Rebel Rose by Emma Theriault

Author:Emma Theriault [Theriault, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

By the time Belle and Philippe made it back to the castle that night, her mind was bursting with ideas. Instead of doing research and circling around the idea of planning a salon, Belle wondered if she could combine them. She imagined herself hosting a salon like Lio had urged her to, only instead of a typical salon spent discussing literature and the like, the goal of Belle’s salon would be to establish reforms that would improve the lives of everyone in Aveyon. She would gather the brightest minds to the castle—philosophers, economists, scientists, and the like—to debate governance and politics in order to establish the best way forward.

The thought of it filled her with hope. She wanted to get to work straightaway, starting with a visit to the bookshop in Plesance in order to brush up on Aveyon’s tax and labor laws so she could establish a baseline to work off of. She briefly considered riding all the way to Plesance and knocking on Monsieur Renaud’s door until she woke him up and he let her into his shop, but decided she would seem a great deal less mad if she waited until morning.

She brought Philippe back to the stables and took her time brushing out his glorious blond mane. He was one of the last reminders she had of Plesance and the small cottage she shared with her father there, and she was happy to have brought the best parts of her old life with her to her new home in the castle. She kissed his nose and made to leave, but someone else entered the stable first. Belle ducked into an empty stall and pressed herself into a shadowy corner to avoid detection.

It was a stable boy seeing to the last of his nightly duties. Suddenly a horse and rider clattered in, nearly scaring him out of his skin.

“I didn’t know you had left, monsieur,” said the stable boy, speaking to the ground in a low bow.

“I had business in the village.”

Belle almost revealed herself by the noise she made when she heard Bastien’s dismissive tone. She moved her body so she could see into the rest of the stable. Bastien tossed the reins at the boy and peeled his gloves off. “Make sure she has enough to eat; I rode her hard tonight.” Belle thought that contradictory to his earlier claim that he had simply had business in the village.

“Yes, my lord.”

“And speak of this to no one.” His voice did not leave room for lightness. Belle didn’t often hear Bastien speak so plainly, without an ounce of warmth or a customary witty barb.

“Y-yes, monsieur.”

The duc left the stable in a rush, leaving the poor boy to tend to his horse well after he should have been sleeping. Belle waited until he walked the horse to her stall before hurrying away unseen. As she made her way to her chambers, she was left to contend with a troubling thought: She hadn’t been the only one to sneak away from the castle that night.

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