Update: Some very small changes in the names. Nothing major. :)
Summary: Inspired by Pride and Prejudice: Regency Era England, Bella Swan leaves town to live in the country with her family where she meets the respectable Masen family, and their intolerable (yet handsome) son.
All Human – AU.
Disclaimer: Characters are property of the lovely Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter Two
Two weeks had passed since the night of the Hever ball, two hot, stifling and humid weeks. Summer was fully upon us now and the days were long and languid.
I was seated in the garden at Hever with my mother and Lady Edenbridge. Since the ball they had struck up a friendship and frequently visited each other. Today we were having tea and cakes in the garden under the shade of a blossoming cherry tree.
I was always required to be present for these social visits; mother felt I should be learning my role in society so that one day I would make a charming wife.
Sighing as I plucked at my stays trying to get some relief, I looked out across the garden to see the insufferable Lord Masen making his way towards us on horseback. I rolled my eyes and hoped that he would turn the other way before he reached us, so I would not have to endure his false pleasantries.
Luck, it seemed, was not on my side on this occasion however.
He dismounted his horse and tied her to another tree in the grove.
"Ladies," he said while walking over to join us, "What a pleasant surprise to see you here in the cherry tree grove. Do you mind if I join you?"
He glanced in my direction as he said that and smirked. I huffed and turned my head, but disguised it as a cough.
His mother, Lady Edenbridge replied that she would be delighted if he were to join us and poured him a cup of tea, while he reached for a cake.
"So Edward, darling, did you enjoy your ride? Where did you go today?" She asked as she handed him his cup and saucer.
"Just around the property," He said while stirring some sugar into his tea.
Moving the cup to his mouth he glanced at me, "You look well today Miss Swan. I find the sunshine becomes you."
Our mothers twittered while I looked at him with disdain.
I replied in a tone that clearly showed how little I thought of his opinion, while still trying to sound polite.
"Thank you Lord, you are too kind."
I turned my head away and pretended to be occupied with watching his horse.
He didn't say anything else till he had finished his tea. He set his cup and saucer back on the table and rose.
"Miss Swan, the grounds of Hever are lovely at this time of year, would you care to accompany me on a walk about them?"
"I am afraid I have recently twisted my ankle, and as such am in no condition to walk for pleasure at present." I replied.
"Then I shall have to carry you!" He countered.
I rose indignantly, excused myself from the table, and started walking in the direction of the lake. He quickly followed me and kept pace.
We were silent until we reached the lake.
"You do not like me, Miss Swan." He stated.
I turned and looked up at him, raising my eyebrow as I did so.
"You are cold and distant with me. Most young ladies would jump at the chance to be escorted around the gardens by me."
I laughed at that, "Lord, as you should know by now, I am not 'most young ladies' not only this, but I find you rude and presumptuous, so being escorted by you anywhere is quite an ordeal for me."
"Well, Miss Swan, I am terribly grieved to hear that this is your opinion of me. I endeavour to speak the truth, and truthful is what I have been. I apologise if this has been offensive to you."
I looked at him, despite his sincere sounding apology, he was still smirking. I turned and stomped back to the cherry tree grove.
"Bella!" He called, but I ignored him.
"Bel…" I heard him start again, and realised why he was calling me.
I had inadvertently stumbled upon where they play croquet, and found myself tumbling to the ground after tripping on a hoop.
"Oof!" I grunted as I fell in a heap. I was mortified. This was the last thing I needed. More fuel for the fire of torment that Edward had decided to bestow upon me.
I stayed where I was on the ground, praying that somehow I would be able to melt into the ground and that not be noticed by him.
I heard him come up behind me.
"Bravo Bella, that was a grand exit indeed!" He said while laughing and clapping.
I kept my face on the ground; I didn't want to look at him.
"Go away!" I mumbled into the grass.
I felt his hand on my back.
"Bella.. I mean Miss Swan, are you hurt at all?"
