A Beast Sees No Beauty

Chapter Twenty-Six

Juliet wrung her hands nervously as she eagerly awaited the arrival of her family. Her party was to be this evening, and a buzz was in the air. The oldest of her siblings had chosen to stay with her father, no doubt to figure out how to legally retrieve her from this household by nightfall. Still, she could not imagine how that would end.

Would she leave willingly with the dizzying feeling of leaving behind her beloved? Would she fight tooth and nail to grab ahold of Vincent? Would he be hurt in the aftermath of it all? Surely he wouldn't be forced into a cell! If he went to court then he could be hanged!

The thought of Vincent with a noose around his neck sent a shiver down her spine. There was such a gross feeling of remorse that all joy for the festivities that evening disappeared in the same flurry they had arrived in. She didn't want to see Vincent hurt for her - even if he did warrant it in some ways. He did deserve punishment for his cruel ways, but he had changed. He was a better man now.

"Miss?" Viola stood there, hands running down her apron to rub off any grime that may have stuck. Viola could remember the first time she saw Juliet in all her beautiful glory, the spitfire who tamed their master. Now, she seemed more reserved, but the raw kindness and beauty inside of her remained intact. "Some of your family just arrived, you should greet them."

"Of course, they must be worried sick about me," Juliet hesitated for a moment, wondering how it would look if she canceled everything just to hide away in Vincent's arms forever. She suddenly didn't want to see her family again. She was fine with waiting months longer before spending any time with them.

"Miss Juliet, is somethin' wrong?" Viola could see the tears before they fell, but knew there was little to be done to stop it. She had seen it many times in her children, there was nothing that could stop the tears until after they started.

"What if they- what if they hurt him? Or force us apart? I... I couldn't bear it!" Juliet fell into Viola's arms, small sobs falling from her lips as all the awful thoughts manifested into the second strongest emotion she'd ever felt. 

"Miss!" Viola strongly scolded her but supported her form against her own. With her arms still wrapped around Juliet's back, she heaved the woman to stand up straight. "Is this what you want them to see? Do you want them to see you so thoroughly defeated that you can't even stand? You've gotta stand up for yourself! If you want to stay here - and I honestly don't know why you do - then you got to show them how utterly happy you are here. Show them the joy you feel every day in getting to wake up and walk in the garden, or sitting with the Master. Show them that, and then there will be nothing to fear."

Juliet quieted herself, listening to the wise words of someone only a few years her senior. She suddenly felt ashamed of how she acted, ashamed to be such an emotional wreck before she acted as the hostess for the evening. "You're right, I am acting a fool."

She stood up straight, sniffling as she cleared her cheeks of all traces of her tears. Viola held Juliet's elbows, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "You'd best wait a few minutes now, wouldn't want to worry your family unnecessarily."

Juliet let out a strangled chuckle but nodded nonetheless. She didn't want to imagine what her siblings would do if she walked in all teary-eyed. Instead, she forced herself to straighten up, to forget all those silly things she had imagined and instead focus on her task at hand: to show everyone she was perfectly fine, and happy.

"Yes, well, would you mind helping me fix myself back up again? I would hate to appear before them all ruffled." Viola smiled as she guided her mistress back to her seat in front of the vanity mirror. She played with Juliet's long locks for several moments before speaking.

"I must say, Miss Juliet, you're looking mighty pretty tonight. It's a different look for you," Indeed, the dark satin gave her a more sultry look. Never before had Juliet worn dark colors, save for the mourning period when she lost her mother, but here she was, wearing a dark navy blue, showing off her shoulders and collar bones like a true seductress. "Would you like anything else? Perhaps some rouge for your lips?"

Juliet had seen many women wear rouge to attract men, but she was never so sure that she needed it but tonight, she felt as though the touch of rouge was all she needed to show her transformation. No longer was she the sweet young girl who sat idly by while all of her family went off and out. No longer was she the shy sister, quietly reading her brother's books to try and have something to talk with them about. No, she was a woman who was in love, albeit not in the greatest of circumstances.

"Yes, that would do quite nicely. Then my hair-" Juliet was interrupted by the voices in the hall, followed by a hurried knock on her door. The arrival of anyone else was unexpected, much less a group of people.

"Juliet? It's us! We wanted to come in to see you, and to help you get ready if you don't mind that is?" Titania spoke through the door with her sweet voice, a voice even Juliet couldn't replicate in all her kindness. 

Juliet glanced up at Viola, sharing a worried look before nodding her head. "Yes, of course, the door's open!"

A storm of three women came in, each dressed in their different ways. Ophelia, in her splendid green gown, Cordelia in a soft cream, and Titania in a velvety pink. All three filled the space with their bright ensembles, while Juliet remained seated in her dark gown. 

Ophelia huddled away in the corner, biting her lip as the other three exchanged pleasantries. She was, after all, the guilty party here. She could have easily remained outside during her Sunday luncheon, ignored Vincent McCoy's arrival to speak with her husband, but instead, she stuck her nose in, and sacrificed her sister. It was not her place to do so, and for that, she felt extremely contrite.

"Ophelia?" Juliet stood finally, giving them an eye-full of her gorgeous gown. She stepped forward until she was in front of the eldest sister, standing head-to-head and nose-to-nose. "I should be mad at you, and perhaps if I was any other person I would be. However," there was silence in the room as Juliet resigned herself to sigh, "I understand that you wanted nothing more than to protect your family. I suppose I should be honored in being your first choice!"

Whatever tensions were in the room dissipated into laughter, and Ophelia allowed herself to smile for the first time in months. "I thought... surely you must hate me?"

"No, never." Juliet wrapped her arms around her older sister, being the comfort Viola was for her only moment prior. After standing in the embrace for a few moments, Juliet returned to her seat, intent to finish her hair before Vincent lost his temper.

"I must say, sister, you are looking lovely this evening, but I feel as though something more needs to be done..." Cordelia grabbed a brush, beginning to work out the knots in Juliet's hair. "Are there any pins here?"

Viola stepped forward from the corner she was in, handing pins to Cordelia one after another until Juliet's hair was perfectly piled on top of her head. Titania and Ophelia sat side by side on Juliet's bed, calmly talking with one another and questioning Juliet's experience in the household.

"And the Master here - Vincent McCoy... is he agreeable?" Titania's question was so juvenile, so simple to answer, yet Juliet felt herself struggling for an answer. She wanted to answer honestly, but she didn't want her sisters to misunderstand.

"He... he is a man, and you know how men are. They can be perfectly agreeable and, well, perfect one moment, and then the next they become the most intolerable imbeciles, but Vincent, he always goes back to being perfect. Even after he loses his temper, or takes a joke too far," Juliet's cheeks colored as she remembered the fiasco earlier that week and the ever so wonderful moment they had shared. "But is he agreeable? I tend to think so, yes."

There was a pause of silence as all of her sisters watched her reaction. It became suddenly obvious to them all that in the short time Juliet was here, she fell for Vincent McCoy, and she fell hard. They weren't sure if they should be happy for the youngest of their siblings to feel the joys of love, or terrified that she chose a man of ill reputation.