Thank you all very, very much for your love and support. Again, I am so sorry it is taking a while to get these chapters out after my laptop and story notes were taken, but things are quieter now and I will be able to post more frequently!

Your comments mean the world to me. Thank you so much 3

xoxoxo

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Jane took the hand which had been extended to her, trying desperately to swallow her fear as Edward guided her onto the dance floor. They aligned themselves across from one another so that Jane could see how confidant yet at ease her husband looked compared to herself. How strange that he looked so natural when Jane felt like such so out of place. The music started, and much to Jane's relief it was a slow song that involved elegant sweeps across the floor rather than fast, coordinated dance moves. The pairs all stepped forward in union, taking their partners hands and turning on the spot. The hand that Jane's now rested in felt very familiar, and her thoughts of everyone watching her fell away step by step. The couples switched hands, moving the other way around one another. Jane smiled at Edward as she turned under his arm, falling back into her place in line. This routine continued for several minutes until the final strings of the violin were pulled and the song came to an end. All of the dancing couples slowed and came to a stop in the lines they had started in. Applause rang out for the musicians overhead and the men lead the women off of the dance floor. Jane gripped Edward's arm as he lead them into the crowd where there was fewer people lingering to watch the dance floor.

"Very good, Jane. I am rather impressed with you"

"Last time you told me I was not a terrible dancer. You sound rather surprised now that I did not trip and land on the floor".

"No" he laughed, "No, I meant that you looked at ease, if not comfortable. I am glad. You absolutely glowed as you danced. It blinded everyone in the room by comparison".

Jane felt genuinely touched by her husbands love.

"Thank you. But, in fairness it was all you. You are naturally such a talented dancer. If such was not the case, I should not look graceful at all".

"Untrue. If that was the case you would look more ungraceful besides me in comparison. You are a good dancer. How could you not be? I taught you".

Jane grinned, but her eye caught something as she turned.

Blanche and her sister were standing slightly behind the crowd, where they would not be watched by people and seemed to be in not an argument, but a somewhat heated conversation. Blanche had her hand on her forehead, which was pale white and clammy, while the other hand rested on her pregnant stomach. Her sister was waving her arms, and Jane suspected that if she was not trying to conceal their conversation from those around them, she would have been frantic.

Jane turned to Edward to draw his attention to them but he was already watching.

"Edward-"

"I know. Come, we will see what we can do".

When they approached, Blanche did something for the first time which took Jane off guard. She did not put up a fake facade of happiness as she watched them approach. Rather, her face contorted in pain and she took a somewhat strained breath.

"Blanche, are you well?" Edward asked, bowing to her customarily.

"She is" her sister said quickly, "Thank you, Mr Rochester".

"With all due respect, Mariah, I was asking your sister".

"Oh, yes, of course".

Mariah's eyes fell on Jane and then moved back to Rochester before Blanche straightened up. It took an excruciating amount of effort for Blanche to do this, and so Jane believed the next words that came out of her mouth easily.

"I am rather uncomfortable. I am warm and overwhelmed. I have a very bad headache all of a sudden".

"I am sure it is all the heat and noise in this room" Jane said, "Would you like to step outside for a little while? Perhaps fresh air-"

"No. No thank you, I mean." she said quickly, checking her quick and dismissive tone, "I was already outside for a little while but found it too cold".

"Then let us retreat to another room for a little while" Jane encouraged, "One a little more quiet. Then I am sure you will feel better and return to the party. I will escort you and your sister-"

"Yes, well, the fact of the matter is that I wish to remain here in the party. I have friends who should be returning soon and it would be rude for me to abandon them on account of my sister feeling a little light headed. You will not mind, will you Blanche?".

Blanche did not look surprised at her sisters words. She only nodded and assured her that she would be well and return soon. Mariah agreed and was gone as soon as it was physically possible to wade through the crowd. Jane now suspected that the silent disagreement between the sisters had been about Blanche taking up her sisters valuable social time by being unwell, and she felt a rather odd surge of support for Blanche.

