THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER -Chapter Fifteen (Patreon)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

It was less than a fortnight since the conversation the two had shared regarding Lord Carrigan and the topic of marriage. Things had carried on as usual between them and it had seemed as though the time had flown by with much ease as their days together were extremely enjoyable in one another’s company and in the sort of schedule they undertook.

However now, all suddenly became out-of-habit and Beauty felt rather nervous. The hour had grown quite late and still, Beast had not come to the kitchen to assist her with preparing their supper together.

‘Was he still out upon his stroll?’ she wondered.

He had never been tardy and she wondered what now delayed him. She was not certain whether to feel concern therefore. Beauty decided she would sit another quarter of an hour and if he did not turn up, she would set out to look for him.

When she deemed that the allotted time had passed, she got up nervously from her stool in the kitchen and set off into the castle. “Beast?” she called out.

There was not a shred of evidence indicating that he was nearby or had heard her.

Beauty continued on, corridor after corridor, calling out for him and pausing to listen for any sign of him but still there was no reply.

She was beginning to feel a slight dread creeping over her. She had never once felt alone in the vastness of the castle and now that she was beginning to, it made her ill-at-ease. What would she do if she could not find him? Would she set out into the woods? She wasn’t certain what dangers potentially lay out there. Beast had never made mention and now she wondered whether it was because he had always been with her and there had never been any so long as he was there.

“I cannot afford to think like this,” she declared aloud; her voice echoing a little eerily in the empty corridor of an east wing of the castle she’d barely explored until now.

She set forward and entered another corridor. Her footsteps were the only sounds she could make out as she wandered what felt like aimlessly through the hallways. Everywhere she went she found nothing for her efforts. There was not a recently snuffed candle, warm embers of a dying fire, or signs of the manuscript Beast had been diligently working on.

She was about to give up and start to panic when she reached a sitting room in the far eastern wing of the castle. She thought she heard the soft sound of a piece of wood popping in a fireplace. “Beast!?” Beauty eagerly peered inside and saw him curled up in front of the fireplace; his manuscript within reach though forgotten.

His eyelids fluttered open slowly, “Beauty?”

“I apologize,” she murmured, “I’m sorry. I...I thought I’d lost you er—That you’d gone missing in the forest perhaps as I could not find you in the castle and... I apologize; I did not mean to wake you.” She felt shy and embarrassed for being so alarmed. He had clearly fallen asleep and so hadn’t heard her calling out for him.

“It is quite alright,” he assured softly; his voice a little hoarse. “What is the hour? How long have you been searching for me?”

“Oh, um, not long,” she lied; not wanting to alarm him and make him feel embarrassed that he’d been asleep.

“I still apologize for the inconvenience. I... I had not intended to sleep... It appears my eyes thought otherwise.” He sat up more properly and stretched his limbs. “It appears my entire body thought otherwise,” he noted with some mild amusement.

“It happens,” she told him with a smile. “I’m just glad to see you are indeed safe and sound within the castle and not out in the forest upon a stroll which I would not have caught up with in time,” she mused.

“I finished my stroll long ago. I should have informed you I had returned Beauty; again my deepest and sincerest apologies.”

“It’s quite alright,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand. “Shall we to supper then?”

“Indeed,” he nodded.

She noticed though for the rest of the evening that he seemed groggy in his movements. And when he asked to retire early to bed, she obliged willingly.

But Beast’s condition only worsened as the days went on and Beauty felt both pity and concern for him. He was consistently tired and had developed a bit of a cough. His lungs seemed at some moments to only be able to take in shallow breaths and at other times, he wheezed rather long breaths.

Beauty and Beast therefore spent less time with one another and also resorted to eating quite a bit of an assortment of soups and drinking brewed hot drinks from various fruits and a couple of plants from his garden as well as the addition of honey –which Beast always seemed to have but had never let her join in collecting.

Finally, it seemed that his condition seemed to even out and although he did not seem to be getting notably better, he also did not become any worse.

It was upon a bright morning after this development that Beauty sat with him in their regular drawing room and brought up something of notable interest in their light conversation,

“You have not taken care of the rose bushes in three days,” she noted softly.