'Other than my poor bruised ego?' I thought to myself.
I shook my head to let him know I was fine.
"Please look at me," He said with a hint of pleading in his tone.
I turned my head to the right which is where he was crouching next to me and looked up at his face.
He beamed, and I poked my tongue at him in a childish way.
"What a marvellous tongue you have!" He said while grinning at me.
My eyes widened and I blushed furiously, turning my head back to the ground.
"Oh come now, you have never been told you have a wonderful tongue before?"
I sat up suddenly, and gave him an incredulous look.
"Lord, I think you will find it is rather inappropriate to compliment a young lady about her tongue!"
For what happened next, I was completely unprepared for.
He quickly leaned into me, our noses almost touching. I could feel his breath on my face.
"And how, Miss Swan," He spoke slowly in a low voice that ignited a fire within me I had never felt before, "How could a tongue be inappropriate at all?"
My body was tingling in anticipation. Of what, I did not know, but I felt it all the same.
He moved his head closer for a second, so that our noses really did bump gently. I thought he was going to kiss me, but then I realised what a ridiculous idea that was.
As much as I despised Edward, I could not deny that he was unbearably handsome, and that in more ways than one, he was far out of my league.
We stared at each other for an immeasurable second, till we heard Lady Edenbridge calling for us.
We pulled apart in an instant, and Edward rose to his feet. He offered me his hand to help pull me up and I accepted it.
As soon as I rose, I almost collapsed again. There was a sharp pain in my ankle.
I cried out softly, and he caught me.
"Are you okay?" He said, sounding concerned.
"It appears I really have twisted my ankle. It's a little tender at the moment."
"Silly Bella," He chuckled softly.
He put one arm behind me, and the other behind my legs and scooped me up bridal style.
He pulled me close to his body, and I could feel the involuntary tingling start again.
Was this some kind of intense hate that I felt, to make me feel like this physically? Because I was quite certain I didn't like him. Sure, I found him to be handsome, but his personality was insufferable.
Being jostled up and down against his body did not help matters either. The tingling was intensifying in the top of my legs. I blushed again.
Unfortunately for me, he noticed.
"Miss Swan, what in good heavens could you be blushing about now?"
I bit my lip. I could hardly tell him he was setting every nerve ending of mine on fire, and that for just a second, I actually wished he had have actually pressed his lips against mine.
"It is the heat I am afraid." I replied, hoping he would believe me.
He looked at me, doubt crossing his features.
He set me down again on a tree trunk, nestled between some trees so that no one could see us.
He knelt before me and went to reach for my ankle.
I put out my hand to stop him.
"What are you doing?"
He looked up at me from where he was kneeling on the ground.
"I'm checking your ankle of course."
He gently lifted my leg and raised the bottom of my dress and petticoat slowly, while he watched my reaction, his green eyes blazing.
I blushed again. He grasped my ankle, and started checking for any bone injury. He was gentle and quick.
As quickly as he assessed my ankle, he removed my shoe.
"Can you move your ankle at all?"
I managed to wiggle it a bit, and winced.
He sighed then looked me in the eye as he lifted my leg.
I furrowed my brows as he started running his hands slowly up my leg.
When he reached my knee my breathing hitched. This was wrong.
His fingers slowly made their way up my thigh; I could feel his fingertips through my stocking. The tingle at the top of my legs became very intense, and a burning feeling was spreading in my stomach.
When his fingers reached the top of my legs, they brushed the bare skin there. I looked at him and bit my lip. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I couldn't do it.
His hands lingered there for a moment, exhaling deeply, and then found the latch of my garter that was keeping my stocking up. Quickly undoing it he started to roll my stocking down, dragging his fingertips against my bare skin. I thought I might explode.
He cleared his throat.
"I need to check for bruising," He said in a weak voice.
Pulling my stocking off he checked for any discolouration, and asked me to move my ankle again. This time it hurt a lot less, and I was able to get more movement.
