Mr. Thorneton disappeared the next day.
This shouldn't have come as such a shock. Part of me had thought last night had been the beginning of...something. Even if something was just him using me to amuse himself.
After running into him last evening, he seemed more real to me. He'd stepped out of my imagination and filled the shoes I'd been crafting for him far too well.
Perhaps it had been my own fancy. Perhaps that rich, smoke and brandy scent of him and the hard warmth of his hands on my arms had been nothing but my imagination finally run wild.
The small step he'd taken further into my reality meant that I was even more surprised when he'd just disappeared. I tried not to let myself be as disappointed as Adelia. Hopefully I hid it well. Again.
Adelia had become an expert little spy in her time at Tower House—or maybe it was a gift she'd brought with her.
She reported after breakfast that Mr. Thorne had taken the car and he had an overnight bag with him. She said that Mr. Micha had also gone and had a bag.
But, she said Mr. Micha had left some of his clothes behind—which he apparently never did—so they would be coming back.
I didn't have the heart to point out the flaws in her six-year-old logic, but nodded and smiled and forced more English into her brain with the idea that we could surprise her Mr. Thorne when he returned.
The days took up the same rhythm they'd had before he'd come. There was no loitering at the banister or strange cars slipping in and out of the drive.
Adelia learned to pay attention for a small bit of the day and I learned to stop watching the far side of the house each night.
It was a tradeoff I should have been grateful for.
That was a reminder I needed to hold tight to.
YOU ARE READING
Jane: A Retelling
RomanceA remote house, a dangerous man, more secrets than a gothic novel. For three years Jane has struggled to distance herself from a tragedy that's haunted her since she left foster care. When she's hired as the nanny in a remote mansion, she hopes for...
