“You do not wish to judge and yet you are judging,” Belle said stepping a foot closer to Earl Baylor, there was already a nice distance between them which made Belle not feel unnerved to close it a little. She crossed her arms, staring at him, her eyes raking his features- letting it be known that she was analyzing him, watching his every move closely. “I am glad that you think of me as quite persuasive, but your sister is already in love with the idea of love. It is already written for her in her palm lines that one day she shall marry,” Though Belle personally viewed marriage as a punishment, she was not here to be anyone’s else savior or to persuade anyone to be ‘saved’ if they wanted to be saved or not- that was their decision not Belle’s, she already had too much on her plate to be worrying about how to save thousands of women with the same mentality. Especially when Lady Maisie is already fond of the idea of falling in love, ever since Belle met her- Belle knew that Lady Maisie shall get married and it won’t be a punishment for her the same way it would be for Belle, so why waste her time saving someone who does not want to be saved? She did not have a hero complex because after all Belle was too cruel of a person to be a hero, she was too cunning and will always do anything to succeed and to gain knowledge.
She was no martyr, that was for sure- well, that was a little bit untrue considering something… But yes, Belle shall always advocate and open doors for ladies to be more expressive with themselves but she will not save people who do not wish to be saved. Time was expensive, “Yes, she shall very delighted. My family had imported a tea from China that is quite lovely, I am sure she shall enjoy it much. I shall also send her with packets of tea bag to share with you and your people.” by ‘your people’ Belle meant everyone in the Rutherfoord house- the maids, the servants, family members who are alive, the workers- their ‘people’.
“Form connections that will benefit you and connections that goes mediumly or strongly with your values. Alliances that will benefit you but make you question your honorable values should be neutral ‘connections’. Keep them close-your neutral alliances, but at a closeness that will mutually benefit both of you without influencing you negatively.” Belle advised. She knew a lot about politics from the educational books her parents will give her to read when she was 6, A Fleur child has to be wise after all. She was brought up with fairytales yes, as most child were, but unlike Kat and Josephine, Thomas, Belle was also brought up with research books and analytical literature as soon as her parents had figured out that Belle’s mind was quite advanced for her age. Louis was also brought up in a similar way but that was because he was to be heir of the Fleur household, meaning he had certain expectations and obligations. Belle also knew of politics as sometimes when her father was discussing with his allies, she would be in his lap during her younger days, drawing as she would sometimes interrupt her father’s meeting through opening the door though the maids would try to stop her. Her father had allowed her in, due to the fact that she was quiet and he knew she shall not disturbed and her father rarely said no to her.
As Lord Baylor began to talk about his thoughts on marrying for love, Belle got the sense that he wishes for tha but he was at a disadvantage where he could not. Belle had smiled warmly at the last part of his sentence, of supporting his sister wholeheartedly. He seemed like a good brother that deeply cared for Lady Maisie, but she wondered will the support truly always be unconditional? “You do have your responsibilities as an Earl yes, your wife needs to have a certain reputation to keep yours high, as after all marriage is also a political tool,” Throughout this conversation, Belle thought about how much they spoke of politics together, it’s been a while since she had a talk of politics with someone from a world which seemed similar but yet at the same time so different from her’s. She mostly talked politics with her brothers or with Kat as Belle had taken the role of her tutor for some time being or with Louisa.
As he continued to dive into the world of ‘love’ Belle could sense he had a longing for someone with his words. But with who? That was a question for the ages. She blinked, furrowing her brows when he asked about what she thought of love. It was quite an easy answer but she was figuring ways to say it in English that was understandable to the English dialect, as some phrases and words worked better in French than in English. “If I said that I do not believe in love, that would be a lie. Love yes exists and takes various forms- platonic and familial love are the love I am most accustomed too, and I am in love with all my friends and family members as I hold them dear to my heart. When people talk of love they mostly just mean romantic but love- whether platonic or romantic is love and love can hurt. Now, romantic. I suppose that love is a concept that exists in such manner, but love does not conquer everything as most people like to think, those who think love is a powerful conqueror are fools,” Belle said with a cool tone. “And romantic love has a form of vulnerability that I do not enjoy, every lover is a waiter and every lover is in sorrow and feels lost. Thus, it never made sense to me why people would like the idea of being lost, do you perhaps know why?”