by Luccia Gray
“She will recover. She has a fever, no doubt due to the heat and the shock. She will be sedated for a few days, and Helen’s presence will cure her, until she is fit enough to see Michael again.”
“What are we going to do, Harry?”
“You will have to make decisions from now on, Annette. We cannot stay anchored at Montego Bay until Jane is able to make sensible judgements. When she recovers, she will be distressed until Michael’s health improves, and if it does not, her judgement will be seriously impaired. We could sail to Port of Spain and then on to Spanish Town. It might be a good idea to stay at your house there, until Michael is well enough to return to England. If we need a hospital or supplies, I am sure we will find them more easily there.”
“Perhaps, but I am not sure.”
“You could show me around the country where you were brought up, which does indeed look like a paradise.” He smiled encouragingly.
“On the other hand, we could set sail and return to England.”
I stared back at him helplessly. “I have no idea what to do, Harry. I have never made a decision in my life.”
He laughed heartily. “That is an exaggeration.”
“Stop laughing! It is the truth. I was torn away from my mother after birth and bundled here and there until I was brought to Spanish Town with my uncle who later turned me over to the nuns at the convent, where everything was organised and decided for me. Years later, I was transported to England, sent away to Belgium for a year, and then back to Eyre Hall. A month ago, I was ordered to return to Spanish Town, and now I have no idea where I am going. Which decisions have I ever made, tell me?”
“You are sitting here with me now. Is that not your decision?”
I hesitated. How could I tell him that if it were my choice I would not be by his side? He waited patiently for my reply, which did not come, so he broke the silence.
“I was adopted. My mother abandoned me shortly after birth. All I know is that she was Scottish and worked as a maid in a wealthy household in Westminster. My Aunt Emily, who took in unwanted babies brought to her by the local vicar, told me that the poor woman claimed her wealthy employer had seduced her. Emily believed it to be true because the girl had brought expensive swaddling clothes and a large sum of money when she left me. Emily’s sister, Harriet, became my mother, although she is unaware that her sister told me of my adoption before she died.
“My father insisted I study medicine and become a doctor, and I was a most obedient son. I would have liked to stay in London, but I had to return to Ferndean when my father was taken ill, and now I have to stay with my mother because she is a widow and cannot live alone. Finally, Mrs. Mason, who is my main benefactress, insisted I should make this trip to Jamaica.” He paused and took my hand in his. “So you see, Annette, I have made few choices myself, but this minute, I have chosen to sit with you and I would not desire to be anywhere else in the world right now, or ever.”
We did seem to be perfectly matched, two abandoned and lost souls, after all; both at Jane’s mercy and subject to destiny’s capricious whims. I heard the serene and dark sea lapping gently against the hull. My stomach growled, reminding me that I had not eaten since the morning. I felt sick and miserable.
“Nothing is my decision,” I finally told him. I was sure of one thing; I would not tolerate lies or secrets any longer.
He replied at once. “I will wait until you decide to spend the rest of your life with me, because the time will come when you realise no–one will ever love and respect you more than I do.”
I lay back on his shoulder and closed my eyes again imagining all of us residing at my uncle’s house. I wondered what my mother would say if she saw us here, in her country, in her brother’s house. Was Jane to recover her health and her betrothed in Bertha’s homeland?
“Help me decide, Harry. I don’t know what to do.”
“Let us examine the possibilities more closely. We could stay here in Jamaica, or we could return to England. Those are our options, are they not?”
I nodded and he continued.
“If we stay here, we could get supplies and attend to both of our patients, but we might have to stay for a good few months due to the hurricane season. On the other hand, if Michael, does not survive…”
I gasped before he could finish speaking, but he squeezed my hand and continued, “which I am almost sure will not happen, but it is a possibility, we will have to leave him here in Jamaica, and Jane,” he threw his hands in the air, “who knows how she would react?”
“And if we leave? If we return to England, right now?”
“Thirty or more days at sea. Michael would be much recovered by the time we arrive back home, and so would Jane, but we would need to stop for provisions. We do not have enough food or water for the return journey.”
“We could stop at Martinique on our way back.”
“Are you sure you want to go back so soon? Do you not wish to return to Spanish Town?”
I decided it was time I made my first decision. “I have not come here for recreation, Harry. Our purpose was to rescue Michael and we have done so. There is much to do at Eyre Hall. We cannot protract our absence to suit my memories. Jane and Michael must return home, to England.” I looked into his compliant eyes. “We must all go home, Harry.”
He smiled. “I agree, my love.”
***
I woke after a long dark night wondering where I was. My feet moved off the bed and searched for the floor. Why was my body swaying if my feet were perfectly still? I steadied myself on the back of a chair to my left and stared at a small, closed door ahead of me. I could not reach the doorknob, and I could not move my heavy feet. I turned towards the light coming from behind me and saw a small round window and a blinding sapphire sky. My invigorated feet carried me to the porthole. The sea swayed gently, reminding me of morning glories bending against the wind, but I knew I was nowhere near my orchards or my beloved trickling stream. I was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean bringing Michael home. I remembered Harry’s words as he squeezed my hand.
“Jane, Michael is safe and sound. You must rest and recover before you can see him. Will you do that?”
Then I remembered Nell’s soft, quivering voice reading Bible verses to me, and telling me to get well soon as she pressed her lips on my forehead.
