Chapter 2

Day one with Adele. I could do this. I had never taught someone before, and I didn't do very well with children. We just didn't get along.

I opened the door to the large deep brown armoire. There, inside appeared dresses. They were only three or four, and I had no idea how a person could live like that. There was on that was obviously meant only for special occasions. I grabbed the least dreary one, it was a pale pink one with long slightly puffy sleeves. I wasn't an exact copy of Jane. We have the same ideas, but I'm not nearly as plain as she is.

I did my best to put on the corset, and from history class I had learned that the thing didn't need to be fit very tight, just enough to fit into the dress that appeared before me. I put on the rest of the slips, and finally my shoes. That was the hardest part, to lace them up in a corset. Bending over was what made it so terrible. I finally, after some effort, buttoned up the front of my dress and looked at my hair.

It was a deep brown with hints of red, which I received from my mother's side of the family. It went to right below my shoulders. In the room, there was a desk, and I had put my hair ties on it from the day before. I went over to it, and tried to fix my hair. I rolled the form up, to that it was so flat, and pulled it back into a bun. I looked at myself in the full length mirror before me.

I wasn't me anymore. I had only been here for 12 hours and I already felt like I belonged. I had even done anything and I knew that I was meant for this place. However I had gotten here, whoever decided that it was a good idea to shove me into the 1800's was now my new favorite person.

I left the room, making sure to grab the key to it from the stand, and locked it behind me. I slipped the light key into my pocket of my dress which I had excitedly discovered.

I went down the sun-filled hallway and tried to navigate myself towards the servant's kitchen. After many wrong turns, I finally came upon it, and saw Mrs. Fairfax sitting at a table, reading.

"Ah!" she exclaimed when she heard me arrive. "I'm so glad to see you up. Adele has been asking about you since she woke up." she smiled at me.

"Has she been up long? I can get up earlier from now on if you want." I quickly spoke. I didn't know how Jane always knew when to arrive. There wasn't a clock in the room.

She shook her head. "Oh no. This time is perfect. Adele gets up earlier than I do sometimes. You're perfectly fine dear." she arose from her chair.

I felt myself breathe a sigh of relief. "Let's go find Adele. She's with Sophie. She'll be thrilled to meet you. I just know it." she gestured me to follow her.

I had gone down there with the intension of eating, that wasn't happening now I guess. I wistfully looked at the uneaten food on her plate and followed her out.

Oh sweet little Adele. She was so eager to preform and dance. I didn't let her. I knew that she would hate me for a bit, but I could live with that. I knew that I wasn't Jane so I didn't need to act like her.

"Adele, we don't have time for a dance. Maybe after you finish your mathematics then we will. How does that sound?" She and I were sitting at a round table in the room that was our designated class room. Adele clearly wasn't paying attention, and instead was playing with her brown ringlets. At the slight possibility of being able to dance she perked up and a smile grew on her round face.

"Oui Miss Stark." she looked back down at her paper I had given her with addition and subtraction, with a bit of multiplication. I had no idea how much she had known before, so I was winging it. I prayed that she was supposed to know this stuff, and if not, she would be a little genius.

After a week, Adele finally warmed up to me. Sophie, her French maid, had taken her for the rest of the afternoon. It was a bit of a break, and I was sitting back in the kitchen, which seemed to be a central meeting area. Mrs. Fairfax was concentrating on her needle work while we sat in silence.

"Thank you do much." I said in a quick outburst. She looked up and gave me a puzzled look, her nose wrinkling under her thin glasses. "For this job. I don't know what I would have done without it."

Her face smoothed out into a warm smile after a moment. "Oh you're welcome dear." she took a breath. "You know, we did have another girl from Lowood write us. Perhaps you know her, Miss Eyre?" So Jane did write them. I nodded. "But when we wrote back to tell her that she would be perfect for the job, she disappeared. she never wrote back." her voice got very low. "The school wrote to say that they hadn't see her, but they would tell you about the job because you two were very similar." she got suddenly happy. "And now here you are!" she flub her hands in the air. "And you are much better than I ever expected. And you won't leave us like Miss Lane." she smiled warmly. "You're the best thing that's happened to Adele in a while. Thank you."

I nodded. "You're welcome." I stood up. "I think I'll go rest while Sophie still has Adele. I will see you at supper." she nodded back at me.

I quickly left the room. I didn't remember writing anyone. Not that I would have, especially because I wasn't there. I wondered where Jane was if she had mysteriously disappeared. No one seemed to know. I had a feeling that this was all connected with the main reason I was here to begin with. I would figure it out one way or anther.