Zenith (The Thornfield Affair Book 3)

by Amity Cross

  I suppose the years he’d spent wearing all manner of masks had trained him well. This was the Edward Rochester I had first met on the road to Thornfield all that time ago. Brooding, changeful, and not to be trifled with.

  “By now, I’m sure you all know the truth of what has been happening under this roof,” Edward began, his voice booming in the hushed room. “And many of you will agree that it cannot be allowed to go on as it has, especially where your continued safety is concerned. Taking this into consideration, I have decided that from this moment forth, Thornfield is to be closed permanently.”

  Everyone present erupted in riotous conversation at this, and Alice stood, hushing them.

  “It will no longer operate as a hotel, but a few will remain in residence, and thus, a household staff will be needed,” Edward went on. “I would welcome as many of you to remain as I am able, but I cannot hold it against a single soul if any wish to leave. You shall be taken care of with generous severance packages, though you will be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement…which will be strictly enforced.” The room filled with low murmurings as the staff turned to one another to discuss this new revelation. “You must make your decision today. Mr. Briggs here has been kind enough to assist with the proceedings and will attend those of you who wish to depart.”

  Upon making this declaration, he retreated from the room, leaving myself and Mr. Briggs to converse with the staff about their options.

  Hours later, once the sun had dipped low in the sky, we returned to the study.

  “Two-thirds of the staff have opted to accept severance,” Mr. Briggs said. “The paperwork is in order.”

  I glanced at Edward uneasily. His chair was facing the windows, and his gaze was fixed to the skyline beyond. He seemed completely disinterested, but I understood his tendencies enough to know he was deep in thought, puzzling out this new turn of events.

  “Thank you, Mr. Briggs,” I said to the lawyer. “Your assistance is greatly appreciated. You must be tired after the proceedings. Shall we reconvene in the morning?”

  “I think it is best. It has been a long day for all involved.” He handed me the list of employees and their current status and let us be, casting the master an anxious look on his way out.

  Suddenly animating, Edward turned and plucked the paper from my fingers. He stared at the names for a long time, remaining tight-lipped about his opinion.

  Leaving him alone, I poured him a dram of whiskey, placed it on the desk, and waited. He would dismiss me if he wished to be alone to ponder the changes to come at Thornfield, but he had said nothing, so I remained. His inclusion of my person was alien, but it warmed my heart. After such a long time wishing it to be, I was now part of his heart, mind, and soul.

  “So many,” Edward finally mumbled.

  “Do not take it to heart,” I said, laying my hand on his shoulder. “Alice and Bessie have chosen to remain, as well as the cook, two girls in housekeeping, one of the porters, four kitchen hands, and the groundskeeper. It is plenty of staff to keep the household going. Most importantly, they are good and loyal people.”

  “Eleven out of thirty-five,” he said. “Is that good odds, Jane?”

  “You cannot fault them for wanting to secure steady employment. They do what they must.”

  “You are right, Jane,” he said, discarding the paper and pulling me down onto his lap. “They do what they must.”

  I placed my head on his shoulder, winding my fingers around his jumper. “Everything will be all right, Edward.”

  “I have doubts,” he murmured.

  “That is natural. I have them, too.”

  “What happens when Blanche declines your evidence? For it is when, not if. I do not believe she will back down from this, not after everything we have been through. My family had a long-standing feud with hers. It wasn’t until my father died and I was left as the sole Rochester that things calmed. It has always been precarious. This business is the final blow, I fear.”

  He was right. I hoped Blanche would withdraw, but it had always been a slim chance. Her hatred ran deep, and there may be no digging it out.

  I sighed, closing my eyes. “Then we will face the outcome and accept it, no matter what it may be.”

  “What a very Jane-like thing to say,” he whispered.

  18

  “I suppose it is safe to assume Blanche said no.”

  Edward slapped the newspaper on the table before me, rattling the silverware of my place setting. I was just sitting down to breakfast when he strode into the room in a whirlwind of fury.

  I hadn’t expected an answer for some time yet as Mr. Briggs had only met with Blanche’s lawyer the day before. It would be wise for people to consider their options when presented with evidence they’d committed a crime as heinous as attempted murder…wouldn’t it?

  Picking up the newspaper—as Edward paced like a raging lion—my eyes widened in shock as I beheld the headline.

  ‘Secrets, Murder, Fraud, and Lies. The Hidden Shame of the Rochester Dynasty.’

  Edward’s mobile phone began to ring, and he answered it with a snap, striding from the room. “Talk to me,” he commanded. “Tell me you have a contingency plan.”

  I watched him go and stared at the door for a long time before I blinked and glanced away. No doubt, he would be embroiled with his staff in Paris for the entire day in an attempt to squash the story before it spread further. His business would have been impacted by now, negative ramifications shock waving through the ranks of all his holdings worldwide. The news wasn’t limited to a print run these days. It had instant global syndication, and hundreds if not thousands of news outlets would’ve picked up the story by now.

  And breakfast wasn’t even over yet.

  I hadn’t read the article, but I didn’t have to to understand the entire world now knew of what was happening at Thornfield. We were cut open and exposed for the entire world to feast upon. Obscurity never felt so desirable than it did to me right then.

