JANE

JANE Chapter Twenty-three: Jamaica

Chapter Twenty-three

Jamaica

I remained speechless as he spoke.

'I was born as you know into the richest, most aristocratic of families. But it was my brother who was to inherit the lands, the title, the house... everything. When he was nineteen he died; he went out hunting and returned in a body bag. We are unsure what happened but there were bullet holes in his forehead.

There is madness in my family, Jane, and no one has ever spoken of it openly, but eccentric behaviour, selfishness and violence; these were the traits of my relatives. When I travelled to America, fresh out of school and attended college there, it was a whole new world, an open way of living, with no family feuds and no more secrets or violence... or lies, or so I thought.'

He stoked the flames of the fire that had been lit in my room and continued speaking in his rich, low tones. 'There were no family fires to contend with there; I was free at last.'

I did not stir; I felt I at least owed him the chance to unburden his conscience.

'As you know, I had significant funds and agreed to produce a film with Christopher when our screenplay won a competition. It was just a low-budget movie but we were granted enough funds to make the film the way we wanted and we were sent to New Orleans, one stiflingly hot summer, to film it. Christopher Mason was my best friend at university and my co-producer. Berenice Antoinetta Mason was his sister. We'd already auditioned an actress for the leading role but when his sister walked in... she had the part. She was...'

'Beautiful?' I answered for him.

'Seductive.' He countered.

'And you could not resist marrying her.'

'I could not but not for the reasons you think. I hardly knew her.'

'Then why did you marry her? You were so young, my age.'

'Their family, the Masons, were one of the oldest in New Orleans. Her father and my father did business together; it was arranged. I was now the only son and due to inherit everything. I went from being previously ignored by my family to somehow coming up in their world. My wedding to Berenice was a business transaction for my father, the merging of two family enterprises,' he added bitterly.

'And Berenice?'

'She... loved me.'

'That makes it worse. And you?'

'I loved her the first moment I saw her.'

Breathless, I knew it. She must have been so exquisite he had not bothered to ask any questions about the arrangement, barely needing any incentive to marry her. The money had just been a bonus to keep his father happy and the family business running strong.

Nevertheless, the words that had come out of Nathanial's mouth left me almost speechless. They were not exactly the words a woman expects to hear on her wedding night.

I started to dress, not caring if he stayed in the room. I began pulling on my woollen jumper over my pyjama top, buttoning up my jeans, pulling on socks as he finished his unrehearsed speech. I'd cut my hair in the bathroom, it was shorter around my ears, a shaggy long bob.

'You look like a waif,' he said, suddenly noticing my hair in the firelight.

'I feel like one,' I replied. 'I am not the same person I was yesterday. I do not want to look like that girl.' He reached out to touch me but I pulled away from him. He continued to speak...