his
girlfriend so I couldn’t please Hood no more. Christy wouldn’t be able to please
Hood either, so that’s when I devised my plan. No one would help us, so we had
to fend for ourselves.
I told Simon to get Mrs. Mason’s
laudanum. She don’t usually take any, but she always has a bottle in her room,
for headaches and women’s pains. Simon and Fred served his dinner, so I told
Simon to get rid of Fred and put some drops in Hood’s wine first, and then in
his brandy, so he’d be so foxed he wouldn’t last long once we were in the room
with him. He wouldn’t remember nothing the next day. We’d have to be careful,
because we’d be doing it all through Christmas while he was in residence, so I told
Simon to get a bottle from the apothecary, ’cos Mrs. Mason would notice if a
whole bottle went missing.
I had no idea how many drops would be
enough, or the effects of mixing it with booze, other than drowsiness, but he
had it coming to him. I’m not sorry for what I did. He was an evil geezer.
***
Chapter VI – Christmas
Dinner
I had hoped to return to England as Mrs.
Adele Greenwood, but our wedding has been postponed on so many occasions that I
wondered if it would ever take place. We were about to be married in Venice last
April when my mother died. It was not entirely unexpected, because she had been
ill for some time. Nevertheless, the suddenness of her death altered all our
plans. We decided to postpone the wedding until September, but again, just a
few weeks before the event, when I presented William with the premarital
agreement Mr. Briggs had sent me, he suggested we should discuss the matter in
person with Mr. Briggs and Jane in England.
We thought it would be a good idea to do
so at Jane’s wedding on All Hallows, but Jane was adamant that it was to be a
small wedding, and nobody was to attend, except Annette, who was back from
Brussels, so we stayed in Venice. William then suggested we return for
Christmas and discuss our wedding arrangements with Jane, as well as Dante’s
future. He suggested Annette would remain unmarried unless she found a suitor
soon, and thought it would be advantageous for Jane to have Annette out of Eyre
Hall. He proposed a double wedding in the spring between us and Annette and
Dante.
I was becoming more worried about my
future as Mrs. Greenwood, and I was sure Mr. Briggs’s contract had a great deal
to do with William’s decision. His funds were diminishing, and the dowry Mr.
Rochester had provided for me was not as high as he had expected. I told him
Jane would offer more if it were needed, but he did not want to discuss
financial matters openly with me.
I had written to Annette and informed
her about my fiancé’s wishes, but she said she did not plan to marry yet. I
told her I thought she was being ungrateful, and that we should help each
other, but she seemed unmoved by my pleas. Jane said she would not force
Annette to marry against her wishes and suggested that William should sign the
contract and marry me, as he had promised. When I told her that he seemed
disappointed with the dowry, she was displeased.
“If Mr. Greenwood wishes to renegotiate
the premarital contract or requires a higher dowry, he must put forward a
proposal to me, in Mr. Briggs’s presence, as soon as possible, but the wedding will
not be postponed a third time.”
“But, Jane! That could jeopardise my
marriage. He could refuse to marry me. I’ll be a spinster again, and no one
will marry me this time!”
Jane was unmoved. “He will not be
allowed to play with you, Adele,” were her last words.
Jane had grown reserved and taciturn
since Edward had died and we had all left Eyre Hall. Her letters were friendly
and informative at first, but I soon noticed there was more information
withheld than communicated, and since our return, we had barely spoken for more
than a few minutes.
Surprisingly, Jane seemed to have grown
closer to Annette, despite her prolonged stay in
girlfriend so I couldn’t please Hood no more. Christy wouldn’t be able to please
Hood either, so that’s when I devised my plan. No one would help us, so we had
to fend for ourselves.
I told Simon to get Mrs. Mason’s
laudanum. She don’t usually take any, but she always has a bottle in her room,
for headaches and women’s pains. Simon and Fred served his dinner, so I told
Simon to get rid of Fred and put some drops in Hood’s wine first, and then in
his brandy, so he’d be so foxed he wouldn’t last long once we were in the room
with him. He wouldn’t remember nothing the next day. We’d have to be careful,
because we’d be doing it all through Christmas while he was in residence, so I told
Simon to get a bottle from the apothecary, ’cos Mrs. Mason would notice if a
whole bottle went missing.
I had no idea how many drops would be
enough, or the effects of mixing it with booze, other than drowsiness, but he
had it coming to him. I’m not sorry for what I did. He was an evil geezer.
***
Chapter VI – Christmas
Dinner
I had hoped to return to England as Mrs.
Adele Greenwood, but our wedding has been postponed on so many occasions that I
wondered if it would ever take place. We were about to be married in Venice last
April when my mother died. It was not entirely unexpected, because she had been
ill for some time. Nevertheless, the suddenness of her death altered all our
plans. We decided to postpone the wedding until September, but again, just a
few weeks before the event, when I presented William with the premarital
agreement Mr. Briggs had sent me, he suggested we should discuss the matter in
person with Mr. Briggs and Jane in England.
We thought it would be a good idea to do
so at Jane’s wedding on All Hallows, but Jane was adamant that it was to be a
small wedding, and nobody was to attend, except Annette, who was back from
Brussels, so we stayed in Venice. William then suggested we return for
Christmas and discuss our wedding arrangements with Jane, as well as Dante’s
future. He suggested Annette would remain unmarried unless she found a suitor
soon, and thought it would be advantageous for Jane to have Annette out of Eyre
Hall. He proposed a double wedding in the spring between us and Annette and
Dante.
I was becoming more worried about my
future as Mrs. Greenwood, and I was sure Mr. Briggs’s contract had a great deal
to do with William’s decision. His funds were diminishing, and the dowry Mr.
Rochester had provided for me was not as high as he had expected. I told him
Jane would offer more if it were needed, but he did not want to discuss
financial matters openly with me.
I had written to Annette and informed
her about my fiancé’s wishes, but she said she did not plan to marry yet. I
told her I thought she was being ungrateful, and that we should help each
other, but she seemed unmoved by my pleas. Jane said she would not force
Annette to marry against her wishes and suggested that William should sign the
contract and marry me, as he had promised. When I told her that he seemed
disappointed with the dowry, she was displeased.
“If Mr. Greenwood wishes to renegotiate
the premarital contract or requires a higher dowry, he must put forward a
proposal to me, in Mr. Briggs’s presence, as soon as possible, but the wedding will
not be postponed a third time.”
“But, Jane! That could jeopardise my
marriage. He could refuse to marry me. I’ll be a spinster again, and no one
will marry me this time!”
Jane was unmoved. “He will not be
allowed to play with you, Adele,” were her last words.
Jane had grown reserved and taciturn
since Edward had died and we had all left Eyre Hall. Her letters were friendly
and informative at first, but I soon noticed there was more information
withheld than communicated, and since our return, we had barely spoken for more
than a few minutes.
Surprisingly, Jane seemed to have grown
closer to Annette, despite her prolonged stay in
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