Adam tried to enjoy his breakfast, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her wipe her eyes as if hiding a tear. He broke. Having no experience with women, he had no idea how to deal with female emotions, and like most inexperienced men he was panicked by the thought of her starting to cry at the table so he said
“Look, I’ll try them on since you went to all the trouble of making them fit.”
She looked up and smiled, all the clouds gone from her face. She said “I would like that.” and resumed eating her breakfast with an air of great satisfaction.
Adam had no appetite anymore. He sat and looked at the clothes, and felt as if he had been very neatly handled.
Of course, once he had tried on the clothes there was no way to back out of wearing them. They did fit rather nicely, and the trousers had a convenient little hole in the back to accommodate his tail. Everyone, including the butler showered him with compliments, saying he looked so distinguished, so mature. He resented this, even as he enjoyed the attention. He thought it was unfair of them after all this time to make him feel as if he would be doing something wrong by not wearing clothes.
When spring came and the snow was finally melted, Bella departed amid much lamentation from everyone except Adam.
They all begged her to come back and visit them soon, an invitation that caused the hair along his tail to stand up on end. He took the butler aside later. “I don’t like it” he said “This is my house after all, and though I might have no choice as to who spends the night, I resent not being asked before people are issued carte blanche invitations to come again whenever they please and stay as long as they want.” He was trying hard to speak gently, and appear reasonable and mature, though really all he was worried about was having to wear clothes because of a lady being in the house. He wasn’t too worried about the marriage proposals, as he thought he had found a good loophole in that magical clause with his tactic of mumbling.
The butler suspected all of this, and did his best to soothe Adam’s ruffled fur. He said that it was just that the girl was so pleasant to have about, everyone liked her and Mrs Hughes said that it did her poor heart a world of good to have a lady about the house occasionally. He was all humility and sincerity, and Adam grudgingly agreed that it could do no harm to allow Bella to visit once in awhile. Afterwards, he brooded on this conversation. He felt trapped, as if his life was being skillfully maneuvered by someone else in a direction not of his choosing.
Chapter 4: For the Good of All Concerned
Bella returned at the beginning of summer, bolder than ever and full of grand ideas for the gardens and the house. Adam put his foot down when he heard her say garden and made it very clear that under no circumstance would he allow her to alter his precious rose garden.
Bella offered no opposition to this, but she seemed so abashed and even a little humiliated to have trod on his toes with what she called her little suggestions. She seemed so upset with herself that Adam gave her the key to the library, a room that had been something of a sanctum for him, so that she would forget about the garden and stop having hurt feelings and avoiding eye contact with him wherever he met her in the house. He regretted it as soon as the key passed from his hands and memories of quiet hours spent locked inside with his books filled his head as Bella walked away from him, the key hanging around her neck like a trophy and a victorious swagger in her step.
Then one night at dinner while she was rambling on about the daisies she wanted to plant around the stone walkways out front, Adam mumbled his usual proposal of marriage as he cut a bite of chicken from the breast on his plate and she looked up at him as if in surprise.
“What was that, Adam?”
He froze right in the middle of raising his fork to his lips. His stomach felt fluttery as he slowly turned his hazel eyes to her bright blue ones. He didn't know what to do, his strategy had never failed him before. He felt the fur rise along his spine and suddenly he felt as if he couldn't breathe.
She smiled sweetly and never once did her gaze break from his. “I didn’t hear what you said, Adam. What were you saying?”
He played for time to think by setting his fork down carefully and looking down to rearrange the fine linen napkin on his lap. He wondered when she had actually realized the weak point in his defense and cleared his throat, wondering if the curse required him to repeat the words when asked.
It did.
He tried to say “Oh, nothing” or “I don’t remember” but all that would come out were coughs and his mouth felt very dry, however many sips of wine he took. She waited patiently with her hands in her lap. Somehow in the corner of his eye it seemed as if she was leaning forward ready to pounce like a great cat, and he was her frightened prey. Finally, he could no longer resist the compulsion and the words jumped out of his unwilling lips. “Would you marry me?” She smiled broadly. The smile of a woman who has won. “Yes.”
Adam felt as if the bottom had dropped right out of his stomach. He felt dizzy, and everything seemed to go a little dim. He was wondering who had heard him ask her to marry him...perhaps he could pretend it had never happened...but then everything went dark.
When he woke up, he was laying on the floor and he felt very cold and very sweaty. His skin felt tingly and oversensitive, and when he sat up something about his rear felt very wrong...he put his hand on his head and nearly fainted again. His fur was all gone! He looked at his naked hands and started gasping uncontrollably. He looked around him and saw many familiar faces smiling at him. Faces he hadn’t seen for ten years. The butler had his arm around Bella’s shoulder and she was putting on Mrs Prince’s heirloom ruby ring.
Adam stood up and his clothes sagged almost off of his body. The beast sized shirt was a tunic on him now and he had to hold his trousers up with one hand to keep himself decently covered.
The butler had many more wrinkles on his face than Adam remembered and he looked very happy.
“Congratulations on your marriage, young master!” he said as he left Bella’s side and gave Adam a warm hug. “We are all so happy for you, I hope you don’t mind, when I heard you say the words, I went and fetched your mother’s engagement ring for the young lady.”
He gestured towards a timid looking man in priest’s robes. Adam couldn’t remember ever having seen him before, but there was something odd and familiar about the holy father’s sharp cheekbones and light grey hair...
“Father Timothy is here to perform the ceremony and we shall all stand witness!”
Adam tried to protest, something about this seemed too convenient, too quick, but his tongue wouldn’t form words and he was still so bewildered and woozy that he could barely stand.
Suddenly Bella took his arm, and the butler kept a tight hold on the other. He shook his head, trying to clear it as the priest began speaking but everything remained foggy. All of his senses seemed to be reporting to his brain in a strange language and he couldn’t hear clearly. When the priest asked him “Do you so vow?” he gave up.
“Yes”
Adam heard Bella say yes as well a few moments later and then everyone started clapping and cheering. His eyes met the priest’s for a moment and he thought that the man’s dark eyes were glinting with something that looked like amusement, and his cheeks seemed remarkably smooth and his features very sharp for an old man with silver hair.
Bella was kissing him then, and even in his confused state he noticed that she was both taller and stronger than she had seemed when he was a seven foot tall beast. Her clever blue eyes were right on a level with his as her firm lips pressed on his in a legally binding kiss.
Later that night, the butler was sitting at home with his family. It was the first time they had laid eyes on him in ten years and they were all very happy.
His wife’s brother one Mr. Martin, was enjoying a cigar with him and they were discussing the events of the past year.
“It was a ticklish business, but I knew once I saw the lad that my Bella could handle him just fine. She alway
s was a clever girl, and good at handling people. I knew once I had been here that you were right. He was entirely too content with the state of affairs as they were, and it was in everyone’s best interest to bring it all to an end.”
He took a long draw of his cigar and continued
“All he needs now is a firm hand and some guidance. With you and me and Bella about, I think everyone will do very well.”
He chuckled in a very satisfied manner and continued smoking the cigar.
The butler frowned for a moment. His conscience pricked him when he reflected that he had tricked his young master into marrying his niece. But then he looked at his wife, who was snuggled comfortably under his arm. His good faithful wife, who had raised his children for ten years under strange and difficult circumstances. Any man would be lucky to have such a woman, he knew. And Adam could do much worse than to marry a girl from such a loyal clan. His conscience was soothed by this thought, and he took a long draw of his cigar, relishing the sight of his fingers on the stem of his wine glass.
Beauty and the Beast Page 2
