From The Golden Courtesan

This is an excerpt from the sixth chapter of Shady Cosgrove's The Golden Courtesan. Set in the 1830s, the novel responds to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in a Rhysian tradition by exploring the life of Edward Rochester's mistress, Celine Varens. Celine was an opera dancer/courtesan and mother to Adele Varens (the child who inspired Jane's arrival at Thornfield). In this excerpt, Celine and Rochester have been engaged in a turbulent affair and Demi, a rival dancer, has just told Celine of Rochester's wife, Bertha/Antoinette. Celine is also pregnant with Rochester's child.