"Looks like you just twisted it after all, Miss Swan." He smiled at me.
I nodded and motioned to take the stocking from him.
He looked confused.
"I really think it is a better idea if I put that back on myself," I said, bowing my head slightly and biting my lip.
Shrugging, he handed it to me.
"As you wish."
I hastily put it back on as far as my knee, and gave him a pointed look to turn around.
He did so, as I pulled up the remaining length and reattached it to my garter.
I looked up to tell him he was able to turn around, and found him peeking. I could feel my cheeks burn in embarrassment and anger.
He pretended not to notice and scooped me up again, returning to where our mothers were.
We had almost reached them when I heard a voice cry "Oh my!"
I turned towards the sound and saw my mother and Lady Edenbridge standing with their hands at their mouths.
"Do not worry! It is not as bad as it looks." I said, trying to reassure them.
"Miss Swan here had a little accident involving a croquet hoop and seems to have injured her ankle." Edward said.
"Oh Bella dear, you are too clumsy for your own good sometimes." My mother said.
"I cannot help that, mother!" I replied indignantly.
She turned to Lady Elizabeth, "I believe we will be cutting our tea break short, I hope you don't mind?"
"Of course not," Lady Elizabeth replied, then turned to me, "I wish you a speedy recovery Miss Swan."
I nodded my thanks. Edward carried me all the way to the carriage, and placed me in there gently.
"Thank you Lord Masen." I said, trying to be polite. I wasn't sure where we stood at present. Something happened between us, something confusing. And now I wasn't so sure if I found him as intolerable as I previously did.
He nodded, and turned to walk back to the castle. Our mothers bid each other farewell and our carriage started on the journey back to Edenbridge.
-xxx-
That evening, as Angela brushed my hair out for me, I decided to ask her about Edward.
"How old is he?" I enquired.
"I believe he has just recently turned twenty years of age Miss." She responded, gently pulling the brush through my head creating a delicious tingling sensation in my scalp.
"And, what is he like with the young women of Edenbridge?" I said, picking up my hand mirror from my dresser and twisting it around nervously.
Behind me, Angela started to grin, as evidenced in the mirror.
"He is very popular with the young ladies, of course Miss Swan, but he hardly pays them any attention."
I nodded my head in what I hoped to be a non-committed response.
"Does Miss Swan take a liking to the young lord?"
I pulled my head up sharply.
"Of course not! He is the most intolerably and infuriating man I have ever come across."
Angela narrowed her eyes slightly, raising her eyebrow.
"Of course, Miss."
She placed the hair brush back on my dressing table, and went to turn down the covers of my bed.
"Goodnight, Miss."
"Goodnight, Angela."
As I lay in bed that night I tossed and turned. The moment, or rather moments I had shared with Edward today were confusing. After hours of internal debate I had decided on one resolute decision.
I was to ignore Edward and his advances.
I may feel something for him, yes, but I was just the daughter of a knighted merchant, and he the son of an Earl. On top of that, I could not bear to be around him at the best of times. There was something about him and his teasing way that infuriated me so.
Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, thoughts of him, running his hands up my leg entered my mind. I could feel every little touch as if it were happening all over again.
I sat up suddenly. Scrunching my eyes shut, I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand several times, willing the images to leave my mind.
I climbed off my bed, and limped over to my window, still feeling unsteady on my ankle. I sat in the chair next to it, and leaned my face against the cool glass. Somewhere in between cursing Lord Masen as the bane of my existence, and revelling in the events from the afternoon just been, I feel into a deep slumber.
-xxx-
A/N- First of all, thank you for all your lovely reviews. They are very encouraging! They make me write faster too, just for the record. ;) Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I am currently in the middle of exams which will decide whether I can continue on with university or not, so the pressure is on!
I'll update again much sooner than this time, that is, if your reviews request it. ;)