Taming Jane

Chapter 18

“I think you do, Jane, she is yours, is she not?” Eleanor replied simply. “I gave birth to her, I gave her a name that suited her lovely, cherub like face, but she is not mine to claim anymore. She is yours now, as you are the one who loves her like a mother would.” Eleanor didn’t seem upset at the thought that she was no longer Sabine’s mother, but neither was Jane, when she was alive or dead.

“Regardless of how I love Sabine, she is not mine, now, either, for I am here, and not there,” Jane said sadly. How she wished she had the opportunity, a proper opportunity to love Sabine like a mother would. She would tell her everyday like Emilia did to her children.

“It is still a comfort to me, Jane, to know that Sabine is loved properly. Such a lovely girl, both inside and out, she will make a fine bride one day, don’t you think?” Eleanor smiled proudly.

Jane nodded in agreement. “That she will be, she will make the right man very happy.”

“I can think of another man who was very happy,” Eleanor said knowingly. She shifted her body a little so that she was fully facing Jane.

“Are you referring to Daniel?” Jane checked.

“Do you think I’m referring to Daniel?” Eleanor shot back.

Jane huffed impatiently. “Why are all your answers questions?” she demanded to know.

“Why are all your questions answers?” Eleanor said calmly, the same simple smile returning to her full lips. “It is no fault of mine that you answer your own questions when you ask.”

Jane had to give her that one. She was right. “I suppose I do ... but what did you want to say about Daniel.”

“He is happy when you are near. He is smiling, he is laughing, and he is fathering Sabine, things he has only started doing since you have entered his life. You saved him, Jane, and for that I thank you,” Eleanor said sincerely, taking Jane’s hand in hers.

Jane was shocked to feel the sensation. Her hand was incredibly warm. To her it felt like bed sheets that had been warmed before bed on a cold winter’s night. She wondered if she had to enter heaven before her hands felt so wonderful. “You needn’t thank me,” Jane said bashfully.

“Why do you feel so embarrassed when people show you gratitude?” Eleanor asked curiously. “You know deep down inside that you deserve it.”

“I know,” Jane replied. “But it doesn’t make it easy to accept it. I feel awful now, though, as I have ‘saved’ Daniel, all that progress will disintegrate.”

Eleanor shook her head. “You have given him the strength to love again, Jane, a power he had forgotten, with or without you, he knows how to survive, and you have shown him that.”

Jane let go of Eleanor’s hand and began to play with the grass as Eleanor had done before. That too felt cool on her fingers. It smelt like mint. Everything was so perfect, almost unbelievable. “Are you angry at me?” Jane asked after a few minutes of silence.