“Yes, well, that is because I have been ill,” he replied slowly; his voice a bit low and his breathing still a bit ragged, “I will return to them this afternoon...”

She nodded. “If you wish, I could help you tend to them,” she offered after a moment.

“Oh.” Beast paused here before continuing, “Beauty, it is not that I do not trust you but...I shall tend to them on my own,” he assured.

“As you wish,” she replied; bowing her head in respect of his wishes.

Yet despite this, Beauty noticed that Beast did not so often tend to his roses as before. Over the next week, she rarely encountered him in the task and several times had to remind him in the subtle manner of asking at what hour he would be attending the roses.

She did not like doing so, and yet, she knew it was a necessity for the roses to be tended to properly and upon a regular basis. She did not wish to grow concerned and yet a pit began to build in her stomach over it all.

She was beginning to wonder something silently to herself and she did not know how she would breach the subject to him. It seemed too indecorous of her to even be thinking such things of her friend and yet she had to know the answer.

She just wasn’t sure how she could ever bring it up politely and in a friendly manner. This caused discomfort to her as the two sat in their regular spots in the drawing room together discussing their latest reading about an ancient myth of a land long ago lost.

And then all at once she was broken from her reverie in the midst of that conversation.

“Beauty? Is there...something wrong?” Beast asked her softly.

“Mm? No; oh no,” she responded gently with a shake of her head.

“It is just that—Well, you refuse to meet my eyes much at all today and I can see you are pensive and withdrawn a little and I just wonder what it is that is upon your mind...”

So he had noticed, had he? She felt her cheeks tinge with a slight blush. “It is just...”

“What is it?” he plied gently. “Have I... Is it me? Have I done something wrong to offend you?”

She paused here to consider her words, “It is n... Please do not grow cross with me! Promise you won’t grow cross?” she asked, “I merely wish to be honest with you...”

“You are free to be honest with me at all times,” Beast assured her.

Beauty gave a short nod in acknowledgement of his statement. She took a breath in before she went on as evenly and as calmly as she could though she felt nervous at her own question, “Are you... Are you not taking care of the roses because you wish me to stay here?” she asked.

“What? No! No. No,” he responded; going from surprise to denial to anger in a matter of only a few seconds. “Wh— Why would you—?”

“I did not mean to imply...”

“Then what did you mean by it exactly? Why would you even think that Beauty?” he asked with a cough concluding the sentence.

“It’s just... I was not sure if you—That is, I mean to say... I’m sorry Beast. I-I shouldn’t have asked you that; I apologize...”

“You asked it nonetheless! I am appalled. I have not taken care of my roses as well as I used to simply because I am ill—” He stopped himself here; clearing his throat. He felt tired, dizzy and confused and wasn’t entirely sure all of it was due to his recent illness.

“Y-yes I understand that but I...” Beauty attempted to think of how to explain herself properly, “I have begun to wonder if you... if as well you have not been as diligent because you wish me not to leave here so soon,” she admitted.

He shook his head; a frown etched deeply into his expression. He was in disbelief.

“Please, Beast, do not be afraid to be honest with me,” she pleaded, “I promise I shan’t grow cross at the truth if that is so. We are friends, are we not? I would appreciate hearing the truth of the matter of it,” she told him eagerly, “I desire to know if that has crossed your mind at all even if has been just a pinch. Please.”

A slight growl issued from his throat. “I am ill,” he repeated, “I have not had the strength to make due diligence as I once did!”

“And I understand that,” she assured, “But it is just that I have offered to assist you and you’ve turned my help away as such and I just cannot help but feel that in some small manner you do not wish the roses to grow so quickly so as to remain in one another’s company for some time longer.”

“That is ridiculous,” he grumbled; angry now, “To even suggest such a thing— It— I am insulted that you should think so little of me and imply that I would do such a thing. To do so would be to go against the agreement that has been set between the merchant; your father and I and additionally it implies that I am less of a— That I do not uphold dignity, fairness and a sense of propriety. And it insults our friendship. I do not understand if we are friends as you say that we are how you could even think—nevertheless ask— such a thing of me?!” Were it not for the way his breathing was laboured and his energy considerably low, Beauty knew by now his words would be coming out in a roar. He started to cough a little now and she felt a wave of pity and guilt sweep over her.

