JANE

JANE Chapter Three: Thornton

Chapter Three

Thornton

An ancient, stooped-over man opened the heavy door and peered out at me through the space between the safety chain and the wall.

'Are you Mr Rochester?' He laughed.

'No, Miss. I'm Hector, the butler. I'm old enough to be his grandfather. The owner of Thornton is who you'll be wanting. He's away in Europe, not sure if he'll be back here all summer. Sometimes he goes away and we wonder if he'll ever return. Place will go to rack and ruin. No, it's the younger Rochester you'll be wanting, but I knew Rochester senior back when he was still a boy - giving away my age again,' he chuckled. I could have assured him I would not have guessed it to be less than one hundred.

'No, that younger Rochester has wild parties,' he tutted and shook his head. 'His father would not have approved, no he would not.'

With those words, the elderly man shut the door in my face. Already I was thinking he was pretty weird.

I sat on the doorstep wondering what to do next.

How was I supposed to interpret the letter, the paid for room in Devon, the helpfulness of Mrs Fairfax and the old-fashioned interview method – the telephone? I sat on the door step and put my head in my hands.

Moments later, an older but very well-dressed woman came out.

'Jane? Jane Eyre?'

'Yes, that's me,' I said with a mixture of eagerness and exasperation.

'Oh, Jane, I am so glad you've arrived. I'm Edwina Fairfax, the housekeeper here at Thornton Hall. Sophie, the child you are to tutor, is having her afternoon nap but we've been expecting you all day...' she leant in, 'take no notice of Hector; he's been here for decades, Nathanial would never ask him to leave, it's his home too but he really doesn't work as the butler anymore; though he's very good at judging the young man who owns the place,' Mrs Fairfax said.

She continued to speak as she led me through the vast entrance hallway of the house with grand, high ceilings and hall lights lit up like crystal. 'Never mind Hector,' she continued. 'He's over a hundred,' she whispered. 'He's been working here for sixty years, he's going a bit... well, he's a bit confused. I can't really talk to him and there are so few staff left here, just a cook and a cleaner and the grooms who come to work during the day. We have a lodger upstairs, Emma Poole, but she doesn't speak much, does her own thing and writes all day from her room in the attic, or so

I'm told. I'm not allowed to go in there as she doesn't like being disturbed.' Mrs Fairfax shrugged and raised an eyebrow. 'Artistic types,' she said disdainfully.

'I mostly just run the house, organise the pay, the salaries. I read – a lot! Do you read novels Jane? Of course we have television and the local cinema but no internet connection while the renovations to the far wing are being done, not unless you go into the village - there are too many builders around here digging up phone lines and what not - so, they're working on that.'

No internet, I thought. Good. I don't want the distraction while I'm busy hiding from the world and its coldness.

'The staff are... let's just say they are not readers. They spend their evenings in the village pub mostly, when they are not wanted around here. Nathanial Rochester, he's the owner now; he doesn't visit much, either, but he's supposedly bringing his friends to stay for the summer; some of them are in a band he manages and Nathanial agreed to let them rehearse here. Apart from that, his business interests are varied. He is coming home to organise the horses and buy some more, or sell them; I'm not really sure. I think he just wants someone to improve Sophie's English over the summer. She's no trouble, Jane, but she mostly speaks French. Do you speak French fluently?'