They moved into the sitting room where Jane was completely ignored by Blanche. She only asked Edward questions that had no connection to anything Jane could relate to or comment on. Blanche only asked of people, of old acquaintances between them whom she clearly had no interest in outside of using them to isolate Jane from the conversation. The questions seemed half-hearted, and absolutely pointless now. But it was of little matter. Jane recognised that they were, most likely, never to be friends, but never wished to be the type of person who abandoned someone in their time of need.

Blanche sat down on the sofa, the quiet and darkness of the room seeming to do her much good. When she commented that she was warm, Edward stood and said that he was going to go and fetch some cooling cloths from the servants and that he would return momentarily. Jane had no idea of why he had left her alone with Blanche, the women who had repeatedly tried to dampen her spirits at every possible moment, but when she looked up, Jane spoke without hesitation.

"When I was pregnant, I often found-"

"Yes, everyone is always trying to tell me advice from when they were pregnant. I have heard it all by this point, I can assure you"

"Very well then"

A pause.

"Well there is no need to sit there in silence now"

"There seems to be every reason for it. You clearly do not wish to talk with me, and I would not make you do that if you feel miserable".

"It is not that I do not wish to talk with you...though perhaps that is it a little bit".

Jane surveyed her,

"Blanche, I know we may never be friends-"

"Well, I-"

"No, please. Let me say my piece and I will hear yours. I know we may never be friends. I know we come from very different backgrounds, that I am not the sort of person with whom you wish to be associated. I know I was a servant, and that I married a man, a very rich man, that I believe you once had feelings for. But the truth is that we travel in similar circles, we see each other from time to time in passing, and why should there not be politeness between us, if there is never to be friendship?"

Blanche struggled with forming a reply. She stopped and started multiple times, struck, Jane was sure, by the civility of the answer. Finally, pausing, she abandoned any agenda and spoke from an honest place.

"Jane, you remind me of the type of person who has always had a strong sense of what is right and wrong in the world that comes from your own conscience. I, on the other hand, have been told from birth that to marry for love is wrong, to be kind to those beneath you is wrong, to lower yourself to the associations of those beneath you is wrong. I have always believed this to be true because I have never had any reason to doubt it. Recently though, this way of thinking has made me very unhappy and I do not wish to be unhappy. I want an easy life, I want a life of no disruption. I want to do my social activities and then come home to a comfortable house. It has made me rethink a lot, and I wish it hadn't because I am tired of considering it in my mind".

Jane nodded slowly, understanding flooding her. Of course Blanche felt lost. Her whole life had been ease and comfort, and now that she had married a man who made her profoundly unhappy she had no one to blame but herself. She had made her life difficult- taken away her own ease and was struggling to understand that.

"I assume you speak of your marriage? Or of your pregnancy? You can talk to me, Blanche. As you have told me before, I have very few social connections, and I am so quiet that your confidences are safer with me than anyone else out in that ball room"

"And why should I tell you?"

"Because I believe I could help you, and I care whether or not you are-".

"You? You care about me?"

"Of course I do" Jane said, "In spite of you never showing me decency or respect, I do not hold that against you".

Blanche nodded once, her jaw stiff.

"Very well. Despite all I was ever told in such simple terms, my prosperous marriage has not brought me any measure of happiness. I live a very lonely life"

"And yet you find that you are surrounded by people?"

"That is what does not make sense. I have a house full of servants, a husband, acquaintances that stop by from time to time. I should not be lonely".

"Well, perhaps it is that you miss the attention that being a single woman afforded you. In such a situation, you were perused by men, flattered because you are beautiful, and were validated just for existing. All of that attention you received for so long is gone now with you married, and perhaps you miss the effortlessness of such affection?".

Blanche looked thoughtful.

