"The Widow" Bertha

In fact, Bertha does not want to cross.

Before crossing, Bertha was a reporter.Although Bertha’s job as a criminal reporter is as intense as that of a programmer, and her salary is relatively low, but she lives in the 21st century, in an era of wifi, mobile phones, takeaway, and junk food. Who would be interested in traveling back more than 100 years?

Most importantly, the original body was still a lunatic.

Bertha tried to recall the memory of this body, but there was only one thought in her face, and that was to escape!

Her thoughts, her emotions, and her memories are all repeating these simple phrases: Get out, be free, get out of here!

As for the others, due to the original body's mental problems, Bertha's memory of the past was very chaotic, and the fragmented memory fragments gave her a headache when she thought about it for a while.

Fortunately, Grace did not notice this.

In the original "Jane Eyre", Grace Poole, the maid responsible for guarding Bertha Mason, is a middle-aged alcoholic woman with a thick, ugly appearance.And the servant standing in front of her at this moment is about 30 years old, physically strong enough, but his face is full of sincere joy, he doesn't look like a bad person.

"Lady Bertha... how many things do you remember?" asked Grace.

After speaking, she added: "It doesn't matter if you don't remember clearly, you will always remember."

In fact Bertha really couldn't remember how much.

If she didn't know the original content of "Jane Eyre", facing the broken memory in her brain, Bertha would not even know what to do.

"I remember...my father was British and very rich," she struggled to recall the clues in her head, "and my mother was native to Jamaica. Edward Rochester and I were betrothed as children, but it wasn't until I was 15 I just saw him for the first time."

So now Bertha Mason is 25 years old.Well, if counted by the 21st century, she is still very young!

"I have a brother, too, who is all right to me," continued Bertha, "but I don't remember anything else."

Especially in the past ten years of madness and captivity, only the thought of "I want to escape" is left in Bertha's memory.

Grace looked at Bertha who was calm but indifferent, and her voice gradually choked up again: "It's already, it's already very good, ma'am! God has eyes—"

"All right."

Bertha was afraid that she would cry again, so she hurriedly asked a question to divert her attention: "Has anything happened in Thornfield Manor recently?"

Grace was silent for a rare moment.

Although she didn't say anything, Bertha understood that such hesitation should be because she was afraid of getting angry, so she comforted her: "It's no big deal, I'm recovering from a serious illness, and I'm in a good mood."

Grace finally replied reluctantly: "Mr. Rochester will be back in a few days, and he will bring a few distinguished guests. But... I heard the maid Leah talking in the kitchen, saying that Miss Ingram will also come. The woman wants to To be married to Mr. Rochester for a long time! The whole estate knows it."

After finishing speaking, Grace added angrily: "Even Mrs. Fairfax looks like she really wants her to marry. Pooh."

Mrs. Fairfax?It seems to be the butler of Thornfield Manor.

As for that Miss Ingram... According to the description in the original "Jane Eyre", it is nothing at all.

"I seem to remember," Bertha weighed her words, "does Edward Rochester have a famous illegitimate daughter?"

"I don't know very well, ma'am."

Grice sighed: "Mr. Rochester didn't admit that it was his child, but he treated the girl well and even hired a tutor for her."

This tutor is Miss Jane Eyre, the heroine in the novel.

Very well, now Bertha understands the situation.

It's not that the plot of the original "Jane Eyre" hasn't started yet, but that the plot has changed because of his time travel.For example, Grace, who was supposed to be drunk and slack, has become a loyal servant of Bertha's injustice. Another example is that Bertha's 15 years of imprisonment have become ten years.

"Mr. Rochester has incurred a lot of romantic debts in the past ten years," Grace couldn't help but began to ramble, "but you are out of your mind, what can you do? Men are like this, once their wives are not around, they can't control themselves .You mustn't be offended by it, ma'am."

Bertha couldn't laugh or cry, what kind of old-fashioned thinking is this!If a man cheats, does his wife have to be generous?

You can't blame Grace for being old-fashioned. It's the nineteenth century, and Victorian women basically think so.

What if you don't think so?

If a woman in the 21st century finds out her husband is cheating, she will be divorced in one sentence!You can sever ties with the scumbag after going through a formality.

But in the nineteenth century, it was almost impossible for a woman to divorce her husband.

In this era, women do not have the right to divorce freely.Bertha could not have divorced Edward Rochester unless he had committed a heinous crime of adultery.

As for him taking care of his lover outside?This is nothing at all, even if it is said, it is at most Rochester's "lace gossip".

Bertha would have to wait until the twentieth century to formally file for divorce.Because it was not until 1923 that the United Kingdom promulgated relevant laws, enabling women to freely file for divorce.

In other words, if Rochester is a domestic and wife abuser, there is no way Bertha can leave him.As a big landlord, Rochester's family was well-off, even if he accidentally killed himself, he could spend a lot of money to hire a suitable lawyer to justify himself.