My impatient fingers grabbed Michael’s chain. I had to find Michael and give it to him. I must have screamed, because Dr. Carter and Annette came rushing into my room with alarmed expressions.
“I have to see Michael,” I told them, “at once.”
“Of course, Jane,” he said and smiled. I stepped away from him, wondering why he was calling me by my first name.
“Do you remember where we are? What has happened?”
“Where is Michael?”
“He is recovering in his cabin. Helen is reading to him.”
“Helen?” I asked, wondering if I was still dreaming. I turned to Annette. “What is the matter, Annette? Wake me up from this dreadful nightmare!”
“Do you remember what happened to Michael?”
“I have to give him his chain. He has to have it. Take me to him.”
“Do you remember why you have his chain?” asked the doctor slowly.
“No!” I cried. “I do not know why I have it, but I know he is in danger and I need to give it to him.”
I tried to think, pressing my fingers to my throbbing temples, in an attempt to ease the pain. I did not trust them. I caught a glimpse of their wary eyes looking away from mine at each other’s. What were they scheming behind my back?
“Very well,” said the doctor. “Let us go and see Michael now.”
He warned me that Michael had been unwell and in captivity for some time, however ten days had passed since we had found him, and he was eating and able to leave his bed on occasions. I knew how he was. I had seen him chained to a wall in a dungeon, in my dreams at Eyre Hall. The reason I was here came back like a lightning bolt. Th
e pirate, Mr. Smythe, Admiral Fitzjames’ help. We found Michael, although I could not remember how, but I did remember where.
The doctor opened the cabin door and I saw Nell sitting by his side, reading patiently, as she had done to me. She closed the book when she saw me and rushed towards me.
“You have woken up, at last!” She threw her arms around me. “I missed you so much.”
Michael’s face turned to us, and in another flash, I remembered his search for Helen and the letters Diana gave me.
“Helen,” I said wiping the tears from my eyes and kissing her cheeks. “You look lovely, darling.”
“Thank you!” she said. “I prayed night and day you would wake up, because I wanted to thank you for finding me.” She hugged me affectionately. “Michael told me how you found me.”
“My darling,” I said as I stroked her hair, “I loved you before I knew who you were. I could not have wished for a more wonderful daughter.”
“I used to wish you were my mother. You told me to make a wish, remember, and it came true, thanks to Michael.”
I thanked God I had left my nightmares behind and slipped straight into my dreams in a matter of seconds.
“I was reading to Michael. He is much better today,” Helen said.
“I am so glad to hear that.” He looked frail, but much better than the tortured prisoner I had seen in my dreams.
“Could you leave us alone a few minutes, please?” I asked them.
As soon as they left, I wrapped my arms around his neck and showered his face with kisses. He laughed, and then grimaced.
“You have me at your mercy, once more,” he said looking down at his swollen hands. “I can hardly move them.” His left hand was in the worst condition. His forefinger and thumb had sores and his wrists looked painfully dark.
I pulled off the chain I was wearing. “You were missing my heart,” I said as I wrapped it around his wrist like a bracelet. “There you have it, my love. Now you will recover quickly.”
I kissed his hands repeatedly. “They will get better,” I promised. “Soon we will back home, at Eyre Hall.”
***
The Eyre Hall Trilogy
All Hallows at Eyre Hall and Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall are the first and second novels in the Eyre Hall Trilogy. If you enjoyed this second instalment, I hope you will enjoy the conclusion of the trilogy, Midsummer at Eyre Hall, which will be published in 2016.
Thank you for reading. Please consider posting a review on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com or Goodreads, and spreading the word on social media.
About the Author
Luccia Gray was born in London where she graduated in Modern Foreign Languages. She now lives in the south of Spain with her husband. She has three children and three grandchildren. When she's not reading or writing, she teaches English at an Adult Education Centre and is English Language Tutor at the Spanish Distance University.
Visit Luccia’s blog Re–Reading Jane Eyre and Luccia Gray’s Facebook for updates on The Eyre Hall Trilogy. You can also follow Luccia on Twitter @LucciaGray.
Thank you for reading Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall. I hope you enjoyed it, and that you will read the third volume of The Eyre Hall Trilogy, Midsummer at Eyre Hall, to be published in 2016.
Acknowledgements
Who thought writing was a solitary endeavour? I could never have published this novel without the hundreds of people who have been supporting me throughout the process.
Thank you to my generous and irreplaceable Beta Readers: Elizabeth, Karen, Roberta, Kit, Geoff, and Antonio, without whose time, help, expertise, and encouragement, this novel would never have been published.
Thank you to Melody Simmons for the unique and beautiful Cover Art, which has been my novel’s distinctive pictographic representation even before it was published.
Thank you Alison Williams, for your advice and patience editing and proofreading my manuscript.
My gratitude to all my friends at Goodreads, and to my friends and followers on my Wordpress Blog, Rereading Jane Eyre, on Twitter, and on Facebook, for their generous help and support.
Thank you to everybody who read and especially those who took the time to review my first novel, All Hallows at Eyre Hall. You have all encouraged me to finish book 2.
A big thank you to my family, friends, and colleagues for believing in me.
Finally special thanks to my daughter, Sofia, for her constant help and support in this project.
Last, but not least, thanks to Amazon for making this venture possible.