Belle was already asleep, and Gaston, too, was almost asleep, stretched out on the big comfortable hard bed, even Bruno, the puppy, who was sleeping somewhere in the feet, did not disturb them at all. Gaston was indulging in those pleasant thoughts that people indulge in just before going to sleep, when consciousness is fogged by the haze of sleep, and yet the previous day had put everything in its place and life had finally returned to its usual normal course. Gaston turned his head, admiring the expression on Belle's face - she was asleep with a smile on her face. Even in one day at home, she was completely transformed: gone was the anxiety for her father, some tension in her movements and actions, and his wife also told with a grateful smile how the people of their town, noticing that she would soon become a mother, congratulated her and wished her and Gaston all the best. How different this was from the behavior of the servants and so-called friends of the prince in Paris! These people looked at Belle's belly with a kind of disgust and fear, as if her pregnancy was something terrible. Or maybe they thought their relationship with the prince was abnormal, that maybe the baby was from Adam or some other abomination? Or maybe the very presence of a future child was somehow annoying to people who were mired in perpetual entertainment and debauchery. Children, so familiar in the village, had nothing to do in the rich houses of Paris. So Flor sent her child away, so that he would not interfere with what she was doing.
Anyway, that's all in the past and now they are only surrounded by family and friends. Belle also told how happy her father was when he saw her, how proud he was to be a grandfather. It so happened that her and Belle's happiness - the future child - somehow became the general happiness of the town, and from that all worries faded into the distance. Clean air, simple but wholesome food, companionship with understanding people - all this becomes important only when you lose it... Gaston considered the prince's return a good sign: without them, Adam realized that he would be quite lonely in Paris, and, giving up his dope, he returned to his native land. Gaston closed his eyes and fell into a slumber so sound that he did not immediately hear a soft but somewhat nervous and insistent knock at the door. He rolled over onto his side, trying to continue sleeping, and heard Belle shove Bruno off the bed, who was barking in wakefulness. Next he heard his wife's light footsteps, the rustle of a dress-she must have thrown it on to open the door.
"May I help you?" Belle's melodious voice expressed surprise and hidden distaste.
"I've come to speak to your husband," came the voice of a man Gaston wanted to forget forever and never remember again. It was Monsieur D'Arque. Belle muttered something and Gaston jumped up from the bed and quickly pulled on his clothes. He shoved a barking Bruno off with his foot and stepped out into the hallway.
"What do you want?"Gaston asked with irritation that masked fear.
The director of the asylum looked nervous: he slammed the door frantically, turned around several times, as if expecting to be followed, and went into the kitchen, although he had not been invited in. The doctor's hands were trembling, and he looked nothing like his old self, sinister but calm and confident. Belle walked hesitantly forward, but Gaston made a sign to her that he wanted to speak to Monsieur D'Arque alone. Gaston didn't know exactly what the man wanted to tell him, and he certainly didn't want anything unexpected and unpleasant about him, Gaston, to fall out on Belle. Belle reluctantly obeyed and, fetching Bruno, disappeared into the bedroom. Gaston sat down at the table and repeated his question:
"What do you want to talk about in the middle of the night? Are you out of your senses?" Monsieur D'Arque began to rummage somewhere in his belt and finally, with trembling hands, threw a small cloth bag on the table, in which something metallic jingled. There must have been money in there.
"'Come on!" D'Arque hissed angrily. "Count it!"
"Count what?" Gaston asked dumbly, not understanding at all.
The old man moved the pouch toward Gaston with a sharp movement.
"Count the fucking money! You stupid bastard. Count the money you gave me. "
"Gave it to you when? And why? D'Arque made such a stare that Gaston lost the rest of his sleep. It must have been the sum of money Gaston had given as a bribe to have Maurice locked up in the asylum if Belle did not agree to marry him. But what did the mean old man want from him now? Maybe to blackmail Gaston with this knowledge. Gaston couldn't remember how much money he'd given the scoundrel then, but cautiously decided to play along, opening the pouch at last and twiddling it with his fingers as if counting: "Yes, that's right, Monsieur D'Arque. Why?"
D'Arque jumped up from his chair in a sort of excitement and shouted: "Why, take your damned money! Take every last ecu. Take it! Take it!" He repeated his "take it!" several times, until Gaston defiantly took the pouch in his hands. "'That's it! I have done nothing! Nothing - really?" the old man continued to yell, as if talking himself into it. "The deal didn't happen, did it? There's nothing to punish me for. I didn't take Maurice to an asylum, I said he was harmless. Right, you bastard? I got the money back, I didn't get rich off it. Right? I didn't buy anything and I didn't put anyone inappropriate in my asylum. So everything's all right..." He collapsed into a chair and sobbed like a woman, a sight that was both disgusting and frightening. D'Arque fumbled in his pockets for a handkerchief and began wiping his wrinkled, dead-pale face.
"What the hell happened?!" exclaimed Gaston.