"I have always been flattered, Jane, because I have always been beautiful. I think for as long as I remain such I will continue to be flattered. But my unhappiness has not been only because of my loneliness. It is also this pregnancy. I thought it would bring me some attention, that people would flock to me to ask me questions of this child's birth, but it has only brought with it scandal and shame. My husband does not care, for in truth he has lived too long to consider what other people think with very much seriousness. The scandal has stopped people for caring for me, however, and that bothers me. I cannot do this alone- I cannot have a baby and have no one care about it".

"Do you not care about your child yourself?"

Blanche shrugged, "I am sure I will, once it is born. But, for now, I do not know the child and thus it is difficult to care for it"

"But do you think about how you are bringing life into the world in creating your own family? That alone is very much to care about. If you yourself indeed care that a child is coming into this world because of you, then that is enough".

Blanche shook her head,

"I do not agree with you, Jane. Having a child is a marker of social status. It confirms that your family name will carry on, that you will continue to live a legacy when you are gone. It ensures that fortune passes through the family and remains where it should and confirms that you have done your part".

"Indeed, but all of that does not truly become relevant until that child of yours marries, perhaps at twenty years old. Is not twenty years a long time to wait to find meaning in having a child?".

"Perhaps, if I was the mothering sort, but I am not. I wish I could say something more on the topic but I cannot".

Jane surveyed Blanche for a long time before she responded. Her hands twisted uncomfortably in her lap and Jane knew that although Blanche was probably being more honest with her than she had been with anyone in a very long time, she was not telling the absolute truth about what she was feeling. Her forehead did not relax, but remained tight and troubled. Her very thoughts sat on the air, unresolved. Sighing, Jane took great pity on the person before her. She seemed truly alone.

"I would not hold yourself in so harsh a judgement, Blanche. I know that it is difficult to imagine what being a mother is like before you become one. But you cannot know what it is like to have a child until they are laying in your arms. I cannot even describe it to you, but it is unlike any other feeling in the world. Surely such a concept will not feel so foreign to you. Be kind to yourself, and do not have expectations for yourself that are unfair".

"You really think that such a feeling will not be so foreign to me when my child is born?"

Blanche's poor attempt to hide her desperation, to be reassured, touched Jane's heart. Taking her hand, she nodded.

"I am very sure".

"'Well then" Blanche said, dropping Jane's hand from her own as if she had only realised what had happened, "I guess we shall see when the time comes"

"Which will be soon enough by the looks of you!"

"Indeed, within the month I suspect"

"And is your husband pleased?"

"Oh yes" she said, her lips closing in on each other, "He is. But in truth we have not spoken much about it. He has been away, you see, and has only just arrived home"

"Where is he tonight?" Jane asked, "I have not had the pleasure of seeing him here yet"

"He was late leaving our home. He had some unexpected business to attend to. I would have stayed with him but as you know my sister is visiting, and so I did not want to delay her outing".

"Of course" Jane replied, but there was something rather odd about the situation. Why would he have left her to fend for herself knowing that her pregnancy with a child that was not his own had caused much scandal. It was rather cruel, Jane pondered, but then again by all reports he was a cruel man. Perhaps it was not so surprising after all.

"Can I ask you something, Jane?"

Blanche's tone was calm, and even.

"Of course"

"Did you hate me when I visited Thornfield Hall all that time ago?"

"No" Jane replied honestly

"You did not hate me? In spite of me flirting and courting a man whom I believe you were, at that point, in love with?"

"No, I did not. For although I did love him, and have from almost the first moments I came to know him, I understood that you were of his class and station. I knew I did not have anything to offer him, not in looks or assets or family connections. For him to have loved me would have been too much happiness for me to understand in my common, plain life. I had no expectations".

"Then you did not mind?"

"I did mind, for I did not think you a good match for him, and I cared about his happiness very much".

"Of course" she mused knowingly, "I should have suspected that was why you would have had a problem with me. Not became my marrying him would have denied you happiness, and a life of luxury, but because it would have made him unhappy".

Jane shrugged. "I speak the truth".

