet pillow.
After what seemed like a century, but in reality was only a mere hour, a quiet knock sounded at her wooden door. She ignored it resolutely, and continued to run through worst case scenarios unintentionally in her head. She couldn't help it. Every way fate could take her would inevitably end in grief regardless of what she did.
The door opened a fraction and Alice peered through, her unusually dark eyes remorseful. She was biting her lip with such a ferocity that it may well be torn off in a matter of time if she kept it up.
"May I come in?" she whispered softly, pity touching her eyes as she took in Bella's tortured expression. "You look as if you need some comfort. Everybody says that you're overacting but I don't believe it."
"They're taking away my best friend Alice. My best friend!" she wailed hopelessly.
"Well technically, they're not sending him away. It's not impossible for you to see him," Alice told her hesitantly. She was still unsure on whether what she was about to do was moral or wrong in the eyes of God.
"Mother would send him away if I was caught breaking the rules. She wasn't telling a falsehood when she said that he'd starve!" Bella choked on her own words, of the blasphemy of such a thing. She wouldn't let Edward die in such a risky game of ignoring the rules, just so they could see each other. Their friendship wasn't worth his death. She wouldn't allow it!
"He's going to break them anyway. What good would it do to just let something as true as your friendship die? Not many people will ever experience a bond like you two have," Alice said kindly.
"It's a more preferable alternative than to him dying on the streets!" Bella snapped.
"What if there was a way to see him with no chance of being caught?" Alice asked, a hint of a smile touching her pink lips.
"No such a way exists!" Bella moaned.
"Well, Edward and I have come up with one. He's as devastated as you are and is desperate to the extreme."
"Will this plan put either of us in peril?" Bella asked, not daring to hope when it could come to.
"No, I believe the plan to be fail-safe. Do not worry. Everything will work out perfectly fine, you'll see." She smiled encouragingly.
Bella's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What is the plan?"
"Well, Edward will inform you of that part. He's waiting outside your window as we speak." Alice stared at the window for a fraction of a second before her attention returned to her sister.
"What!" Bella hissed.
"Do you not want to see him?" Alice raised an eyebrow, her voice sounding faintly amused.
"Yes but … damn it all! I feel as if our positions have changed. Now it's me wanting to obey the rules and you wanting to break them. How did we get here?" Bella exclaimed rather loudly in her own incredulity.
"Well, the situation makes that quite necessary. I want you to be happy, I hate seeing you so despondent. You're my sister. That's what sisters do!" Alice grinned, and then pulled Bella in for a tight hug. "Go and talk to him. I've distracted everyone already."
"Alright, just know that this doesn't make me like the idea any more than it did before," Bella grumbled, but her eyes shone with hope. Alice beamed at her in satisfaction and then scurried out of the room without another word. Bella sighed, unsure of what to do, before making her way to the window, feeling a strong sense of déjà-vu as she did. Just like Alice had promised, Edward was waiting solemnly outside, his anxiety only indicated by his hands, which were twitching by his sides with no hope of ceasing.
"Bella! I knew this would happen. I just knew it! But I have a plan!" he called out to her once he had spotted her at the window, his hands never ceasing their trembling.
"And what would that be?" She called back, irritation flaring her tone. She didn't mean to be vexed with him, but the stress that had consumed her these past couple of hours had taken over her mind. He didn't look far from it either. It had not been more than three hours since they had been discussing their futures. Bella swallowed back the bile that was building in her throat forcefully, and pushed herself to listen.
"You're not going to entertain it, but it's all we've got." Edward spoke calmly, but could barely suppress the tremor running through his words.
"Just tell me of it already," she demanded, the stress threatening to snap her mind in half.
"Well..." he started tentatively, but hurried on hastily when he perceived her glare. "If I dressed as a nobleman and called on the manor then your mother would have no objections whatsoever towards me."
"Such a crime would have you hung!" Bella screeched. There was no way that she'd condone Edward taking such a risk for her. The consequences of such a thing would be unbearable. Edward was prepared for her reaction; knowing her so well – and knew precisely what to say.
"Alice has it all worked out, Bella. Do you truly think that I'd welcome such an idea without first thinking of what it would involve? Do you believe that I want to die, Bell?" he asked her softly, using his pet name for her to calm her down and see the logic that he was presenting.
"No, I don't believe that," she admitted, her own face softening. "What I do believe is that the idea is preposterous. No, crazy!"
"Just hear me out. I'll explain every aspect of our plan and then you'll see what I see." He held his palms out almost involuntarily, in a gesture that made her halt her doubts and just listen.
"Thank you. I'm doing this for us. For our friendship." He tacked the last bit on at the end in case she misinterpreted his words. He didn't want things to grow awkward between them. Especially not now – even though he did feel something more for her – not when so much was at stake. He gave her a half-smile which didn't touch his eyes and she nodded attentively, frowning at the look in his eyes.
"Alice is going to introduce me as Robert of the Ellsworth family, who is conveniently staying with your family whilst my family travels the world." He winked defiantly.
"My mother isn't stupid. She knows your appearance more than you do," Bella protested, instantly against the idea.
"With the rich clothes that Alice will purchase for me, and the glasses that I will don, none will be the wiser."
"She'll see right through you," Bella moaned.
"Even you won't recognise me," he replied confidently, and Bella knew that nothing could dissuade him at this point.
I could recognise you with my eyes closed, she thought, not speaking her thoughts aloud, knowing that it was no time for teasing, and not having the heart to joke around in any case.
"I'm willing to take the risk, and everything will turn out fine. I'm quite the actor, you said it yourself." He smirked, but his eyes were still troubled.
Although the first part was dangerously uncertain, both of them knew that the latter was true. When they were younger, one of their favourite pastimes was to participate in plays between the two of them in a variety of genres. When re-enacting the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the young and naive Bella actually believed Edward to be dead, and the 'poison' that he drank to be authentic. It had taken a full hour – even after Edward had leapt up giggling to see her reaction – to calm the panic that ensued. Bella wasn't the only one who had quite a scare, everybody else believed the act too, and plays were banned from that day forward. Bella hadn't forgiven him for a few weeks, even after he promised never to do such a cruel thing ever again.
Now Edward's life and their happiness depended on his acting skills. The only thing they now questioned was whether they were good enough.
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