"The Widow" Bertha

Grace Poole, the maid, always felt that Lady Bertha had changed.

This evening, she got up from the dark and cramped attic room as usual, and said to the woman lying on the bed: "Mrs. Bertha, I'm going to the kitchen to get some food."

The woman on the bed let out a lazy "um" and asked, "What time is it?"

Grace: "..."

She was silent for a moment, then answered: "It's six o'clock, ma'am."

It's a little different, Grace thought.

Half a month ago, Mrs. Bertha contracted a rather severe wind chill. In this closed and cramped attic, such a sudden illness was almost fatal.Besides, Mr. Rochester was not around, so Grace didn't dare to ask for a doctor privately, so she could only use homemade prescriptions to help Mrs. Bertha, who had a persistent high fever, cool down.

This burning lasted for nearly seven days.

Seven days later, Lady Bertha's fever subsided; seven more days later, under the careful care of Grace, the lady gradually recovered her health.

It was a near miss.

only……

Mrs. Bertha, who was recovering from her illness, made Grace feel something different.She became calm, even reasonable.Although most of the time he is still a little dull and confused, but this is no longer in a state of madness, but like the weakness after recovering from a serious illness.

Although Mrs. Bertha's mood will be calmer when she is in a good state, she will definitely not be so logical.

Thinking so, Grace went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Leah, the maid, was chatting with the temporary helpers from the manor. When they saw Grace come in, they immediately shut up.It wasn't until Grace asked the cook to pick up the meal that she heard the faint discussion behind her.

The young helper lowered his voice: "Is this... the maid in charge of taking care of the crazy woman in the attic?"

Leah whispered, "That's her."

"Who is that woman? Why is she in Thornfield Manor."

"I don't know either! Even Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper, can't tell. I heard that she seems to be the half-sister of Mr. Rochester."

"What! How did I hear that he got a crazy lover."

"But why should a lover be locked up in his own home?"

"That's what you said, anyway, she's just a crazy woman."

Yes, Lady Bertha Mason, whom Grace Poole took care of, was a madman.And she's been mad for ten years.

This is the half-secret of Thornfield Manor—the sparsely populated Thornfield Manor and the surrounding peaceful villages belong to a gentleman named Edward Rochester.He has a rough and direct personality, and can be said to have some eccentricities, but he is probably a generous landowner, and he doesn't live here all the year round, so everyone still respects him.

Apart from the new governess, Miss Jane Eyre, the housekeepers, maids, kitchen, doorman and other servants in the manor probably know that there is a mad woman living in the attic, under the care of Grace Poole.

Grace didn't intend to get involved in other people's gossip, just sneered inwardly, and then left the kitchen with the dinner plate.

After closing the door, Grace paused again, hearing that the maid Leah was talking to the helper and the topic had turned to Mr. Rochester himself: "I heard that Mr. Rochester is going to invite many distinguished guests to Thornfield Manor." , Miss Ingram's family is also among them."

"Miss Ingram? The one who is interested in Mr. Rochester?" the helper asked in surprise

"That's right. Although Mr. Rochester is not good-looking, he is really popular with women. It is said that Adele's French mother is also his past lover, and now he has Miss Ingram's love. It's good luck." Leah said.

"After all, Mr. Rochester is a wealthy bachelor," the helper lamented. "It is said that if Miss Ingram does not marry, she will not inherit half of her own family. She is not young, no matter how good-looking she is, You also have to find a good husband, right? Mr. Rochester is so rich, he can be regarded as a good match."

bachelor?He is not.

Lady Bertha was his wife!

But at Thornfield Manor, no one knew about it.

And Mr. Rochester has locked his mad wife in the attic for ten years.

Grace often feels that Mrs. Bertha is so pitiful, but after thinking about it, Mr. Rochester has never done anything to hurt his wife. Mrs. Bertha is already crazy. Whether Mr. Cherett still loves himself.

Ten years ago, Mr. Rochester paid a high price to invite Grace Poole, asking her to take care of Mrs. Bertha, and swore that even if he died, he would not tell this secret, and Grace has kept it ever since.

Not only because of the high monthly salary, but also because Grace sincerely loves this mad lady.

——After ten years, even a rock has become hot.

Half a month ago, Mrs. Bertha was seriously ill, which made Grace, the servant, very worried. Fortunately, she has recovered.

Thinking this way, Grace took dinner upstairs from the kitchen, opened two locked doors, and walked into the dark and cramped attic.

"Mrs. Bertha, I've brought dinner," said Grace in a friendly voice. "It's very rich today, with meat and vegetables. I even brought pudding and wine. Maybe you want to have a glass of it." ?”

