Chapter Thirteen
Sounds In The Silence
Rochester behaved as if nothing was amiss
the next day.
After
lessons, Sophie and I heard the house party arrive back from the stables. We were
padding upstairs, our hair wet from swimming. Sophie was so good now; she
didn’t need her floaties but I still watched her like a hawk. We were both
laughing and dripping water on the floor. Meanwhile Leah was, tut tutting us as the group entered the
hallway.
I pulled my long robe around me and Sophie
stood close; I needn’t have bothered. Neither the house guests nor Rochester
appeared to notice us at all as we walked upstairs. When I turned around as we
reached the top, all of the visitors were deep in conversation. I could hear their
upper class accents spinning off the walls. As I glanced downward, Rochester
was in the middle of the group – the centre of everyone’s attention.
Nicola Ingram was tall and graceful. She’d
had her tumble of blonde hair styled fashionably around her shoulders. Nicola, who
wore long riding boots and jeans with a designer label, was busy laughing at everything
Rochester said. I saw her flick something off his scarlet riding jacket and
link her arm through his. She clasped his firm hand to hers behind their backs.
Sophie was playing quietly that afternoon
and I could hear animated conversation coming from the drawing room. The men
were getting ready to go swimming after finishing a game of pool. When their
voices became softer, I walked downstairs with the car keys, preparing to go
the village.
The drawing room, which I was required to
walk past, was filled with stale smoke and recent conversation.
‘Anne?’
‘I… I thought you’d left.’
Rochester walked out from the connecting
library.
‘Are you hiding from us?’
‘No. I was with Sophie.’
‘Never mind. I want to introduce you to someone
properly. Anne, this is Nicola Ingram.’
I smiled at the woman who was maybe a few
years older than me and very self-possessed.
‘Nicola and her brother are close friends
of mine from London,’ Rochester stated.
I noticed her frown when he said the word friend. The haughty woman looked me up
and down from her secure position next to Rochester.
‘Hello. And who are you?’
‘I’m Anne Eyre, Sophie’s governess.’
‘Oh, so you’re the nanny; I grew up with
loads of nannies; we used to play tricks on them. They were all just awful,’
she said disdainfully, looking straight at me.
I ignored her insulting remarks.
‘I also tutor Sophie in English. I’m
preparing her for school.’
‘Yes,
and doing a brilliant job,’ Rochester said, backs turned to us as he went to
make drinks.
‘I must go,’ I added. ‘I don’t want to miss
the post office.’
‘Perhaps she’s off to meet her boyfriend in
town,’ I heard another girl snipe. Nicola’s friend giggled.
I
heard fading whispers from the females as I attempted to leave the room.
‘Why doesn’t she just use email? Oh but of
course, Rochester, it doesn’t work all the way out here in the wilderness,’ Nicola
scoffed. ‘I really don’t know why you left London. We must do something about
that next summer, darling.’
This woman, Nicola, was clearly making
plans for their life together. If he was using her to make me jealous, it was
working.
I
felt superfluous. I didn’t want to listen to any more of their idle
conversation and was glad to be out of the house as I navigated the not overly
familiar terrain, stumbling along Hay Lane and towards the pathway that lead to
the village.
I needed a walk to clear my head, and the
longer the better.
The summer days were becoming brisker, with
autumn approaching. I couldn’t really understand why my eyes were smarting with
tears as I walked. I knew I could drive but I wanted to take as long as
possible to get to the village, and then to return would take up the entire
afternoon. I wanted to stay out of the house that had previously been so
welcoming to me now that it had been invaded by an unfriendly adversary. I’d
met girls like Nicola at school. When they set their sights on their male prey,
they marked any other female, even one who didn’t rate by their standards, as
competition.
That night was just as bad.
I was compelled to go to the dining room
with Sophie and we were asked by Mrs Fairfax to dress for dinner again, something
I’d been previously annoyed about.
‘I’ve nothing to wear,’ I said. ‘Perhaps
I’ll just take tea in the play room and read.’
‘No, you are invited, Anne. Nathanial
especially asked for you though I daresay he wouldn’t miss either me or
Sophie,’ she joked. ‘And never mind about your outfit, dear, just wear a
different top and make sure Sophie looks her prettiest. Mr Rochester doesn’t
like her not to be well presented around his friends. We’re expecting an
engagement announcement very soon. He’s ordered some jewellery to be brought
down from London next week. They do make a lovely couple, don’t you think?’
‘Yes,’ I said. There was no point in
showing my hesitation. I was used to being overlooked, underestimated and
ignored. It was normal for me from my past, but not now, not here and never in
my future.
‘Oh, and Anne? It wouldn’t hurt you to put
on a little lipstick and blush tonight. It’s a party – there is no need for a
teenage girl to look so unhappy and severe.’
She
touched my cheek in what I could only describe as a motherly gesture. It was
what I occasionally did to Sophie when she’d said or done something
particularly sweet. I smiled tepidly.
Mrs
Fairfax left the room.
After Sophie was dressed in a beautiful sapphire
blue outfit (a newly bought design from one of Rochester’s recent trips to
France), I looked properly at myself in the mirror. I washed my face and did my
best to hide the damage of recent tears staining my cheeks.
