23
" And then, to Miss Brontë, he said, "All right, please gather all the teachers together."
Miss Brontë lifted her chin. "I'd rather not do anything until I know whether you're going to arrest my friend."
Alexander frowned.
"You don't scare me."
Alexander kept frowning.
"Not even with that mask."
More frowning.
"Fine. But remember, she's my friend, and even if she did kill him, she helped the school. You have no idea how bad things were. It was self-defense."
"I know about the burlap."
"Daisy was allergic to burlap!" Miss Brontë pulled out her notebook and scribbled what looked like He knows about the burlap. "All right, go ahead and solve the murder, but don't arrest anyone I like."
He tried not to smile. "I make no promises, Miss Brontë. "
― Cynthia Hand , My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)
24
" Adele took her place in front of the audience and began to sing.
"Miss Eyre, perhaps you can tell me what he's saying?" Mrs. Fairfax said. "The only other person in the house who speaks French is the master, and he hates to translate anymore."
Jane glanced at Mr. Rochester, but he stared straight ahead.
Jane listened to the song. "The first few lines are about a famous dancer ... in a club ... She wore flowers in her hair and a dress that ... oh." Adele sang in detail about how much the dress covered. Or didn't cover.
Jane blushed and glanced at Mr. Rochester, searching for a reaction to the scandalous lyrics. But he just listened. Not scandalized.
"So, yes, the dancer wore a dress," Jane continued, with slightly less detail. "And she was in love with a ... dealer. Of cards. And at night, they ... oh my."
Adele sang of a very special hug.
Jane's cheeks flamed. "Perhaps Mr. Rochester should translate."
She turned to Mr. Rochester, who coughed. He waved his hand. "Please continue, Miss Eyre. You're doing such a fine job."
Now Adele sang of the woman's roving eye, and another man visiting while her lover was away.
"They continued to love each other," Jane said quickly, maybe a bit desperately.
In the last verse, the boyfriend found out about her infidelity, and stabbed the dancer and her other lover.
"That escalated quickly," said Helen. She also spoke French, but no one had asked her to translate.
"And they both lived happily ever after," Jane blurted. She was going to have to teach Adele some new songs. "
― Cynthia Hand , My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)
31
" Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you and full as much heart. And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal—as we are. "
― Cynthia Hand , My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)