A Moment With The Bronte Sisters


    Elena


    I rushed out of Sebastian’s room after putting the mask back where I found it. The man I had


    shared a connection with at the masked ball was Sebastian, who was also coincidentally the man I


    despised above all else.


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    Did I still despise him, though?


    I sit down on my bed in a daze. Could Sebastian have felt the same way about me at the time? It


    would exin why he came to see me the following weekend, but he asked for Eliana Wiltshire, not


    me. Was he mistaken as to who I was?


    My mind was working overtime at what I had discovered and suddenly 5 years seemed even


    further away than before. Maybe this whole thing was an enormous coincidence.


    Sebastian and I were always in the midst of banter whenever we met in the past. He disyed an


    open dislike towards me and vice versa. He couldn’t possibly be that sweet gentleman from so long


    ago.


    I saunter towards my bathroom to have a soak and to forget that I found that damned mask.


    Two hourster, I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day. However, there was nothing nned


    for that day, so I would be stuck indoors again. It waster Winter and a few months away from Social


    Season so there would be no morous parties to attend and show face to.


    Ugh, I needed to do something or I would go mad!


    I looked at my cell phone on my bedside table and an idea came to mind when I picked it up. My


    sister answered on the second ring, “Elena!” She exims when she answers and I couldn’t help but


    smile. “I haven’t heard from you in ages, stranger. How have you been?” I ask her. I have been missing


    my sister something awful but felt as if I would bother her if I contacted her now. She was just starting


    her life with Robert, I did not want to be a reminder of what she would have been trapped in.


    “I have been okay, the morning sickness has just started easing up. Robert has been fussing non


    stop!” She says with augh, and I suddenly feel my bottom lip tremble. My sister sounded so happy


    and content… and now I would be bothering her with my problems. “And you? How have you been?”


    Dying inside, but okay, sis, thank you.


    “I have been well, missing you though. Would you care to meet up for brunch?” I ask her, praying


    she would say yes. “I am going crazy here in the vi all by myself, and need to get out.”


    “Oh, honey, I have missed you too! However, I am not in Ennd anymore as I live with Robert in


    Paris now. I am so sorry, Elena!”


    My heart sinks just a little more into despair.


    “Oh, no, it’s okay! Please let me know when you are back again? I miss seeing you.” I say, not


    giving away my disappointment and hoping she did not hear it in my voice either. Eliana sighs, “Of


    course, love. I promise…” She trails off, “Wait, what vi?”


    “Sebastian’s vi in Kensington. I moved in here after the wedding.” I say as I y with the stray


    lock of hair that fell over my shoulder.


    “I didn’t even know he had a vi in Kensington!” She exims, then I remember that Sebastian


    had told me he never brought Eliana here. Oops.


    We talk a little more, then say our goodbyes and promise to keep in touch. Then I throw my phone


    across the bed and let out a sigh. Gosh, I was feeling so depressed today, what the heck was wrong


    with me? I just spent the previous evening alone with Sebastian, opening up to him about myself, and


    yet I felt drained.


    The way he made me feel had me confused and my stomach in constant knots. I feel another


    headache starting and get up from my bed; being stuck in this room was not helping my disposition.


    I went over to my bookshelf and grabbed my well-worn copy of ‘Wuthering Heights’ as well as a


    fluffy nket from the edge of my bed, and headed downstairs to the conservatory. Noting the dark


    clouds looming over the ss ceiling, I knew it was a perfect day to spend with a Bront? sister.


    Yes, I know I am beingpletely transparent; a hopeless romantic trapped in a loveless


    marriage. However, I do find that reading distracts me from the duty of everyday life. I open the book to


    page 1 and find myself getting lost in the bittersweet love story yet again.


    During my afternoon in the conservatory, Ilse brought me tea and hot chocte to keep me warm,


    allergy. I was starting to think she was trying to sweeten him in my eyes, and it made me smile. She


    cared for Sebastian and wanted to see him happy. Why did everyone suspect that his happinessy


    with me, though?


    “‘He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made out of, his and mine are the same.’ ”


    I hear Sebastian’s husky voice behind me, quoting the novel’s most famous line and turn my head


    to face him. Gosh, it was dark out already. Had I read the entire afternoon away?


    “You’ve read Wuthering Heights?” I ask him with a smile and put the copy of my book down on my


    Jake Gyllenhaal lopsided smile.


    If my heart had a face, I would punch it right now for its irregr beat. That smile, oh my gosh.


    “I have, more than once.” He says as he sits on the L-shaped couch next to me, leaning back and


    draping his arm over the backrest.


    “I can tell by the way you perfectly quoted Catherine,” I say and hear his deep chuckle. What was


    happening to me? Sebastian was causing unwanted feelings to stir up inside of me. I did not want to


    feel this way, especially not towards him.


    “Indeed. You have picked the perfect ce to read, and that book is an idealpanion to the


    dreary weather.” He says as he points towards the book on myp. “Do you have a favourite Bront?


    sister quote?”


    Of course, I do, who didn’t?


    I nod, “‘I am no bird; and no ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.’ ”


    Sebastian smiles at this, “Jane Eyre. Of course, that would be your favourite quote. You are known


    as The Rebellious Heiress.” He says, calling me the nickname my grandmother had bestowed upon


    me, and I smile sadly.


    “And yet here I am, in an arranged marriage because of duty. So much for being a free human with


    an independent will.”


    I regret those words as soon as they leave my mouth, and I blush. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I


    have been in an incredibly morbid mood today.”


    Looking over at him, I see his face was set in a scowl, but he says nothing and I sigh. “I always


    seem to ruin the mood with my words,” I say as I cast my eyes down towards my hands sitting in my


    “I prefer honesty anyway, Lady Wiltshire.”


    When he says this, my head snaps up and I look at him with a frown, my heart sitting in my throat.


    I can’t let him know that I know it was him at the masquerade ball, I just can’t. Whatever is happening


    between us cannot continue to grow.


    I do not know how to respond to this and stare at him. Then he gets up and walks towards the


    door, then stops at the entryway.


    “‘Silence is of different kinds, and breathes different meanings.’” He says, quoting Villette, and then


    he was gone. He knew God damnit, he knew.


    I ruined the mood between us again, but I had to. I cannot allow Sebastian to creep into my heart,


    not after Nichspletely crushed it. I think back to my Jane Eyre quote from earlier, realizing that I


    did not actuallyplete it.


    “ ‘I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you.’ ”