Chapter 15 - The Cullens
Bella wakes up with her hair awry, surprised that Edward (who comments “Your hair looks like a haystack… but I like it.”) is still here. Bella does her morning things, comes back and notices Edward has changed. Edward mentions he was gone only for a bit, but did hear her say she loved him in her sleep. She repeats it for him consciously, and after a brief breakfast joke, they go downstairs; Bella eats cereal. Edward invites her to meet his family. Bella is not scared, but worried that they wouldn’t like her.
The Cullen’s live in a house whose exterior looks rather Victorian, “The house was timeless, graceful and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft, faded white, three stories tall, rectangular and well proportioned. The windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration.. I could hear the river close by, hidden in the obscurity of the forest. (321)” Interior is described as, “very brith, very open and very large. This must have originally been several rooms, but the walls had been removed from most of the first floor to create one wide space. The back, south-facing wall had been entirely repl.aced with glass, and, beyond the shade of the cedars, the lawn stretched bare to the wide river. A massively curving staircase dominated the west side of the room. The walls, the high-beamed ceiling, the wooden floors and the thick carpets were all varying shades of white. (322)” Esme and Carlisle are ready inside to greet them. Next, Alice and Jasper descend the stairs to greet them. There’s a large grand piano. Edward plays; the others leave he and Bella alone.
Bella takes Edward upstairs, and Bella notes that there’s a cross on the end of a corridor — apparently carved by Carlisle. Edward mentions briefly about Carlisle’s past, that he was the son of a minister who fervently persecuted witches. Carlisle had actually found a band of vampires and sent a raid against them, but was attacked. He knew his father would burn his infected body, so he reacted instinctively, withdrew and hid himself in a stack of potatoes for three days.
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