For the following few weeks, there may as well have been no one else in the world besides the Rochester's.
Baby Henry was now a few months old, and Jane and Edward were astonished at the amount he had grown. It may not have been so noticeable to other people, but Jane felt like very morning there was something different about him. It made her feel sad already for how fast she knew their son would grow up, and she held him closer than ever as they rocked him to sleep in the nights. Still, raising him was hard and she was more grateful than ever to have a husband who was very willing to do his own part, rocking Henry for hours sometimes when he would not sleep, or was fussy and could not be soothed. Jane was starting to feel more at ease with Henry, and less worried about every move he made. Edward often reminded her that over analysis would drive her mad, and although these words were wise, Jane knew that Edward often stepped in to check on his son when he was sleeping... just in case.
For the first time in what felt like a very long while there were no visitors or correspondences to the Rochester home either.
Edward had been right in his prediction that Eshton would take to his new post with enthusiasm. The initial ceremonial practices of the magistrate had carried Mr Eshton and Anne to town, so Jane had not seen either for weeks. She and Edward were more happy than ever at the turn of events, for Eshton was indeed gone far longer than Edward had anticipated he would be.
Adele had stopped writing for some time, for during the summer her school had relocated to France, and she seemed so busy that she could not write. Although Jane missed hearing from her old pupil, she was glad for the silence, for it meant Adele was very happy. Often in her previous school Adele wrote frequently, too frequently, in order to tell Jane of every little detail of her seemingly dull days. Now, weeks went by without word, which made it all the sweeter when a smiling Edward handed Jane a letter at breakfast with the handwriting that she had helped curate at one time.
Diana and Mary had also fallen silent. Diana was swept up into all the routine of a newly married woman that Jane had never experienced for herself. She had been toured around to all of the Captain's families homes, and introduced in town as the Captains new wife. Again, here Jane did not mind the silence. She knew that Diana was happy, and thoroughly enjoying her new life in somewhat of a spotlight, and that was enough to satisfy.
Mary's silence however made Jane feel slightly uneasy. After Diana's wedding, Mary had left for a new teaching post not so very far away. Perhaps half a days journey, on a good day. She had initially written to say that she enjoyed the position, and that she found warmth and comfort in her new house. But her very scheduled correspondence had fallen through, even with Jane having written twice to her of her own accord. Jane was positive if something was seriously wrong that she would simply come unannounced, but there had been no word or sign of her, and this pressed on the back of Jane's mind in quiet moments.
One night, Jane found herself in the sitting room with her husband and Henry, who was sleeping by the fire in his bassinet. There had been silence between them as they drank the tea that had brought in, but then Edward spoke the thought which had been recently filling Jane's mind.
"It has been a quiet few weeks, hasn't it?" he asked, laying his teacup down beside him.
"Very quiet" she agreed, "If I was not so worried about some of the silences, I would rather enjoy how much it has just been you and me"
He squeezed her hand affectionately, bringing it to his lips briefly.
"Do you remember what I often told you, when we were engaged to be married?"
Jane smiled, nodding playfully.
"You used to tell me 'I wish I had done everything on earth with you'"
"Mmm" he said, "I still wish it. Every person that comes into our lives takes me further away from that goal and I cannot forgive them for it. I wish there was only us, our family, together alone somewhere where no one else could find us".
"I remember you once proposed a similar idea to me. You told me we could live on the moon together, and Adele thoughtfully pointed out that it would be impossible for a very logistical reason- What would I wear for clothes?"
"Well, when she posed the question at the time I had an answer for it, but I fear it was not appropriate. I was always fine with the idea of you wearing nothing at all".
Jane shook her head disapprovingly at her laughing husband. But as he observed her his face fell, and he looked serious.
"But I can see you are not yourself. What is wrong, my love?"
"Mary. Or at least her silence. For everyone else their silence is a sign of busyness and contentment, I am sure. But she has no reason not to write. When I was a governess, I had so much spare time. Indeed, if you did not call me into your parlour every night, and if I had someone to write to, I think it should have consumed all of my time. Mary once wrote frequently, and now she writes very seldom".
"Is it possible she is just preoccupied? Or as you say kept busy and contented?"
Jane bit her lip,
"Edward, I just have this feeling that all is not right with her. I could be wrong, but it will bother me very much until I have the answer. Perhaps tomorrow, if it can be arranged, I can travel to see her".
"No Jane" Edward quickly objected, "It is half a days journey, and that is no small distance. At any rate it is on a stretch of quite deserted road. If you were to break down no one would know until nightfall, and you would be quite stranded. I will go, if such will make you feel better".
"No" Jane said, "I would not ask you to go alone, but we also couldn't bring Henry-".
