Chapter
twenty-six
Home
Once again, my belongings were in my back
pack. I had no car so I walked to the nearest bus stop in the night, driven by my
own desire for the truth. It was as if he was calling me, ‘Anne, Anne!’ Just his voice mixed with a light breeze. Hours
later, I heard the crash of the ocean, ever nearer to the inland home I had
once inhabited.
‘How much further to Thornton Hall?’
The
bus driver looked at my sweaty face and messed hair, my dark jeans and smudged
fingernails and merely raised an eyebrow when I told him I would be staying on
the bus until it reached Cornwall. I knew the way from the bus stop on the main
road that led to Hay Lane; I knew my way in the dark.
I saw the cottage in the distance at the
far end of the road. It was situated nearer the cliffs. To my right lay Thornton
Hall.
Even the gate that led to the property was
blackened as I approached. From the front, the house still had its immense
façade, but as I walked slowly down the driveway towards the main building, I
had such a feeling of apprehension, that I started to jog, and then run towards
it.
I felt intense panic inside. I wondered if
those I’d loved had survived. The edges of my jeans were filthy by the time I
arrived, not to mention my joggers. Light rain started to fall from the sky. It
was nearly dark by the time I reached the main entrance. I hadn’t anticipated all
the mud as I walked to the side of the house and noticed it was a shell of the
building it had previously been.
All that was left of the ballroom I’d once
stood in was ash. There were still the remnants of the fire all over what was
left of the burnt walls, and most of the roof was missing. There were a few
police dotted around the estate. The kitchen and far rooms were barely intact
and when I rapped on the scullery door, I was surprised that Merida opened it.
Mrs Fairfax, who was dressed for winter, then came out to greet me.
‘You have returned,’ she said.
‘Yes,’ I replied.
‘Oh, Anne, we were so worried about you.’
‘I saw what happened on the internet… did
he, is he?’
‘Nathanial is still alive. Sophie was not
here.’
I breathed a sigh of relief.
‘There was no one else in the house at the
time except me and Leah, Mrs Poole, Hector and… Berenice Rochester.’
I winced at the name.
‘She is dead Anne. Berenice and Hector both
died in the blaze.’
I looked at her.
‘It’s not what you think. Mrs Rochester started
the fire; she was obsessed with burning flames. She once told Mrs Poole, it was
the only way she could ever die; but the poor beautiful wretch was a complete
lunatic, so who knows if it was true? Anne, I don’t know if, in the end, it was
her own doing or if the smoke overtook her. Nathanial, actually tried to save
her, he tried to save all of us. With her, he was overcome by the fumes, the
firemen rescued him but not in time; he is, much altered Anne.’
‘Where is he?’
‘He’s
on the bench, overlooking the ocean. He went there to listen to the sea.’
I turned from her….
‘But I must warn you, Anne…’
I started running, fed up with warnings.
Nathanial was seated with his dog, Pilot,
beside him. Apart from being slightly more hairy than I’d ever seen him (he’d
grown a beard) he was the same person, but when I called his name, he turned,
and his eyes looked glazed over.
‘Is that… can it really be you, Anne?’
‘Yes, it is me.’ I walked towards him; crouched
beside him, put my head on his knee.
‘I have come back to you.’
‘Anne? I can barely see you. The smoke
caused an injury.’
‘I am here, to stay with you, if you will
have me.’
I reached up and put my arms around him
and hugged him, never wishing to let him go.
As you may have gathered, dear reader, I
married him.
Months passed. The Hall was rebuilt.
By the time our baby son was placed in his
arms, his vision had cleared and Thornton Hall had been reconstructed and refurbished.
We made plans to travel, to go abroad, to
see the world as we’d always dreamt and planned to do.
I felt a contentment that had previously
eluded me and when we returned from Europe, I began to study again. I wanted to
complete the courses I’d enrolled in, not throw away the opportunity of a
further education.
Sophie
attended the local village school but we still studied together at home, if
studying is what you would call the laughter and learning we enjoyed. My family
teach me daily about all the things that were missing before I found these
loves and helped to create this life.
I looked at Nathanial Rochester and our
baby as he played on the blanket beneath us. In the distance, Sophie was walking
her horse through the veil of trees that shaded the far corner of our home. Thornton
Hall had been restored in all its springtime glory. The restoration of the
house went some way to revitalising Nathanial; or perhaps it was the family we
continued to raise, restoring us both.
Every person deserves to know this
contentment and daily I count my blessings. Before I fall into sleep at night
with the sound of my husband’s breathing beside me, I wonder at the extreme
good fortune that led me to Thornton Hall and try to accept but not take for
granted the joys that have been given to me in this life, joys that go far beyond
any of my wildest imaginings.
