Chapter Text
On a warm Saturday, Sneed told Belle and Jack to leave the hospital for the afternoon. There were only two patients recovering from surgery, and Sneed said Jack’s anxious pacing combined with Belle’s watchful eye was making him itch.
If Jack had his way, he would’ve spent the afternoon with Belle at Government House, eating lavish meals and savouring their time together without the threat of the noose. However, since rescuing orphaned Elsbeth from a life of beggary in Devil’s Elbow, Jack was no longer Belle’s top priority.
Instead, Belle suggested they bring Elsbeth to the docks for the fresh sea air. She summoned a carriage and they rode all the way to Government House to collect her.
“Elsbeth!” Belle called, entering the estate. “We’re home early!”
Jack’s face warmed at her casual use of we and home, both of which he’d never truly had for himself. Government House still made him nervous, given the amount of death threats he’d received from its owners and inhabitants, but he supposed it fit the definition of home well enough. It was where he preferred to spend his nights, and where he’d had his happiest moments--watching Fanny unsuccessfully woo suitors, learning to read books alongside Elsbeth, kissing Belle until they were both breathless.
And he and Belle had been a we for quite a long time.
Elsbeth and Clara, who had unofficially been assigned to watch Elsbeth when Belle was gone, hurriedly descended the stairs. Elsbeth collided with Belle’s skirts and wrapped her arms around Belle’s legs, her feet stumbling on the hoop skirt underneath.
Belle gently untangled Elsbeth from her skirts and knelt down so she and Elsbeth were face to face. “Do you want to come with Jack and I for an adventure this afternoon?”
Elsbeth’s face had a permanent sort of frown etched into her features. Her childhood had not been easy, causing her mouth to rest naturally downturned and her eyebrows scrunched in concern. However, a good meal or exciting adventure pleased her enough to elicit a slight smile.
“I would,” Elsbeth said. “Are we going now?”
“In just a moment,” Belle replied. “Let’s go put on our nice dresses. We need something warm, for there’s a chill in the breeze.”
Belle straightened and hoisted the small girl onto her hip, the subtlest look of discomfort flashing over her face. Jack reacted immediately, wordlessly and gently taking Elsbeth from Belle’s grasp and swinging Elsbeth around to his back to carry her up the stairs, her arms clasped tightly around his shoulders and neck.
Belle gave him an annoyed look, but it wasn’t Belle that Jack was worried about. Belle was strong and resilient. Her aorta was a different story.
The three of them made their way to Belle’s room, where Elsbeth had also been staying, sleeping on a small cot at the foot of Belle’s bed to stave off her recurring nightmares. Belle shed the coat and skirt of the blue dress she’d taken to wearing to the hospital, the sleeves short to keep her arms bare. Jack helped Elsbeth out of her linen house dress, fetching her warmer outfit more suitable for the outdoors. Belle had picked a red dress to match Elsbeth’s. From afar, one might think they were related--sisters, perhaps.
They took a carriage for the journey to the docks. Belle refused to tell Elsbeth where they were going, so Elsbeth spent the entire ride guessing.
“The hospital?”
“No.”
“Are we going on a boat ride?”
“Closer.”
“Am I visiting home?”
Belle smiled tightly. “Well, now you’ve just gone completely off track.”
Elsbeth hadn’t been back to Devil’s Elbow since the cholera outbreak had happened. It had only been a week, and Belle and Jack hadn’t yet told Elsbeth about her family’s fate. They’d discussed it at length, but it was a difficult conversation to have. As far as Elsbeth knew, she was staying with Belle for a time while her parents and sister, Mary, rested.
The carriage was quiet after that. Belle rested her head on Jack’s shoulder. Across from them, Elsbeth gazed out the window, lost in thought. Belle reached over and took her hand.
They finally reached the docks, a busy strip where merchants boasted their fine fabrics and fresh fruit for competitively low prices. Ships with impressive sails waited in the water, softly rocking from the waves.
The carriage stopped. Jack pushed the door open and hopped out, offering a hand to Belle as she stepped out. Belle turned, catching Elsbeth just as she jumped from the carriage.
“The ocean,” Elsbeth said, her eyes locked on the horizon. She inhaled, deeply. “It smells yummy.”
Belle chuckled, taking Elsbeth’s left hand. Jack took Elsbeth’s right, and the three of them headed towards the merchants’ stands. Belle bought Elsbeth a pastry with jam, regretting it instantly when Elsbeth’s sticky fingers left crumbs on everything she touched.
There was a bench by the water, overlooking the bustling activity of trade and soldiers disembarking from a mission. They headed there, sitting to admire the scenery. Belle and Jack resumed an earlier discussion about a new sanatorium for patients arriving from Britain with consumption.
Elsbeth was lost in her own world, remaining quiet until she pointed at a ship and said, “Can we look closer?”
“Of course,” Belle said, standing. “We’ll just go down quickly. Jack, we’ll be right back,” and then the two of them were off.
Jack watched their trajectory, watched as Belle hurried to keep up with Elsbeth’s darting between soldiers, a screech reaching Jack’s ears as Belle caught up to Elsbeth and scooped her up. A grin graced Jack’s face.
A woman stopped beside the bench, setting some of her recent purchases down to organize them into a bag slung over her shoulder. Jack glanced in her direction.
“You have a beautiful family,” the woman said. Jack started in surprise. “My husband and I haven’t been blessed with a child yet. You are lucky to have been, and so young. How old is your daughter?”
Jack’s thoughts roared so loudly he could hardly hear his own voice as he answered, “Five.”
“I hear that’s a splendid age for them to be,” the woman continued. She packed another paper-wrapped package into her bag. “Survived the ages of testing limits and sleepless nights. Does she sleep through the night, now?”
“As long as she doesn’t have nightmares,” Jack answered. “Nights are hard for her.”
“Ah, it’s hard to get sleep as a new parent. So I hear,” she said. Her bag packed, she smiled cheerily and walked away.
Jack didn’t know why he hadn’t corrected the woman. That he, Belle, and Elsbeth weren’t a family. Not in the official sense, anyway. Their situation, in fact, was dire. Elsbeth was an orphan, unaware that she could even be described as such. And Belle and Jack had only recently been allowed to see each other without Jack’s death being swift to follow.
Perhaps he had wanted to stay in the illusion, if only for a moment. In another life, Belle was his wife and Elsbeth, their daughter. The most stressful times of their life were trying to catch sleep during Elsbeth’s short naps as an infant, and finding tutors to begin her education. In another life, Belle and Jack lived in a society that accepted not only their marriage, but Belle’s status as a surgeon and her radically successful ideas.
But the only life they had was this one, where so much time had been lost while Lady Jane pried them apart. Where sooner or later, someone had to break the news to Elsbeth. But it wouldn’t be this afternoon, with the sun shining brightly and the sea-salt breeze ruffling the strands of hair falling loose from Belle’s updo as she led Elsbeth back to Jack. Elsbeth’s face held a brightness Jack hadn’t seen before, and he wanted to keep it there as long as possible.