A Defiant Liaison

VII

"When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes." Victor Hugo

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VII.

That morning, Peter had discovered that he did not possess the virtue of subtlety. Such was the case when he began inquiring with Grace after Belle. He, along with the rest of his family and the dinner guests, had stayed the night at Ashwood House. Peter had been expecting, hoping, to meet Belle again at breakfast, but alas, she had already left for her work in the Ashwood village.

It was then that he had learned of the ridiculous deal she had fallen victim to in order to earn a wage in the village, and it angered Peter greatly that anyone could view such a deal as fair. It certainly was not fair.

Peter was utterly unsure of the spell that Belle had cast over him the night before at dinner, but something had changed within him. Standing before her, as he was now in the grocer, Peter felt completely bewitched. He had never experienced such feelings before. His attention had never been captured like this before.

Of course, he had noticed pretty women before, but then, he supposed, Peter had never seen a lady as beautiful as Belle. He had never seen a woman like her before ever. It was as though he'd had no idea that women could be so lovely before he laid eyes upon her.

But beauty, to be certain, was merely skin deep, and what commanded Peter's attention was note solely Belle's striking face. Peter wanted to know her nature, her mind, her thoughts. She wielded an almighty shield to keep herself safe. He felt a yearning from deep within to gain her trust. He wanted her trust, and he wanted her faith. He could see that these gifts would indeed be challenging to earn from one who had no doubt suffered as she had.

Peter had dreamt of it the night before. The very thought fuelled an anger inside of him that he had never known was there. But in looking upon Belle, in seeing the fear in her eyes at the very notion that Mr Andrews was angry, Peter knew that he could never be irresponsible with emotions like anger.

She possessed a heartbreaking amount of fear for someone so young. Peter believed they were probably a similar age to one another, and he felt rather selfish at really never knowing true fear.

Inconvenience and frustration, to be sure, but never fear.

Peter wanted to earn Belle's trust. Such a gift would be an honour.

Mr Andrews stomped back into the shop and glowered at Peter. He would regret his slight deception only in the way that it might impede on the service his mother received, but he would never regret securing Belle a fair deal.

Regardless of the fact that Peter had assured Belle that Mr Andrews now understood her value, Belle had tensed now that he had returned from the flat upstairs. She was looking past Peter now, watching Mr Andrews carefully, almost as though she was ready to run at any moment.

What sort of evil had she known in her young life?

"Will you show me what you are doing?" Peter asked, recapturing Belle's attention.

She blinked a few times, before her golden eyes settled back upon him. Would Peter ever get used to those irises? He did not know. How striking they were against the beautiful, cool brown of her skin.

Peter decided that he was going to remain in the shop for as long as Belle was today, though he did not want to offer to stay with her, to wait with her, or to protect her. He did not want Belle to focus on the fact that she was afraid, but Peter did not want to leave her when she was feeling frightened.