-Of course I do not own these characters, I'm only borrowing them
-Of course I do not own either Jane, Edward or Adele, I'm only borrowing them. However, the Rochester children are mine.
Moonlight
"Have you seen Mrs. Rochester?" Edward asked the maid.
"I believe the mistress is in the library" the girl replied.
"Jane, my dear, what are you doing?" he found her in the library, sitting on the windowsill, thumbing through a book, with only a candle and moonlight for light.
"The formula that I used after I finished suckling the children, I thought I put in here".
He watched her thumb through the book, they had been married 15 years and neither could have imagined a happier life. She was barely 19 and he was 38 when they married, but somehow, it worked.
His sight had not been the same since the fire, though his eyes had healed enough to see their children, but the physician had warned them that Edward's sight would never been as good as it was before the fire.
The last fifteen years had been good to them, although Jane was no longer a girl of 19 and her husband had passed his 50th birthday several years ago. They had three children, in addition to Adele, who they loved as their own, even if she was not born of their own flesh.
Margaret was 14 and becoming a beautiful young woman with a bright and inquisitive nature. Thomas was 10 and had inherited his mother's inquisitive mind and quiet stoicism. He was already asking his father questions about the estate; his father answered his son honestly, although it would be a few years more before Thomas would take over as master of Thornfield from his father. Their youngest, George, was 7 and a bright ball of energy who his parents adored.
Edward watched as the moonlight framed his wife. Her dark hair was loose and she was only wearing a simple cotton nightgown, with only a shawl to protect her from the cool night air. He could have offered her jewels and fancy clothes, like the other women within their circle, but he knew she would turn him down. That was why he fell in love with her, her simplicity and honesty was a refreshing change from other women he had known.
Her focus still in the book, Jane knew her husband was watching her. She has been young when she married Edward, not much older than her daughter was now. Underneath that gruff and cold exterior was a man with many passions and after fifteen years, she knew those passions well. Internally, he had a gentle soul and soft touch; he had just been outwardly hardened by years of heartache and deception. Edward Rochester would have not been the man she thought she would have spent her life with, but looking back on everything that had happened, he truly was the only man for her.
"Jane, what would you need that for? Our children have grown far beyond that" Edward asked.
"It's for Adele; I thought that she might need it".
Two years into her own marriage, Adele had recently given birth to her first child.
"Jane, the child is barely a month old, let Adele suckle him and then you will give her the information".
"I suppose your right" She returned the book to the shelf and then to her husband's arms. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his scent. Looking up at him at his fingers gently caressed her cheekbones; she knew why she had married him.
"Why don't we go to bed, it's been a long day?" Edward offered.
"Yes, it has been a long day" Resting her hand in his, she followed him out of the library and toward their rooms.
The End