Beauty and the Beast Chapter 1

Frederick La'Belle was the schoolmaster of a small town in France. He was twenty-three years of age, had dark brown hair and was very handsome and smart. His students loved him and he loved them back. Deep within his heart, Fred felt rather upset about his upcoming marriage. His had been arranged to marry a wealthy girl from the village, whom he had no previous connection with. The marriage was necessary however, for his family was beginning to go poor and they needed the money.

Frederick was teaching his class about the meaning of beauty. "Alright, class," he said as he wrote the word 'Beauty' on the chalkboard. "What is beauty?" He then pointed to a girl who was raising her hand. "Yes?"

"Beauty is the fact that someone is very pretty," said the girl.

Frederick snapped his fingers. "Very good, but wrong!" he then stood in front of the first row of students. "Beauty is not a fact, it is actually an opinion." Then he walked up to the girl who answered his question. "Let's take Jill here as an example. Does anyone here think she's pretty?"

A few of the students shook their heads.

"No?" Frederick smiled. "Well, I think she's very pretty."

"She has freckles!" shouted a boy from the other side of class.

"Is that why you don't think she's pretty?"

The boy nodded quickly.

Frederick smiled. "Then that's your opinion." He then walked back to the chalkboard. "There's an old saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It means that beauty is whatever your eyes want it to be."

"I think you're pretty, Tommy," said Jill to the boy.

The entire class giggled as Tommy blushed.

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After school was over, Frederick packed up his shoulder bag, put on his tri-cornered hat and locked the door. He soon began to walk home while reading one of his books.

Just then, a tall, muscular man stood before him. He was Gaston, the brother of Gabriella, Frederick's wife-to-be. "Hello, Freddy," he said rather smugly.

"Bonjour, Gaston," said Frederick, uninterested.

Gaston quickly snatched the book from Frederick.

"Gaston, please give me back my book."

"Now Freddy, we're gonna be brothers soon! Whats it hurt if I take your book to sneak a peek?" Gaston skimmed through the book, and quickly Frederick snatched it back. Gaston grabbed Frederick by his collar. "I'd cool it if I were you, you and your family need my family's money. You may be marrying my sister but if you do anything to tick me off, I'll make sure that you will never see a single cent or her. Got me?"

Frederick smirked, "Well how will that be different than my situation now?"

Gaston let go of Frederick. "I'm serious Freddy, our family is the most powerful in town. We can do worse than you can imagine." And with that, he walked off.

Frederick smirked, picked up his book and cleaned it off. 'What can that be?' he thought. 'I wouldn't mind marrying Gabriella if I had met her first. But her buffoon of a brother is making me want to skip town. But it's for the good of the family Fred, remember that.' He sighed and made his way home to his parents' farm.

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"Hi, son," his father said as Fredrick pushed open the door to their cozy, if a little threadbare, home. "How'd it go today?"

"Oh, the usual," Fredrick replied. "The children are coming along nicely. They're all very bright and their parents should be proud." He wasn't about to tell his father about the 'incident' with Gaston. It would make his parents worry that they weren't doing the right thing by him, which would only make him feel worse about the coming marriage.

"Good," his father said. He turned back to his own reading.

Fredrick smiled as he watched him, knowing precisely where his own bookish habits had come from. He wondered if Gabriella liked books. Or maybe not. Maybe she would be mean and bossy like her brother. Fredrick stopped this line of thinking in its tracks. The last thing he wanted was to be visibly upset in front of his parents. He poked his head around the corner into the kitchen. Normally his mother would be engaged in making supper a this hour, but there was no one there. Puzzled, Fredrick made his way up the narrow stairs to where the bedrooms were located. He looked into his parents' bedroom first.

His mother was there, packing clothes into a satchel with the assistance of the family's valet, Jean-Luc. "Oh, hello, Fred. How was school?" she said.

"Fine. Mother, what are you doing? Are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you! Your father and I are invited to see some old friends in Paris. We met them when we were all in boarding school together. They are very rich, and they have said they want to help us out a little, what with the wedding and all. Don't worry, son, we'll only be gone a few days, and we'll have Jean-Luc with us. You can keep the farm going for that long without us, can't you?"

"Sure, Mother," answered Fred, though deep down he wasn't so sure. The hired hands liked him, but he wasn't certain they respected him enough to obey his orders.

"Excellent," his mother said, not noticing Fredrick's discomfort. "We'll be leaving in an hour or so, and I've got so much to do!" She turned back to her packing.

Jean-Luc followed Fred out the door and into his own room. "Go away, Jean-Luc. I have…some papers to grade," Fredrick said, sitting down on the bed.

"Really, Master Fred? Then where are they?" asked Jean-Luc with a slight smile.

Fredrick sighed. "All right, you caught me. Come in and sit down."

Jean-Luc shut the door, but he did not sit. "Worried about the upcoming marriage, Master Fred?" he asked after a moment.

"Some. I just wish I knew what she was like. I wish I were more certain we'll be happy together. Her brother certainly isn't helping matters in that department. I can't believe I'll have to spend holidays with that musclebound idiot!" He described Gaston's waylaying earlier.

"Hm." Now Jean-Luc did sit beside his young master. "This is a problem. Have you spoken to the Master and Mistress about it?"

"No. They'd only worry, and I don't want that. They have enough troubles on their minds right now."

"True. Well, the only thing I can offer is that you must trust that everything will work out for the best. Perhaps this man Gaston is the black sheep of the family, and everyone else is perfectly nice," Jean-Luc suggested.

Fredrick didn't really think the valet believed this, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "Thanks, Jean-Luc. Why don't you go downstairs and see that Father has something to eat before you all set out for Paris? I'll join you in a few minutes."

"Very good, Master Fred." Jean-Luc left, and Fredrick sighed. No one seemed to understand his misgivings. He wanted more from life than to be tied down in marriage already! But with so little money, he had no other choice but to marry Gabriella and settle down here in the village. He sighed again, and went downstairs to get some supper.

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His parents were in too much of a rush to notice how quiet their son was being. All too soon they were bundling into their hired coach, with Jean-Luc to drive. The valet cracked his whip, and the carriage began to roll. Fredrick waved until it was out of sight. Then he turned and went back into the darkened, empty house, and prepared himself for several unhappy days alone.