Page 87 of Purchase Power
Chapter 25
Noah never felt more foolish about his love for Lucy than when he came across a print-out on his desk.
Candace had taken the time to not only print it out for his perusal, but to secure it inside a plain, beige folder marked only with, “For Mr. Gabriel – Urgent” in her careful cursive penmanship. It was the first damn thing Noah saw one chilly Tuesday morning, shortly after having a quick breakfast with his sister and promising her that the therapist would be on time that day. Thankfully, the full week that had passed since he saw Lucy two weekends ago had brought Stacey back to a world where everything was stable, and nobody ran out on her.
Everything was back to normal. Everything except Noah’s nerves, which only became worse when he stared at a web page article spat out on common printer paper.
“A Modern Jane Eyre – Life with a Veritable Mr. Rochester.”
“What is…” Why was Candace sharing this with him? Let alone marking itUrgent?She knew that he had been readingJane Eyre– for fuck’s sake, he finished it a few days ago – but it certainly wasn’t urgent.
“By Lucy Craig.”
Noah dropped the paper back onto his desk. Right on time for Candace to come into his office, carrying a tray of vanilla-scented tea and the dash of sugar he enjoyed in the morning.
“I thought you might want to see that, Mr. Gabriel,” she said. “If I may say so, it could be a lot worse… I could have been portrayed like therealAlice Fairfax, you know. A more bumbling type of person who puts her hands over her ears and sayslalalala.” She sniffed. “I should hope you know that I do not turn a blind eye to anything that goes on in this house.”
Noah hadn’t even read the first line, but he already hated it. “I know you don’t, Candace. You’ve been nothing but a great boon to my sister and me.”
“I care about you two very much. You’re like a nephew to me, Mr. Gabriel.”
Noah leaned back in his chair, tea in one hand and the article in the other. “My sister?”
“A sweet, dear child.”
He took a sip of his tea. “That’s how I often feel about her as well.”
Candace showed herself out, but not before reminding him that she was around should he need assistance. He took that to mean emotional help, since this article Lucy wrote about her time with “Mr. Rochester” was sure to be a wild ride.
“…The first thing I must confess is that my images of an old man with too much money to spend were far from what I received my first night with Mr. Rochester. The real man was much closer to my age – perhaps only a hair above thirty. He was incredibly handsome. Not the kind of man you would stop in the street to stare at, but when he walks into the room and you two are the only ones around, you notice him. You’re happy to have him there. You’re already thinking about what he must be like – both in and out of bed.”
Noah cleared his throat while drinking his tea.Not too shabby.He was prepared for this to get worse, however. After all, Lucy had been angry with him, and he was still in love with her.
For now, anyway. That might soon change as he kept on reading.
“…Those first two weeks at Thornfield Hall were unlike anything most women will ever experience in their lives. When we weren’t focused entirely on one another, I was locked up in my room, forbidden to go beyond the large suite that I now called my month-long home. I couldn’t even go beyond my balcony without fear of seeing something I shouldn’t. I know what that something – or someone – was, now. It was Bertha.”
Good thing Noah had already put down his drink. Reading the name “Bertha” so soon after finishingJane Eyremeant Bertha was fresh in his mind.
“There wasn’t just any Bertha in Thornfield Hall. That woman was Mr. Rochester’s stepsister. A woman brought to his home by a former husband of his mother’s when he was a child.”
That made Noah put the article back down on his desk.My stepsister? What?Stacey wasn’t his stepsister. Even if this were some conspiracy, Noah could clearly remember the day he visited his mother in the hospital and saw the pink newborn in her arms. His own father had praised it as a happy day, for he now had a son to carry on his legacy, and a daughter to delight his life. Not that either of those things had happened. He was clear that he didn’t mind leaving the whole fucking continent with their nanny if that’s what he fancied.
“Not only that, but Mr. Rochester’s stepfather left the girl behind when he died. Don’t ask me why. Don’t ask me how. All I know is that Mr. Rochester married his own stepsister…”
“Candace!” Noah rounded his desk, calling for her to return before he lost his damned mind. “Did you actually read this?”
Apparently, she had been hanging outside his door when he bellowed her name, for she slipped through the door almost immediately. “I did indeed, sir.” She could barely contain a small snort of mild amusement. “It appears that Ms. Craig has a few details… incorrect.”
“Incorrect…” Noah scoffed. “She thinks I’m married to my own damn sister!”
“Let’s not forget the part where she’s yourstepsister,sir. I really enjoyed that interpretation of events. What exactly did you tell her, anyway?”
Noah slammed a hand onto his desk before sinking back down into his chair. He continued to glance at Lucy’s article without reading any further content. Was it tainted? Probably. Was he still curious about what she had to say about “Mr. Rochester” and his “Thornfield Hall?” Absolutely.
“I didn’t tell her anything,” he insisted. “I never had the chance. I was going to last weekend when I went to see her in New York…”
“I thought you had a business dinner, Mr. Gabriel?”