"I don't understand a damn thing!"
"I'm lost," said D'Arque. "Why have I done that? You're so stupid that you'll drag me and yourself down..." At the screams Belle came into the kitchen and stared at the sobbing owner of the asylum:
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Why are you like this? Can we help you? " Monsieur D'Arque sighed noisily and looked at Belle and said, "His Highness came to see me this evening."
"Prince Adam? To see you?" Belle and Gaston exclaimed in unison.
"Yes. But not alone-with two bulky knights, just like in the old paintings, and with those... lawyers.
"What the hell are lawyers?" Gaston asked.
"Well how could you not know, Gaston," Belle began to explain softly.
"People from the legal community. They know the laws and can advise even royalty on them. And help defend oneself in court..." Gaston caught only the general meaning of her phrase, but did not understand why the prince had brought "lawyers" and knights to frighten Monsieur D'Arque. So he remained silent, awaiting the old man's further explanation. D'Arque s sighed again, annoyed at their lack of comprehension.
"The prince said that I took money from you for putting a healthy man in an asylum. That I took a bribe. It's about Maurice, in case you've forgotten. That you blackmailed his daughter into marrying you. Guess who told him that? You! Is it true?"
Belle just didn't say anything, and Gaston finally began to realize... Yes, he had told the prince about it, then, in a fit of candor... But why did Adam bring it out now? Why?
" Don't say anything? So it's true... God, why did I get involved with you... It's not that I needed money so badly... I only stumbled once... I spend half my life taking care of these creatures, wasting my health on them, and then it turns out that prison is looming in front of me!"
"Prison?" Gaston asked.
"Yes, imagine that! He was serious, he said, your evidence is clear, and he has a boy witness who was present when Maurice's daughter was blackmailed. He says he will lock me up, and I shall rot for the rest of my life... That it is a matter of honor to him to make sure that there are no such terrible cases of injustice in the village which is near his family castle..."
"But... But why should he do it?" Belle asked in surprise and shock, not understanding why the prince suddenly began to do such incomprehensible things. But Gaston almost immediately understood why. Apparently, the prince had not given up on being near Belle one way or another. Perhaps, from the very beginning of his becoming human again, he had feared something, feared that this miracle of transformation required special moral qualities from him, and decided to give up his feelings, thought himself less worthy of Belle, maybe thought that Gaston and Belle had some special love story, like in books.
Then for a short time he was satisfied with the role of a friend to a loving couple, and then, in Paris, he felt his power - the power of his position, the power of money, well, and the power of his attractiveness. And he decided that Belle would be better with him, with him by his side, in what capacity - not particularly important: friend, woman, companion, but if Gaston interferes, he can be thrown out. Especially since he seemed to the prince unworthy of a girl like Belle. Maybe the prince thought that by doing so it was as if he was saving Belle, even if she didn't want or understand it yet. Maybe he thought that in the end, when it was all behind her, Belle would appreciate the luxurious and more intellectual life of Paris and be grateful to her savior. After all, women often don't realize what they really want. Especially since Belle had so recklessly planted her dreams of a life in Paris on his highness... Still, Gaston didn't feel much anxiety about it yet. There was a possibility that the prince simply decided in this way to return the stubborn fugitives back to Paris, and nothing serious in his thoughts and did not have. Belle's question hung in the air, and Gaston asked his own questions:
"Well, what are you so nervous about? You're exaggerating the problem. You're crying like a girl. Why should you go to prison? You haven't done anything. Maurice is free, nobody threatened anybody. There are no witnesses to the money, only Lefou, who I'm sure will be as dead as the grave."
Belle pressed her lips together, and it was evident that she was terribly uncomfortable with the whole conversation. Gaston, too, was very unpleasant, but as was his habit, he tried to look at everything with optimism and somehow resolve everything. D'Arque was silent for a while, crunching the knuckles of his long, bony fingers. Then he stood up and said curtly, confirming Gaston's worst fears:
"You idiot. Proof - what proof do you want, you cretin? The fact is that the prince wants your wife and is looking for a cover to make it look legitimate. And it's bad enough for me that I'm in this for a reason. If you're going to be stubborn, I'll have to confess that I took the bribe, or I'll be worse off than in prison. That's what he said, yelling, throwing things, he was very, very serious. He says he's gonna get Belle out of this marriage no matter what it takes. And you admitted it yourself! Oh, God! But at least they won't find any extra money on me, and maybe I'll be saved-" He groaned again. "They'll ask your fatty mate, too... He'll blame everything on me."
"You know what? Go squelch somewhere else!" Gaston finally got angry and pushed the nasty old man out of his house.
"I can't believe Adam is doing this! It can't be serious!" Belle exclaimed. They decided to go to bed and in the morning go to the bookstore to get a special book that spelled out the laws. Maybe at least the basic ones could be read to be prepared. Belle didn't read legal literature. It was too boring, and she should have! That one should prepare for court was obvious.
