"Adele may I come in?" Jane asked, knocking softly on the door.
The door was wrenched opened and Adele smiled up at Jane.
"Of course"
She ran back into the room, leaving Jane grinning as she closed the door behind herself and stepped inside. Adele was still unpacking her suitcase, though its contents were small.
"I see you have a uniform at your new school" Jane said, commenting on the three other dresses identical to the one she was wearing. Adele nodded, folding the final one and laying them in a pile to one side.
"Indeed, we are all to look the same. We never wear anything else"
A slight pang to Jane's stomach.
"And what became of all your pretty dresses you once wore?"
"Most of them I left at Thornfield before the fire, and they were lost. The ones I look to school were taken from me".
Adele no longer sounded sad about losing her dresses, but Jane could tell in her voice that at one time she had been, and that feeling was now replaced with disappointment.
"Well, that will never do for our Christmas party",
Adele looked at Jane questioningly.
"What do you say if me and you take a trip into town tomorrow. We can find a dress there for the Christmas celebrations"
"Oh madam! How wonderful! Yes yes!", she threw her arms around Jane's neck and hugged her tightly. Jane smiled, kissing the top of Adele's head.
"Now, let us leave all this packing. I shall help you when we are finished lunch. You are too hungry, I am sure, for this right now".
And so, hand in hand they walked from the room, Adele telling Jane excitedly of how pleased she was to be home for Christmas.
. . .
Dinner was absolutely wonderful. The kitchen staff had prepared Adele's favourite meal which she ate heartily. She never stopped talking, owing, Jane thought, to the fact she wasn't aloud to speak during meals at her school, just the way Jane had not been able to talk during mealtimes at Lowood. This idea, however, had not occurred to Mr Rochester, for he looked increasingly more frustrated as she continued to talk.
"And then the carriage ride home, ah, it was wonderful. Mr Rochester was so funny, and I was so thrilled to see him"
"I am surprised, Adele, that you have found so much new information to tell me since that carriage ride only a few short hours ago"
Jane shot Edward a warning look, but Adele had not noticed the comment tied up in her own thoughts.
"Mr Rochester allowed me candies, and treats, and was very good to me when I said I ate too many and felt- oh! and I have learned many new songs, in french and in English. Perhaps after supper I could sing some for you, I am sure you will not object-"
"Adele, your supper will soon be cold" Mr Rochester said, and under his breath to Jane, "if it is not already like stone".
Jane kicked his leg lightly and he pulled back. There was the faintest trace of a grin on his face.
'You are right, I should eat. It has been so long since I have had a meal such as this".
"Adele, what kind of food do you eat at your school now?" Jane asked,
"Mostly porridge, pies, sometimes cabbage soup, and on very special occasions, perhaps twice a year we have chickens".
Jane nodded, glancing at her husband as Adele turned back to her meal, seemingly unphased by the sadness of her comment. He looked at her, taking her hand encouragingly.
"Well Adele, I am sure you have not had everything quite so good as Katie's pie, I know I certainly have not"
Adele smiled, "Mr Rochester, indeed you do have a sweet tooth afterall".
. . .
Later that night, Jane was drying her hair after getting a bath when her bedroom door opened and Edward entered, immediately looking for her inside the room. When his eyes fell upon her his searching face softened into a warm smile.
"Now" said Jane, wringing the water from her hair, "You must tell me everything I missed while you were away. I feel like I have hardly spoken to you all day".
"That is because we have not spoken today; Adele did not stop, though I know she is only excited. Still, if she continues on with puffed pastries my patience may wear thin", He paused, "No! They will wear thin!".
"As you say", Jane warned, "She is simply excited".
Seeing Jane struggle with trying to undo the knot in her robe, Edward effortlessly walked to her and began working with the knot as he spoke again.
"Your goodness impedes my hardened ways. It will never do, so instead I will tell you of my encounters in town. I meet with the magistrate council, of course" he said, cautiously. "And what they put to me was a very good offer".
Jane's heart sunk a little. She thanked Edward briefly as the knot came undone and her robe opened. She began walking about the room looking for her night gown, an action she would not have done if she was not trying to avoid her husbands gaze.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, quite impossible to turn down, in fact"
Jane turned to him, nodding and mustering up a smile.
"Then I am happy that you will be content".
He advanced towards her, taking her hand warmly into his.
"It is, however, quite as impossible to turn down the position as it would be to accept it".
Jane looked at him, confused.
"I belong here with you. I belong in my home. How could I expect to live happily without you?. Perhaps one day when I am very old and very grey you shall want me to be gone, and I will need an activity to busy myself with, but for now, I cannot be separated from you".
Jane looked down at the floor, smiling slightly to herself before looking back up into his dark, telling eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him gently, feeling his hands press into her back and cradle her close.
