Page 34 of Zenith
I raised my head and gazed at Thornfield, the manor oppressively dark against the blue sky. Nothing had changed, not drastically, but I had to decide on something. There were still cards left in play, and I feared it was not over by a long shot. I could feel the chill of it in the air, threatening to unleash at the most inopportune time.
Finally, I said, “I don’t know what will happen next, but please, be careful, Adele.”
“I promise, Jane.”
* * *
The following day, I decided to return to the office even though I knew Thornfield had closed, and I was no longer an employee.
I found Alice talking heatedly on the phone, her tone exasperated, to say the least. It seemed she was arguing with one of the hotel’s repeat guests, an elderly gentleman who always spent a few weeks in the last days of summer, trying to convince him his booking was canceled.
When she finally hung up the phone, she was surprised to see me lingering in the doorway.
“Oh, Jane! It’s good to see you up and about. Did Rocky tell you?” she asked. “The hotel is closed indefinitely.”
I nodded even though Edward had not uttered a word to me about it. I’d overheard him barking orders at poor Alice.
“I feel so bad for Mr. Masters. He’s been coming here ever since I started working in the office,” she said. “And many years before that, too! It’s a shame to tell him Thornfield has been closed. He seemed quite upset by it.”
“He will find a finer place and forget Thornfield soon enough,” I said. “I feel Edward has done the right thing considering…”
Alice frowned. “Yes, you’re right. If only she wasn’t here, then think how grand the hotel could be!”
I sat in my usual place at the desk, the scene feeling strange yet familiar to me. Running my fingers over the keyboard, I brought the computer to life and stared at the screen. The wallpaper was exactly the same with the icons all lined up just how I liked them. The email program had a red dot in one corner, proclaiming there were three hundred and sixty-eight unread messages. Oh, dear. I hoped Alice had dealt with them on her end.
“Jane…”
I turned at the sound of her uncertain voice. Preempting her line of questioning, I said, “Alice, don’t worry about a single thing. None of it was your doing. It was all circumstance.”
“And Blanche bloody Ingram,” she said, seething through her teeth. “To think I had been dazzled by her! I should like to get my hands on her, Jane. I can’t believe the things she’s done to you and all because Rocky loves you, not her!”
“Jealousy drives people just as strongly as love does,” I mused. “Do you think it was jealousy?”
“Indeed I do! She could not bear to think he chose you, when you had nothing, over her, who had all the money in the world!”
I sighed, knowing she somehow knew about all of it, and thought about my untouched inheritance. I wondered if Edward had sent word to Mr. Briggs that I was back at Thornfield. I must send him an email to let him know directly.
“I don’t blame you for not telling anyone,” Alice went on. “People get funny when others come into money like yours. It’s difficult to know whom to trust. Everyone suddenly wants to be your friend when they would have turned their noses up at you before. Shallow the lot of them!”
I nodded, completely agreeing with her. “I didn’t want to say anything for that very reason. At least, not until I was certain of it in my own mind.”
Her smile was bright, and I felt a pang of guilt knowing I’d left her here alone while I’d fled to London.
“Anyway, what are you doing in the office?” she asked. “You don’t need to do a single thing!”
“I needed something to occupy myself with,” I replied. “I will go mad otherwise.” I hesitated, realizing what I had just said. “I didn’t mean…”
Alice smiled and shook her head. “We’ve heard neither hide nor hair of you know who since…” She trailed off and waved her hand toward my chest. “I’m not sure where she is exactly, but she is here someplace. Rocky has made sure she is contained quite securely. You needn’t worry about her escaping again.”
I nodded and turned to the window, staring out at the clear day beyond. “It surely is a strange sensation being here, knowing she is hidden someplace. To think of all those times I almost caught her wandering the halls…it gives me the shivers knowing she could have harmed me, and no one would have been there to stop her. It’s curious, you know, knowing what I know now. I’m entirely sure Blanche conspired to have Bertha set loose at that precise moment all along so she could be seen by as many people as possible.”
“Do you really think so?” Alice was staring at me in shock. “Do you think she is that manipulative?”
“Yes, I entirely do. We must be on our guards, Alice. I fear she is not done with us yet.”
She nodded furiously. “I will.”
Allowing the conversation to drift into silence, I turned back to the computer and opened the email program, intending to write to Mr. Briggs. First, I scrolled through the plethora of unread messages, checking each folder I’d long ago set up to filter their importance.
