I couldn’t sleep. The warm bath from earlier kept replaying in my head. Even with the medicine, my body felt restless. Hot in a way that had nothing to do with the fever anymore.
I tossed and turned for hours before finally giving up. The clock on the nightstand read 12:17 a.m. I slipped on a robe over my nightdress and quietly left my room. The mansion was completely silent. I made my way to the main library, hoping a book would distract me.
The room was dark, I turned on a small lamp and started browsing the shelves, running my fingers along the spines. I needed something comforting, something that would take me far away from this confusing house and the man who lived in it.
I pulled out an old copy of Jane Eyre and settled into the armchair by the window. But even the words on the pa
