High Pedestals

The Library

Beast and Belle sit in the library. The sun shines through the windows, both beings are captivated in their books. Suddenly Belle slams hers shut, Beast looks up in surprise. She sets it on the table and stands up.
"Are you alright?"
"It's infuriating!" She turns to him in frustration as a reply. "For men to think they can just force marriage upon women, it's sickening! We're people too! We're not housekeepers or child producers, we're people! We should be able to decide who we marry." She sits down and gives a sharp sigh to conclude her rant. Beast is stunned, and a little embarrassed to hear things that upset Belle were things he used to believe in.
"I take it, you're familiar with this problem?" She glances at him for a moment then looks down at her hands in her lap.
"There's this man in Villeneuve, he's relentless in asking for my hand in marriage."
"And you don't want to marry him?" Belle looks at Beast, disgusted by the thought.
"Absolutely not! He's, arrogant, brainless, and has nothing in common with me- yet he can't get it through his head how that'd effect our marriage. What tops it off is his endless love for the war. Honestly he acts as though he's a fresh war hero, proud and riding on his horse through the town. When really the war's been over for years! I mean honestly, who'd want to marry him?" Belle rubs her temples in disbelief that he's even a real person. Beast's eyes are wide, this man sounds incredibly familiar- not only to himself when he was younger, but to someone he was close too, like brothers almost.
"This man..."
"Yes?"
"Is his name Gaston?" Belle turns up to Beast in bewilderment.
"Yes! How did you know that?" Beast looks down and shakes his head.
"I knew him." Now Belle's eyes widen, eager to hear this.
"You did?"
"Oh yes, I knew him all too well."