Becoming Jane

Chapter 9

Part of this is in Harrison's POV so watch out for it :)

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Chapter Nine

Little J spent the rest of the day in the library. Just reading. Not necessarily about medicine, but on all sorts of subjects – philosophy, history and astronomy just to name a few. She wanted to distract herself from the guilt and utter embarrassment she felt regarding how she approached Harrison and his reluctance to speak about his own medical experiences.

She sat at an old, oak desk in the corner, trying to isolate herself by creating a wall of books between her and the rest of the vast library. Flipping through the pages of a book about Aristotle, she happened to look out the window.

The sky was a brilliant red as the sun went below the horizon. Night was coming. Yet she was not home.

How could she have lost track of time? Ordinarily she would have returned the books to their rightful places, but under the circumstances she had no time. Abandoning them, she grabbed her back and walked as swiftly as she could to get out onto the streets so that she could hire a carriage to take her home.

By the time she had made it out onto the street, night had truly fallen. Darkness surrounded her, as well as the freezing breeze the accompanied it. It was well and truly still winter. Her teeth chattered as she found a carriage to hire. Paying the driver, she climbed in and set upon transforming back into Little J. With her clothes safely stored in her bag, and her slightly creased gown buttoned, she sat back in the carriage hoping that she would not be in too much strife with her parents over the fact that she was home so late.

Feeling the carriage pull to a halt, she knew she was at her destination. Opening the door, she jumped out before the driver said anything about her sudden change in attire and quickly walked toward the cobble street that held her grand house, and many like it.

Seeing her breath and she breathed in the icy air, Little J struggled to see where she was going. It was dangerous to be out at night, especially for a woman. Why had she not just asked the driver to take her directly to her door?

Before she knew it though, a slimy voice filled the air. “What’s a painted up lady doin’ out so late?” a man sneered.

Little J spun around, feeling terror and despair fill her. The man who spoke was tall, and thin. His dirty blonde hair was shoulder length and wispy, and his cold, grey eyes looked at her hungrily. He was flanked by two men who wore similar, working class attire.

“Excuse me, I’d best be on my way,” she said politely, forcing a smile at the two men. She knew it would not be that easy though. They would not just let her leave.

“What’s the hurry?” the same man said again. “We’re nice enough blokes.”

“I’m sure,” Little J retorted. She then mentally scolded herself for using cynicism in such a situation. She really needed to learn how to filter her thoughts. She was becoming as bad as Kitty.