“I—I am sorry to have insulted you; to have said anything at all,” she whispered softly in regret; her head bowed. “I apologize Beast...”

He appeared not to have heard her in his sudden bout of coughing or he was simply ignoring her words as a moment later he replied with: “I am going to my chamber to rest for the afternoon...” He got up without another word and made his way from the room.

It was shortly after the time that the two normally took their supper that Beauty arrived at the entrance to his chamber holding a tray with a bowl of soup, some bread and a goblet of water.

Her face was noticeably tear-stained and her eyes a little red as she came in somewhat timidly.

“What is all this?” he asked softly; his voice a bit hoarse from disuse.

“I figured you could use some soup to assist in your recovery...” she murmured, “I do not believe you will get well again upon an empty stomach.”

“Thank you,” he mumbled; humbled and grateful for such thoughtfulness.

He saw now clearly the signs of distress on her face. “Beauty wait,” he called out to her before she could leave his chamber as she had clearly meant to by her swift flight towards his door once she’d placed the soup on the table beside where he now lay. “I am sorry I grew cross with you,” he apologized.

“No, I should not have said what I did,” she told him; turning around and facing him, “Everything you stated was in fact a very strong point and you were right; I should not have inferred such things nor stated them aloud to you. For that, I am sorry Beast.”

He sighed. “Beauty,” he began gently, “I grew quick to anger for something that I can now see was clearly within your logical train of thought with circumstances being what they wer—what they are,” he declared, “And so, it is I who is sorry. I should not have grown cross with you. If we are friends, as you say we are and I do also believe we are, then if we are friends it is my fault for allowing you to believe; to even infer in the slightest that my intentions with the roses were towards that inclination. I apologize.”

Beauty took a deep breath and blinked slowly as her face softened. “I still should not have phrased my thoughts as I did as it appeared I was accusing you. It was not my intention.”

She could see the corners of his mouth pulling up slightly and a moment later, he spoke, “Are we going to sit here all evening and simply apologize over and over again to one another?” he mused. “I should think our time could be better occupied in some manner.”

That made her smile, though gently. “Perhaps first you should begin with your soup.”

“Ah, yes. Yes I shall eat first and then I shall go attend to the roses,” he promised. “And,” he went on before she could open her mouth to speak and argue the fact, “I am doing it of my own desire and not because you have inspired me thus. I intended to go this evening in any case. Now, have you also eaten?”

She gently shook her head; deciding to be truthful.

He tut his tongue. “This simply won’t do. I will accompany you back to the dining room and—”

“No Beast; I shall not have you make the journey. You are ill. It is time you rest here in your chamber and enjoy your meal.”

“Well I simply cannot enjoy it alone. And yet, after all the effort you made to bring it here, I suppose you are right.”

This made Beauty smile a little fondly at his acquiescence.

“I propose something else instead then,” he went on, “Bring yourself some food up here and we shall enjoy supper together as we have always done. That is, unless, you are opposed to doing so. Then I wish you to speak up and say so; do not be shy. I shall not be offended... I vow so.”

She smiled gently and shook her head. “I would be honored to share the time together as we have always done. Therefore I shall do as you suggest and bring myself some food and drink. I shan’t be but several minutes. Please begin on your soup Beast. Do not wait for my return.”

He nodded slowly to show he would do so and Beauty set off. She returned not long later with her own bowl, bread and goblet upon another tray she’d found in the kitchen.

The two then shared their meal in a content silence for most of it. They only paused to speak of the flavour of the food; Beast complimenting Beauty upon her use of spices and vegetables. She took the compliments generously and felt quite flattered by them.

When they had concluded their meal, Beauty took care of tidying up and encouraged him to rest. He chose after only a few short words of protestation to let her have her way.

For the rest of that evening, Beauty spent the majority of her time in his chamber reading aloud to him until they were both of agreement that the hour had grown late enough to bid one another farewell and goodnight.