The Bitter Taste

Chapter 40: Confusion

The Earl held the book, Jane Eyre, very tightly. So tight that he had gotten worried about almost crushing it with his bare hands.

"Last chapter..." The Earl whispered to himself. 

According to the story, Rochester and Jane finally marry with a quiet ceremony. Immediately, Jane writes to the Rivers, explaining what she has done. Diana and Mary both approve of her marriage, but Jane receives no response from St. John. Not having forgotten Adèle, Jane visits her at school. The girl is pale, thin, and unhappy, so Jane moves her to a more indulgent school. Adèle grows into a docile, good-natured young woman. 

Everything is happy, yet not so.

And in a similar sense, Henry was contemplating to himself whether he could actually gather the courage to walk up to his mentor, pull out the book, and say outright that he had lied all this time about losing it. That he didn't want to show how much he enjoyed such a romantic book like this, and that he did this simply because he couldn't admit something so trivial as his feelings.

He swore that there was something about him and how the words of his heart seemed far too impossible to say.

"Mr.Chichester?" Mrs.Barnett called out from downstairs. "Supper is ready! Come down if you'd like to join us. Jane is here."

The Earl took a deep breath and placed the book back down on his bedside table. He'd save the drama for later. After all, he was planning to officially finish the book tonight, and by the time dawn breaks through tomorrow, he'd step in and finally confess about it. He'd do at least that.

"I'm coming!" He yelled out and joined them.

As he came down the staircase, he was greeted with a rather dull face. Jane's face.

"Ms.Hackett, you're back." He said, and took a longer time staring. She seemed to have had a difficult day, judging by how her eyes seemed swollen, and how her shoulders stooped lower than how it did even during her worst days.

"Yeah..." She replied, and continued to walk straight toward the dining table. Even her posture was a mess.

"So, I take it there was no luck in finding the girl?" Mrs.Barnett said, trying to desperately lift up the atmosphere with a glossy smile. But even her efforts were of no use.

"I looked everywhere." Jane said, taking the seat beside her aunt. She sighed and forced her own face to refrain from looking down too much. "I even asked the nurses, and they found my description to be too vague. Apparently, headbands are the new trends nowadays for young girls, and they didn't know who I was particularly referring to."

"How about the guards? the vendors?" asked Mr.Barnett.

"All the same reply."

Jane watched as the Earl took the seat before her, his face also just as glum, oddly so, since this was usually the time where he'd spark her with nasty comments and insults - especially since he's been discouraging her about this search from the very start.

"So... What do you have to say about this, Mr.Chichester?" Jane said in a lazy manner, as if her words were running away from her mouth.

The Earl merely took a brief glance and immediately transferred his gaze back on his empty platter, without a single syllable to mention but the face of a guilt-stricken man.

"No words huh?" Jane said. "You must have had your hands full today as well. Strange too, for someone who left without telling anybody."

"Oh don't mind Jane, Mr.Chichester, you should have seen her face this morning when she discovered you left before her." Mrs. Barnett said, throwing a little snicker at the side. "She was very very -"