  “Jane.”

  Edward had returned, and I glanced up at him, my hands still wrapped around the newspaper.

  “Put that thing away,” he said, his brow dark with a raging typhoon.

  “Can’t you tell your side of the story?” I asked. “Can’t you explain—”

  “There’s no point,” he interrupted.

  “No point?” I inquired, aghast his attitude had not changed in the slightest. He had no fight in him! I could not believe a man as strong-willed as Edward Rochester could just sit back and allow his entire life to be dragged through the mud with no chance of recourse.

  “It is done,” he said simply, causing me to rise to my feet and almost turn the table up on its end.

  “No!” I exclaimed. “The story has only been out a few hours. Surely, there is adequate time for a rebuttal.”

  “It is too late,” he murmured, turning his back on me.

  It was lucky Adele and Georgiana had departed the night before. Adele had gone back to her hometown of Paris to visit with her family, and Georgiana had returned to Gateshead. I did not want either of them dragged into this mess more than they already had been. Their devotion to our case had been admirable, and the evidence had been acquired with great risk to both parties. I could not ask more of them.

  My thoughts went to Bertha next and her continued residence at Thornfield. I couldn’t gloss over the fact she needed to be addressed like a problem, and it did not sit well with me at all. She’d stabbed me with the intent to kill, but she was completely insane and had been manipulated by Blanche.

  “What of Bertha?” I asked.

  “The Mason’s will be clawing at the door at any moment, but that is if they can fight their way through the wall of journalists and paparazzi hiding in every nook and cranny outside our front door!”

  “What journalists?” I asked, turning to the windows.

  “They arrived early this morning,” Edward explained, glancing over his shoulder at me. “The groundskeeper stum
bled over a group hiding just over the fence line. His dog almost had their throats. Vultures, the lot of them.”

  “Her cruelty astounds me,” I muttered in disbelief.

  “Insanity does not have to touch one’s mind to act like it.”

  Edward crossed the room, his arms winding around my waist. Sinking against his chest, I clung to him, my entire body, mind, and soul steeped in a thick layer of depression.

  “If she is so bent on destroying you, then she can have a taste of her own medicine,” I blurted with a passion I hardly thought I possessed.

  “Could you do that, Jane?” he asked, gently urging me to stand back so he could look upon my face. “I don’t think you can. That is one of the many things I love about you, dear spirit. You do not lower yourself to vulgar standards in order to seek revenge.”

  I stared at him, struck dumb by his confession. Was he right?

  “I shall hope to keep you with me always, Jane,” he went on. “No matter where this life takes us. When this chaos has calmed and the waters are less turbulent, would you like to leave Thornfield?”

  I nodded. I wished to be away from this place as soon as possible. The memories here had soured long ago, and surely, it would be a relief to leave the lingering presence of Bertha Mason behind.

  “Then we will forget this mess, live quietly for a while, then plan our grand adventure, Jane. I’m sure I won’t have much of a company to go back to in Paris. I am considering selling my controlling share to the board so I can be free of it.”

  “You would sell your family business?” I asked, completely shocked by his revelation.

  He nodded, his eyes betraying his reluctance. “It is a sinking ship. I have been on the phone to my partners in Paris this morning and already deals are falling through, and stock prices are plummeting. I must save as many jobs as I am able while there is still time.”

  “Are you not angry?”

  “Truthfully, I am tired, Jane. I should be furious, but I cannot find the power within myself to continue the fight. Blanche has destroyed me with the truth. The truth. All that is left for me to do now is to save what I can. I am responsible for those people and their ability to provide for their families. I must honor them.”

  “I once thought you cold and heartless,” I murmured. “But you, sir, have the most heart of all, do you know that?”

  He smiled, placing his hands on my cheeks. “And it is all thanks to Jane Eyre. She made stone turn into flesh.”

  “Your sphinx has come out to play once more, I see,” I retorted with a smile.

  “All I can say now is rest. I will organize what I can one step at a time.” Fumbling in his pocket, he plucked out a tiny object and held his closed fist up. “I offer this to you as my promise, Jane.” He opened his hand, and upon his palm laid the ring he’d placed on my finger months ago. “No matter what either of us faces, I will honor my vow to you. I will spend the rest of my life devoted wholly to your happiness. I have wronged you, and I will do whatever it takes to redeem myself. Please, take it.”

  Gently, I placed my hand over his, the ring warm against my skin from where it had sat in his pocket.

  “Of course,” I replied. “You and I are bound now, and no meager human law can ever hope to break it.”

  He smiled and turned our hands over so that the ring fell into my palm. “Then rest, Jane,” he murmured, leaning forward and placing a chaste kiss upon my lips. “I will come to you this evening once preparations for the sale are complete. All I wish for you to think of is the one place in the world you would like to visit first.”

  Throwing my arms around his neck, the ring held tightly in my hand, I embraced him, loathe to let him face this next test on his own. I kissed him thoroughly, then parted, knowing he would be okay…that we would be okay.

  Returning to the suite, which had now become my rooms, I picked up my phone, thoughts of Edward’s sacrifice weighing heavy on my mind. Was there truly nothing I could do? Was the battle already lost?