"You must stay here with him. If I ride alone I will be able to move much faster than a carriage, I would make it in a few hours. Mary is my family now too, and I know how much she means to you. I will set out first thing in the morning and this matter can be laid to rest".
No matter how much Jane argued with him she could not dissuade him from his decision. She was quite angry with him as they got into bed that night because he had not listened to any of her suggestions for alternative ways to reach Mary. She was very eager indeed to hear from her cousin, but her husband had said it himself- the road was long and mostly deserted. If anything happened to him it would be impossible to know. He would have no riding companion as Mr Eshton was away, and nothing but his own internal compass could guide him. Jane pushed him away as he tried to use her as a pillow that night- she grumpily turned over and pulled the blankets up around herself defensively. He was being unnecessarily foolish, and posing a threat to their family should anything happen to him. There was no reason why two of the servant boys could not take horses together and ride the stretch of road, they would probably even enjoy the time away. And with two, they were far more safe. But, Edward was determined, and turned away from his wife as he slept. The bed was left unnaturally cold.
The next morning Jane woke to an empty bed. Rolling over, she found a note on her husbands pillow. The sun looked as if it had only just poked through the clouds and her eyes strained to read what was on the page.
"Dearest Jane,
I got up quite early to set off. I hope by the time you wake and read this letter I will be halfway there. Say good morning to Henry for me, he was still asleep when I left.
Last night left me very cold, and as a result I had an uneasy nights sleep. I hope that tonight my wife will be willing to once again be the best blanket in the world. The thought of it will keep me warm on my ride. I love you very much.
Edward"
. . .
Although the letter reminded her that she could never be truly angry at her husband for long, Jane had been too busy the rest of the morning to think much more about it. Henry was fussy, and Ms Miller came to the house to see Jane in the first time in what felt like weeks After she had nursed all of her sick children back to health she herself had contracted the cold and had stayed in bed to recuperate. Jane enjoyed her new friends company- so the morning went by quickly in spite of Jane not being able to get Henry to settle.
After Ms Miller left and Jane had talked to one of her servants about her upcoming wedding at length, she sat in the sitting room, rocking Henry and singing to him in the hopes of lulling him into a deep sleep. Immediately though, a figure appeared on the drive. Jane could see through the window a horse running at top speed towards the house. At first she thought it was her husband, but as the figure came closer Jane saw that the person riding was a much younger boy. He jumped off the horse before it came to a stop and Leah bustled out quickly to receive the letter he passed to her. Before Leah was back inside the house the boy was off again, vanishing as quickly as he had appeared.
Leah stepped into the room without knocking.
"It is urgent madam".
"Thank you Leah" Jane said, slightly distracted. She saw her husbands messy writing as she turned over the paper.
"Mary is coming home with me now. Make sure a room is ready for her. She will be staying for some time. Everything is under control now".
Jane's eyes scanned the paper over in her hand again and again, trying to find some sort of understanding between the words that were cryptically scratched onto the sheet. What could possibly be so wrong that he was on his way with her, with a warning sent in advance? But nothing could be terribly wrong, he never would have send a letter if something was terribly wrong.
There was much rushing in the effort to pull a room together for Mary before her arrival. As the sheets were aired and the fire was lit, Jane paced nervously. The sun was setting now, and the time was beginning to close in which they would arrive home safely. Henry's shrieking had persisted in all the madness of the afternoon and Jane's head throbbed with the stress of it. When she finally sat down in order to have a view of the drive she rubbed her forehead painfully.
Jane could not pace any longer in nervous anticipation, and the safer option seemed to be to try and sit still for a few moments to quiet her thoughts. Her logic told her to relax, to trust that Edward had Mary and that they would both be here soon, but her mind was racing with different possibilities that formed a knot form in her throat.
No sooner had she closed her eyes and sighed in frustration then she heard the sound of an approaching carriage. With renewed energy, she sprang out of the chair and raced towards the door. As soon as the carriage had stopped Edward stepped out, looking to his expectant wife. His look told Jane to brace herself so she would not be surprised and a second later he helped a very pregnant Mary from the carriage.
Jane felt her heart plummet in her chest. What had happened?
Mary looked terrifyingly unlike herself- skinny and sunken. Her face was dull, and darkness surrounded her left eye as she avoided the look of her cousin. She looked more ashamed than Jane had ever seen anyone look. Quickly she advanced.
"Mary" she said, embracing her warmly, "I am relieved to see you. Come on, lets get you inside".
As Jane turned Mary towards the door she looked back at her husband who nodded to her encouragingly. Jane brought Mary upstairs to the room that had been prepared for her, her arm wrapped around the seemingly brittle and fragile frame that could crack and crumble at any moment. When the door had been closed, and they stood alone, Jane looked fully into Mary's face. She went to speak, but Jane stopped her quickly.