"I would be lying to you if I said I was not happy with your decision".
He kissed her temple, speaking softly. "I know"
"But" she began, stopping quickly,
"But...?" he asked, pulling her reluctant eyes back to his own,
"But I do not want you to look back at this decision one day and think you made a mistake, or gave something up for me. I would never ask you to give up anything for me, surely you would grow to resent me"
"Resent you!" he exclaimed, "Jane, I can promise you that I could never grow to regret a decision that brought me closer to you. It is simply impossible".
Nodding slowly, she played with their interlocked fingers.
"Just so you know, I shall still want you when you are old and grey".
"Mm, is that so?"
"More then ever".
He kissed her lips sweetly before noticing her opened robe. He grinned, walked to the other end of the room and picked up her nightgown from a table close to the window.
"You always place it where you do not remember and then cannot find it"
Jane laughed as she took it from him.
"And you always misplace your cravat and cannot find it. Problem is that you are in no way systematic in where you leave things, and you are much messier than I am, and so I can never direct you to it".
His features glowed as a laugh played across his face- Jane knew he took such delight in being known so well by another person. The simple act of Jane knowing he often misplaced his things showed that someone else held his behaviours and activities close to them. The intimacy was something he had never known.
Jane didn't bother putting on her nightgown before slipping into bed, she was still warm enough from her bath and the fire had warmed the room comfortably. Edward looked at her as she pulled the blankets up around herself, closing her eyes.
"Are you tired, my darling?"
"No, not particularly. Just happy".
He crawled into bed, propping himself up on one arm over her. Jane traced her thumb over his lips.
"I am happy because my family is home. Because I wake up every morning immensely thankful to have a family, and a home and, right now, for everything feeling like it is exactly where it should be".
Edward kissed her forehead, lingering slightly before pulling back slowly and softly pressing his lips to Jane's. As the kiss deepened he pushed Jane's hair back away from her face. He grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, pulling them in deeper.
"How" he began, softly, "How could I ever have imagined that anything could be worth sacrificing a second with you"
Jane smiled, sighing happily. She let her fingers trace the scar on his forehead and around his eye.
"They are still grizzly marks" he said sharply.
She shook her head,
"No, they are not. Nothing of yours could ever be grizzly to me".
He brought her lips to his once again, his finger tracing up the inside of her thigh. She gasped lightly as his fingers trailed over her.
"Now, Ms. Rochester, I believe I owe you a debt I must repay"
"Indeed, you have kept me waiting for you for over almost a week"
"Then I shall keep you waiting no longer"
As Jane relaxed back in the pillows she felt his head between her legs, her hands gripped the sheets as she felt his soft lips move about her, causing an immediate reaction of her wanting to cry out in pleasure. But just as he begun there was a loud knock at the bedroom door and Jane looked up dizzily.
"No" he said, firmly, raising his hand to stop her. But seconds later the sharp noise of hammering was once again heard on the door and Edward pulled back from her.
"Dammit"
Jane could not help but giggle at her husbands raw frustration as he rose and pulled his robe around himself. She covered herself in the blankets, pulling them up around her face to stifle the laughter. He glanced at her before opening the door, shaking his head at her amusement. He opened the door only a crack, and Adele's voice filled the room.
"Oh Mr Rochester! Thank goodness! There is this horrible noise coming from my room, it is a horrible, wailing cry coming from the window. I think it cannot be right, it must be a ghost"
"Adele" he said, shifting his weight annoyed, "It is only the window. The room was cleaned before you came today, I am sure it was simply not closed all the way. Open it and close it again".
"Even if that is true, I am too upset to sleep. Where is Ms Eyre? She will not object to me sleeping with her"
"Jane is changing" he said quickly, "She cannot see you right now".
"Then why are you in the room?" she asked, innocently confused.
"Because Adele, we are married. Now, go back to your room and sleep! The sooner you fall asleep the sooner you will wake up to a big breakfast".
And with this, she was gone. Jane heard her little feet bolting down the hallway as Edward turned and closed the door. With his hand still on the knob, he looked at Jane who was grinning broadly.
"I do not know what I shall do with that child"
"Tell me something" Jane asked as he discarded his robe once again, "Who indeed changes in the middle of the night?"
"Hush, I had to think quickly" he said, crawling back over the bed. "Now, where were we?"
As his fingers pulled back the blankets from around Jane and traced the curves of her body the door was knocked on once again, though cautiously this time,
"Mr Rocheste-"
"ADELE GO TO SLEEP NOW!"
With the sound of echoing feet running through the hallway once more Jane was filled with uncontrollable laughter. Edward's face broke into a smile as he began laughing too. He dropped his head onto Jane's stomach before pulling up and shaking his head, defeated.
"I give up!" he cried.