Escaping Mr. Rochester

“The splendor of the grounds is not carried through to the interior in the least. Shadows wreath the atrium’s high ceiling, clinging to the corners and upper walls like living creatures. They curl along the top of the grand staircase that snakes along the far wall and circle an unlit chandelier, then bleed out into the adjacent halls. Thick, velvet curtains hang heavy as battlements against any intrusion from the sun. Without the fullness of day allowed inside, darkness doesn’t just live here, it thrives.”