A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

Author:Eve Marie Mont [Mont, Eve Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2012-02-21T06:00:00+00:00

PART 4

CHAPTER 18

I woke to the sounds of horses and the smell of hay. For a moment, I panicked, expecting licks of fire and pillars of smoke all around me. But when I opened my eyes, I knew exactly who and where I was. I was Jane again, and I was back at Thornfield.

It had worked! Papa Legba had let me through. This time, the journey to Jane’s world had not been jarring and terrifying; it had been like slipping into a warm bath—comforting, reassuring. I was so relieved to be back. My brain would not allow me to dwell on the horror I’d just experienced. Lockwood already seemed very far away. All I could think about now was Rochester and how much I’d missed him.

I ran to the barn doors, which opened onto a brilliant day. I had but one path to walk, one lawn to tread, and I might see Rochester again. The fields and gardens looked so different than the last time I’d been here. It was spring now, and the hedges were full of roses. As I glanced up at the façade of the mansion, I caught a glimpse of Grace Poole standing on the battlements where I had once stood. She was peering out with a hand held over her eyes, staring straight at me.

I hurried my pace, approaching the walled garden where Rochester and I had sat to discuss his engagement to Miss Ingram. I was startled to find him there again, sitting on the same bench with a book and a pencil in his hand. Every nerve in my body came unstrung. I hadn’t expected to react so strongly to seeing him again.

Much as I wanted to run to him, I couldn’t speak to him, not yet. I attempted to sneak into the side entrance so I could go upstairs and change out of my dress, but he spotted me as I passed behind him.

“Hello!” he cried, putting down his book and his pencil and rising to greet me. “There you are! Come over here, you wicked sprite!” I approached him shyly, as if we were meeting for the first time. “Jane Eyre? You look like a dream to me. What the deuce have you done with yourself this last month?”

I was back from somewhere. But where had I been? Slowly I recalled this part of the story—Jane’s Aunt Reed had taken ill, and Jane had gone back home to tend to the woman who had tormented her as a child. I was supposed to be returning from her funeral. But I was still wearing Michelle’s red dress—hardly funeral attire. I drew my coat closed and buttoned it full to the top.

“I have been with my aunt, who is dead.”

“A true Janian reply! I am sorry for your loss, but did you forget all about me in your absence?” His words seemed to imply he had missed me. “You must see the carriage, Jane, and tell me if you don’t think it will suit Mrs.

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