  When I brought the screen to life, I saw a text message from Georgiana and stilled, my heart thrumming wildly.

  It said, Give the press my recording. You have my blessing. Do not let her win, sister.

  Oh, Georgiana, I thought to myself, sinking down on the edge of my bed. Cousin or sister, it was all the same to me now, and I cared for her as such. If I released the recording, her reputation would be implicated…and what of Adele’s video? Could I hang John Rivers out to dry? He was a pawn in Blanche’s game as much as any of us. Could I be as callous as our enemy in order to best her?

  Sighing, I typed out a message in reply to Georgiana.

  No, I will not. Please, protect yourself from her. It is the best thing to do. We will be fine once this storm blows over, and we will find our way forward to the future, but not at the cost of yours. xoxo

  As usual, Edward was right. I could not stoop to her level. I was much too proud.

  It was a long evening alone in the darkness that night at Thornfield.

  The entire household was uneasy, put on edge by the media camped outside the manor grounds. They felt as caged as Edward and I, but there was nothing to be done except wait for them to lose interest and depart.

  The study was fast becoming our refuge from the turbulent waters, and it was here that I was presented with the newest revelation to hit the British media.

  “Please, do not tell me you were responsible for this,” Edward declared, his voice full to bursting with unrestrained ire.

  He hit his finger on the laptop, which sat on his desk, and the room was suddenly filled with the sound of Georgiana’s voice. It was the recording she’d presented to me the week before!

  “Georgiana,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “I told her not to…”

  “So your family is just as insane as the shrew locked up in the eaves of the house!”

  “Hush!” I shouted back. “Her heart is in the right place. Don’t you dare speak ill of her after the sacrifice she has made. Her reputation will suffer for this, and she knew it. She has proved her conviction and love for me. I dearly wish she had not leaked the recording, but what’s done is done. Perhaps some good can come of this.”

  “What good, Jane? I cannot see anything good in this, only more fuel for the vultures to feed upon!”

  I stared at him, my gaze fixing upon his dark eyes so he would understand I did not want to be trifled with. “If we are to sink, then Blanche will come with us. After all you confessed to me, now you wish to back down from your manipulation?”

  His jaw tensed. “What are we to do, Jane? I stand to lose everything and you…” He shook his head, and pulling the stopper from the decanter, he poured himself a dram of whiskey. “I fear she has scarred your spirit as well as your body. If I had been honest from the beginning…”

  “Edward, be still,” I pleaded. “Regrets serve no one.”

  “Should I regret loving you, Jane?” he asked before lifting the glass to his lips. He drank, long and slow, savoring the taste of alcohol upon his tongue.

  “Never say those words to me again,” I said, snatching the empty glass from his fingers. “Never regret what we share, for it is between you and I and no other. If you do not wish to love me, then say so, and I shall leave you forever. I have fought for you, Edward! I have forsaken my morals and judgments to help you! It is you I love above all else, even myself.”

  “And that is the problem, dear Jane,” was his reply. “You should never have to forsake who you are to be by my side.”

  “And neither should you.” I placed my hand on his shoulder and began to soothe. “Rest your mind, my love. What’s done is done. Rest and be still…and please, go easy on the whiskey.”

  He grunted and placed the stopper back into the decanter. “You are right, Jane. It is a trying time, indeed. It will take some getting used to, being a retiree.”

  “You and me both.”

  I left him to sit quietly and sought my own place of solitude so I could po
nder this new turn of events. Closing the door behind me, I wandered down the hall, traversing Thornfield as I had long ago when I’d first arrived.

  The paintings, the windows, the rugs, and the sculptures all looked different to my eyes. Surely, they were familiar, but the farther I walked, the more alien the landscape became. Edward was right in so many ways it caused me great irritation.

  We would do best to leave this place and never return.

  Alice found me in the downstairs sitting room, staring through the windows at the BBCTV news van parked outside. Fortunately, the tall panes of glass were covered with a thick sheen of cream-colored lace, which was nigh on impossible to see through, so I was able to watch them unseen.

  “I told them to leave before the police arrived,” Alice said, standing beside me. “They’re packing up, see?”

  I nodded.

  “Are you feeling well?” she asked, frowning at me. “Would you like to sit a while?”

  “I feel no justice in it,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Truthfully, I’m not sure what I am supposed to feel.”

  “Relieved,” Alice replied, understanding I was referring to the Blanche flavored fuel Georgiana added to the fire. “She got what she deserved, Jane. She tried to murder you, for goodness sake! The police will become involved now, so there will be a formal investigation. She will be charged and disgraced.”

  “What good will that do?” I exclaimed. “Edward will not escape unscathed. I may find some sort of perverse justice, but he will lose everything. He has already lost control of his company, which was his entire life. He cannot lose any more.”

  “Jane…” She glanced away nervously. “He’s already—”

  “Don’t,” I interrupted. “Don’t say it, Alice. Please.”

  I turned back to the window, her unsaid words echoing in my thoughts. He’s already lost everything. But it wasn’t true. He still had me, and the staff who remained were loyal. He had us, but even I knew it was all hanging by a thread.