——Look, so Bertha doesn't want to experience what time travel is like.

"I am not angry."

Bertha said coldly: "If Rochester is a vicious person, he can strangle me to death, and then blame me, saying that I attacked him first, and no one will say anything."

Maybe it was Bertha's tone, maybe it was the content of what she said, in short, after the sentence fell to the ground, Grace froze for a while, and then showed a somewhat fearful expression.

"lady……"

"Needless to say," Bertha dismissed the subject lightly, "I'm not angry."

Of course she wasn't angry, even Yuan Bo didn't care if Rochester cheated.

When Grace mentioned the surname "Rochester", this body surged with a stronger urge to escape - Bertha, the mad woman imprisoned in the attic, didn't care whether her husband still loved her or not. It's not that there are other women, she just wants to escape from here, and she is willing to pay any price to achieve this goal.

Bertha felt that she should fulfill this wish for the original body.

She pondered for a moment, then said, "Grace, I need you to do me a favor."

Grace hurriedly responded: "Madam, just say so! As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it for you."

"Don't say anything about my recovery," because Bertha is still uncertain about Rochester's attitude. "When Rochester comes back, find a quiet night and ask him to come to me."

And Grace did it for Bertha.

A few days later, at midnight, Grace Poole quietly left the attic after the rest of the guests in the manor, and told Rochester the news that Lady Bertha was awake.

With a wife who has been crazy for ten years, Rochester naturally does not believe it.

However, when he followed Grace through two locked doors and entered the dark attic, what he saw was not the mad woman who would scream and attack at him.

Bertha Mason was sitting by the burning fireplace, dressed in shabby but neat dresses, her thick black hair was tied behind her head in delicate braids, and she didn't seem to be losing her mind at all.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head and glanced at the visitor casually: "Ah, you are here."

The other party stopped.

Bertha read the shock on the man's face.

It turns out that this is Edward Rochester, the famous hero in the original "Jane Eyre".He looked no different from the one in the book: not outstanding, but manly.Eyebrows, eyes and facial features outline a stern character, at first glance he is a decisive and direct person.

This decisiveness is also reflected in the character.

"Grace said you've regained your sanity." Rochester spoke directly without even saying hello.

Apparently he was still skeptical.

Well, if it were Bertha, Bertha would be suspicious too.How can a madman prove to others that he is not crazy?This is a world problem.

Bertha's choice was not to prove it.

"Afraid I'll lie to you?" She asked back.

Rochester immediately frowned.

Bertha didn't care what Rochester thought: "Please wait a moment, I have something to tell you. Grace, can you help me go to the door and watch?"

That's what it means to keep Grace out of the way for a while.

Fortunately, Grace did not raise any objections. She may not have understood, but she did not intend to disobey Bertha. She just lowered her head and turned to leave, closing the heavy door of the attic.

The attic where there were only two people left suddenly became dark and silent.

Until this time, Bertha looked directly at Rochester's suspicious eyes for the first time.

She chose to cut straight to the point.

"Grace said that the housekeepers and servants in the entire Thornfield Manor thought you were interested in Miss Ingram," Bertha said, "but I know that you actually like the governess Miss Jane Eyre."

As soon as the words landed, Rochester's body shook violently.

This was what Bertha wanted.

She raised the corners of her mouth casually: "Don't look at me with such eyes, Edward, I don't care who you love now. You locked me up for ten years, even if I really agreed to your marriage proposal out of love for you , These ten years are enough to kill any feelings I have for you. I just want to be free now, I want to leave Thornfield and this attic, don't you want to get rid of my burden? "

Rochester remained silent for a long time.

Bertha was not in a hurry, she gave the other party plenty of time to digest the news.Edward Rochester stayed where he was for so long that Bertha thought he would never speak.

Finally he broke the silence.

"Yes," the man responded, "I do want to get rid of you."

well.

Although ruthless, but enough frankly.Bertha quite appreciates Rochester's personality, if you don't love him, you don't love him, and there's no need to be hypocritical and perfunctory with each other.

"Well."

Bertha said happily: "I have a way to end our marriage without ruining your reputation, so that you can boldly pursue Miss Jane Eyre."

The author has something to say: ① Regarding Bertha's family background, in the original "Jane Eyre", Bertha was imprisoned for 15 years and has two younger brothers.Here is a reference to the setting in the "Jane Eyre" fan novel "The Boundless Sea of ​​Salt" written by Ms. Jane Rhys in 1966, and changed to Bertha having an older brother and a younger brother.Of course, "Zaohai Boundless" is a fanfic, and Jiang Hua's writing is also a fanfic, so it is only used as a partial reference, and the settings are not completely used. In "Zaohai" it is written that Bertha has one-eighth of black blood. In this article, Bertha is of Spanish descent, not mulatto, but Latino.