"I only ask because I have seen the way you are with him. In turn I have seen the way he is with you. The thing is Jane, I have known Mr Rochester a very long time. Longer than I care to admit, frankly. I have seen him in many social situations, surrounded by, and talking to many women. Although he is always admired, he never admired in return. I thought he may have held such feelings for me at some point but I was wrong. He never esteemed me, he only tolerated me with a politeness I mistook for flattery".

She looked to Jane before continuing, her eyes bent on the carpet.

"I have not liked you especially well because I saw that Mr Rochester loved you in spite of everything that should have mattered to him. As you said, you are not beautiful, nor rich, nor connected, and yet he loved you anyways. I believe he even saw you as a sort of friend at times. It angered me because it contradicted what I was told would be the result of my wealth and beauty. But, lately...only of very late, I have come to lose some of these strong feelings towards you".

"Why?"

"Because, I see that if he broke from the social mould in loving you, broke from custom and habit, he could never have been the man for me. I need the values of society, of beauty and money to be at the centre of my marriage. It is the only thing I know, the only thing I am comfortable with. It makes sense, and it is easier this way".

"Then you have found your happiness, and I have found mine. Surely that constitutes us being kinder to one another"

"Have you not always been kind to me, Jane? It is only I who has been unkind to you"

Jane smiled slightly,

"That does not matter. What quarrel do we have now, Blanche? Which did we ever have that constitutes anything but civility between us at present?"

As she went to answer the door opened and Edward returned with servants holding cooling cloths in copper buckets. Blanche looked relieved, excited even as they were brought nearer to her.

"How are you feeling?" Mr Rochester asked politely.

"Better, thank you".

"Very well then" he replied

"I have been speaking with Jane" Blanche continued, clearly looking for a warmer response from him than he was giving. She waited for him to reply in the way he saw fit.

Mr Rochester had never liked Blanche. At first it was because she was vain, shallow and only interested in her own personal gains. Since marrying Jane, however, he had disliked her for a far more personal reason. She had been cruel to his wife and had implied repeatedly upon seeing them together that they were not a suitable match. This had angered him, and blocked any chance of genuine reconciliation between them. But the encouraging look on Jane's face told him that he did not have to worry about proceeding cautiously.

"We...well, I have been telling Jane of the reasons for my attitude towards her. If I was a better woman, I could form a better answer, perhaps even an apology. But such is hard for me, and too foreign".

"Jane does not need your apology, Blanche. You have not wounded her, nor afflicted her deeply with your demeanour towards her".

"Regardless of my husband's correctness, Blanche, I appreciate your honesty and I admire your courage. I have a notion that it is not often that you are so genuine, and thus I am thankful for the effort. Now I want you to know that there is truly nothing between us but common association, and on my part well wishes".

"And on mine too" she assured, "I mean that earnestly".

At that moment the door opened and Lord Marcus waddled in, looking annoyed and put out that he had to come and find his wife.

"What are you doing?" he asked, more animated than Jane had ever seen him, "To find you I had to ask your sister of your whereabouts"

"Excuse us" Edward said, taking Jane's arm and leading her from the room. With one final look at Blanche, Jane rounded the corner into the foyer that was full of activity.

"Do not worry about that, Jane" Edward warned, "Nothing good can come from meddling in other people's affairs"

"I was not meddling, I was only concerned"

"Yes. And because I know you I know that your heart is far too large for your own good. Blanche may have opened up to you, but regardless of the truth of her words she is still a woman who is selfish and is paying for the consequences of such. She knew he was a bad man when she married him, Jane. She knew she was only marrying for money. If she is now unhappy that is unfortunate, but not surprising. I will not allow you to have your feelings weighted by the concerns of such a person".

Jane caressed his hand with her thumb, looking into his face.

"I would kiss you now, if I could"

"Do not tease me, Jane. You forget I am a man with little self control".

"Hm, in this moment I think I wish you possessed a little less self control" she smiled, pulling herself away from him and moving back into the main ball room. He followed her, grinning.