Synopsis
Once a privileged heiress, Isabella Swan suddenly loses everything, including her family's prized book collection. When son of rival family Edward Cullen acquires the collection and offers her a job, she is in no position to refuse. A tentative friendship based on their mutual love for books grows complicated as they enter into an arrangement – she wants the books back; he wants her.
Many thanks to the early readers of this fic!
This chapter is a little more angsty than the previous ones, but hang in there, we'll get through it! I solemnly promise there will be more Manorward after this.
Chapter 3 - The Reunion
Winter, 2010
Bella stood in the middle of her father's library, trying to memorise as much detail as she could. The scent of old books, oak shelves and her father's cologne overwhelmed her and she felt the prickle of tears before she firmly pulled herself together.
These were her last precious moments in the Swan mansion and she would not waste them crying.
No one had known how deeply the late Charles Swan was in debt. In his obsession with restoring the Swans to their former glory, he had mortgaged the house and its contents to the hilt, investing in scheme after scheme, all of which had collapsed in the economic downturn. In his last months, as if sensing his days were numbered, Charles had also engaged lawyers to sue the Cullens in a last ditch attempt to recover the Swans' river rights. It was a futile endeavour that only deepened their financial woes. Bella had been ignorant of all this, but she had felt her father withdraw into himself in the months before his fatal heart attack, had worried about the hours he spent holed up in his study. The full magnitude of the family's financial ruin was only discovered in the lawyer's office after the funeral. Isabella Swan, former heiress, was left with nothing.
Bella and her mother moved into a small cottage on the edge of the Swan estate which had been transferred under Renee's name for tax purposes. The cottage was damp and draughty, with only an ancient boiler-heater on its last legs. Even so, Bella knew that she should be grateful to have a roof over her head, even a leaky one, in the middle of winter.
She shuddered to think what would have happened to them without the cottage. They had no one to turn to, just some distant cousins on her mother's side, the Blacks.
Bella's mother Renee Swan had taken her change in circumstances badly. Having never worked a day in her life, she had transitioned from daughter of the manor to lady of the manor when she married Charles Swan straight out of finishing school. Her entire world had been her husband and the estate. With him gone, she tried to cling on the remnants of her old life by refusing to move out of the mansion. When finally persuaded by Bella to do so, she had wanted to take with her the heavy heirloom bedroom set.
"Mummy," Bella had said gently, "you can't take the furniture. It belongs to the bank now, remember? It wouldn't have fitted in the cottage anyway."
Renee channelled her grief into an increasingly irrational rail against the Cullens. It was their fault, she reasoned. If the Cullens had agreed to give up their river rights, Charles wouldn't have had to spend money suing them. He wouldn't have been stressed about their finances, wouldn't have had his heart attack.
Oh Daddy, Bella thought, why didn't you tell me? I could have helped.
Bella felt a sharp pang of guilt. In the last few years, while her father had been struggling alone with crippling debt, the heavy legacy of a large, crumbling house and an unprofitable estate, she had been occupying herself with the study of literature. The beautiful world of words she had built around herself pursuing her degrees now seemed hollow and indulgent.
Bella was broken out of her reverie by voices outside the library door.
"I'm sure the bank wouldn't mind me showing you the house before it's officially on the market...after all everybody knows the Cullen name around these parts...they were very pleased you bought the entire library, you know...with the economy now, old books would be very hard to sell..."
The estate agent's voice was swollen with the gleeful expectation of making a quick sale.
The Cullens bought Daddy's books! Everything collected and loved by generations of Swans. Books I grew up with. Books that should have been mine.
Just then, she spotted Carlisle and Edward Cullen by the door of the library. The estate agent had gone ahead, oblivious to her presence, leaving the Cullens looking surprised and then chagrined at being caught picking through the ruins of her family's downfall.
Carlisle looked pained and mumbled his condolences before leaving to join the agent. Edward however, approached her.
This was the first time Bella had seen him up close since their first meeting as children. She had always known he was tall, but didn't realise just how he would tower over her until he stood right before her. His broad frame seemed to blanket her vision. She was hit with his smell - the sharp scent of the outdoors mingled with a whiff of wood fire.
Too close. Too much.
She took a step back instinctively and lifted a proud chin to meet his gaze. The blonde hair of his childhood had darkened into a deep bronze. His eyes though, were as serious as ever.
"Bel...Miss Swan, I'm so sorry. This must seem so...we didn't know you would be here. How is your mother doing?"
His voice too, was new to her.
"She's as well as can be expected. Thank you for asking, Mr Cullen." The Swans might be poor now, but Bella was still determined to behave with civility, however frostily bestowed.
Edward glanced around, as if realising for the first time he was in the library.
"We've bought your family's books. Your father...he had excellent taste. I just wished we could have been acquainted with his library under more pleasant circumstances."
The mention of her father brought a wave of renewed sorrow in Bella. With it came a rising rage. How dare he come into our house and gloat about buying our things!
Edward continued, desperate to break the suffocating tension between them. "You loved this library, didn't you. You always have a book in your hand." Bella barely registered his observation of her habits. She was too busy trying not to cry.
"Listen, I don't know if this is appropriate, but I need some help cataloguing this collection and my family's as well...you have a Masters in Literature...I thought maybe you would want to see these books properly taken care of..."
Bella snapped, "You're right, Mr Cullen, it's not appropriate. My father is barely cold in his grave before you Cullens…I'm sure there will be plenty of candidates in the village for that sort of work." Her eyes threatened to well up again.
Don't cry in front of the Cullens. Daddy wouldn't want a Swan brought low in front of a Cullen.
"I'm so sorry, I...I just thought maybe you'd like a job... if it hadn't been me, somebody else would have bought the books. The bank wanted to sell them separately, I thought it was better that it stayed together as a collection...my apologies. Please give my regards to Mrs Swan."
He gave her a stiff nod and left the room with long strides.
Left alone, Bella could finally cry.