"There is no need to say anything right now" she assured, rubbing her arm, "I will not ask you anything you are not ready to tell. You indeed look very ill, so I would like you to get changed and climb directly into that bed. Then, I can bring you something to eat before you try and sleep".
"I do not deserve it, Jane" Mary mumbled weakly, brushing a piece of hair out of her own face sadly.
"You deserve the comfort of your families house, always" Jane assured her, "It does not matter what has happened here".
In this light Jane could see that Mary's eye was darker and more swollen then it had looked outside. As Jane helped Mary out of her dress she revealed dark bruises all along her body. It was horrifying. Someone had beaten her as a pregnant women. Jane thought she could see part of the bones in her back poking at the nightdress she put on over her head with some effort. Jane wanted to be ill.
When Mary turned back around Jane quickly was able to hide her disgust. It was odd. Her hair was perfectly kept, and her hands were clean, but the rest of her was a mess of dark and light spots all over her body. As Jane helped her into bed and pulled up the blankets, she was meet with the very odd image of a woman appearing child-like, and needing to be tucked in and protected inside safe walls. It made Jane's whole heart cry out with pity.
Jane moved to step away from the bed but felt a hand clamp around her arm. "Jane?" Mary called a little unsure and yet a little desperate,"Please. I do not want you thinking ill of me. I know what I must look like, and what appearance I give. I- well, that happened to me was not my choice, I never would have asked for it. I didn't even know it was happening to me- not until I couldn't help myself- I tried, but I, I wasn't able to-".
Jane sat back down on the edge of the bed, her warm hand closing around her cousins.
"Mary. Your whole body is covered in dark bruises which tell me that this was not your choice. Please, do not speak of such again in a way that implies you are to blame. When did this all start?"
Jane fought to keep her voice steady as Mary's face contorted painfully to try and stop the tears which flowed from her eyes.
"When I first arrived at my new position, perhaps after a week"
The anger that rose inside of Jane was paramount, but she could not lash out at her weakened and frightened cousin.
"But Mary, you have been writing me since then. Why did you not say anything?"
Jane was not so sure that this time the anger remained out of her voice, for Mary picked up quickly.
"I wanted to. But I was terrified someone would read the mail- that my master was having it watched. He threatened me so badly, I was sure he was watching my every action. And I didn't want to be seen like this...I am so tired".
She indicated her swollen stomach, and Jane nodded, closing her eyes.
"Mary, please try and get some rest now. We can talk of everything in detail later, but some food and sleep is needed first. Supper will be ready soon and I will have it sent up right away".
In truth, Jane could not have been more happy to leave that room. It wasn't because she was scared of what she had seen, or that she was in any way ashamed of Mary, but she had so many emotions flooding her that it overwhelmed her senses. How could this have happened? How could Mary have been this woman?
Jane arranged for a dinner tray to be brought up and then climbed back up the stairs, her mind completely unaware of where she was going as she marched. She stopped at the end of the very long hallway and grasped the window ledge, her breath short as she looked out into the day that was coming to a close. She placed her hand on her forehead and sighed. Two singular birds soared through the sky before her, a sight that during any other time would have made her smile. But today they were merely the reminder that crueller things existed in the world that blocked out the beauty of it all. How could she enjoy the sight of birds when her cousin lay behind one of these doors, feeling exposed and terrified.
Horrible visions came to Jane of what Mary had suffered, and although she told her mind to stop considering things that may not have even been true, the dark and fresh bruises on her body made Jane feel like her predictions may not be completely wrong. Who was this man? What kind of home did he live in? How fast could Jane make it there and blow off its roof with the lies he had fought so desperately to maintain. Did he have a wife to whom the news should be delivered? Or children?
But then there was the feeling of a gentle hand at the back of her neck that drew Jane back to her surroundings. The intimacy of it brought tears to Jane's eye instantly. She did not know how to feel at all.
"It's alright" Edward said softly, pulling Jane into his embrace. His other hand now found the small of her back and he held her close. She laid her head on his shoulder, wiping away her tears clumsily with the back of her hand.
"Edward"
He nodded, but Jane could feel his muscles tensing beneath his clothing.
"She is pregnant, and she was beaten".
He nodded again, kissing the top of her head slowly.
"I know. But she is here now. She is here and very safe. So long as she is here she is under my protection, and no more harm will come to her".
"It does not fix what has happened"
"No" he said, softly, "But it is a start at repairing what damage has been done".
His thumb stroked her lower back as they stood together, and even this smallest of actions made her feel better from the desperate person who had clutched the window ledge moments ago.
"Edward tell me, was the scene very bad when you arrived?"
"Come" he said, putting his arm around her and walking her again in the direction of the stairs, "We can go to my study and talk there freely. I will tell you everything I saw, and everything she told me on the carriage ride here".