She didn't expect to get a response from Mrs. Bertha. In fact, Mrs. Bertha rarely gave Grace a sober response in the past ten years.The maid did this because she wanted to add a breath of living people to the prison like a hell cage.

However this time...

A hoarse female voice came from the darkness: "Thank you, Grace, bring it here."

Grace froze in place.

She was stunned for half a minute, until the woman's voice came again in the darkness: "Grace, what's wrong?"

"What, what?"

"I said," the woman's voice in the darkness carried a somewhat helpless smile, "bring the dinner here, otherwise, do you want me to take it myself?"

"No, no!"

Grace nearly dropped the plate she was holding.

A bold idea hit her mind, and Grace took a step in disbelief.She moved a lot closer to the voice in the darkness, and stopped at a distance where the flickering candlelight could finally illuminate the figure of the woman beside the bed.

Grace's eyes widened.

For ten years Lady Bertha had lived a barely human life--not that Grace Poole was caring or abusing in the absence of the master, but mad women who never accepted the ways of civilized human beings.In the first year, Grace would help Mrs. Bertha braid her long hair and change her clothes every day, but she would often tear her braids and long skirts in less than a day, and would rather crawl on the ground than Ken walks upright.

This is still a relatively good situation.

In a bad situation, Mrs. Bertha will show terrible aggression, either setting fire or hurting people. No matter how closely Grace keeps her eyes on her, there will be times of negligence.

Before leaving the attic, Mrs. Bertha still had her hair disheveled, but after returning, what Grace saw was not the hideous and frightening mad woman.

The woman sitting on the bed had a straight back and a calm expression. The thick and long black hair that Grace had been trying to comb for her for ten years but always failed was randomly tied in a bun at the back of her head. The dim candlelight elongated her hair. The shadow of her slender neck.

Lady Bertha even took off her white robe, which was as wide as a shroud, and put on a red dress, which outlined the woman's tall and thin figure.

This red color seemed to be a raging flame in the dim attic. Glath couldn't help but think of Mrs. Bertha's several attempted arson, and couldn't help shivering.

But the fear that surged up in her was immediately wiped away by the composure and clarity in Mrs. Bertha's dark golden pupils.

Grace heard that Lady Bertha, who was not mad, was a famous beauty in Jamaica, and she didn't realize it was true until ten years later, when she saw the fully dressed woman in front of her.

——Sharp eyebrows, honey-colored skin, and a face that has just recovered from a serious illness looks a little haggard, but it doesn't detract from that dignified style.

dignified style.

With a bang, the dinner plate in Grace's hand fell to the ground uncontrollably.

"Husband, madam!?"

Grace said in shock: "You, are you awake?!"

Bertha laughed out loud on the bed.

"Let me think about it," she said slowly in a slightly hoarse voice, "My name is Bertha Mason, I was born on the Caribbean coast, and I married an English man named Rochester, but I have been married by him in Thornfield. The manor has been closed for fifteen years, has it not?"

Fruit, sure enough!

Before that, Glath was thinking that it was a miracle that Mrs. Bertha could survive the typhoid fever, but seeing Mrs. Bertha, who is now well-dressed... a serious illness has completely awakened Mrs. Bertha's mind come over.

God bless, God bless!

Grace couldn't help sobbing: "Ten years, ma'am, but it doesn't matter-you have recovered your sanity! It's God's eyes!"

——It turned out to be ten years.

Seeing the weeping maid, Bertha's smile gradually became bitter.

It's a pity that God doesn't have eyes. Today's Bertha Mason is no longer Edward Rochester's crazy wife locked up in the attic. She is a modern person whose soul has traveled over.

The reason why the news was probably correct was because Bertha, who had traveled through time, sorted out useful information from the fragmentary memories in her body, and she had read the famous love novel "Jane Eyre".

But Bertha remembers the crazy wife of the hero Rochester in "Jane Eyre", who was actually locked up in the attic for 15 years.

The current situation... is it because the plot of the original book hasn't happened yet, or has it changed because of my time travel?

"Don't cry, Grace."

In the original body's limited memory, facing this Grace Poole had been taking care of her food and daily life. Although she had the habit of drinking occasionally, she was not bad at heart.Several times of dereliction of duty, but instead gave Bertha a chance to sneak out to see the light of day.

She had just crossed over, and Bertha was still unfamiliar with the place, so she had to seize every opportunity to learn about the situation.The maid in front of her is a worthy target.

Bertha comforted me softly: "If you are really happy for me, please tell me what happened outside these years."