The Tenant of Rabbit Towers

A Lost Bronte Novel
by Jane Doe

Matthew Rabbit is a gentle and stable orphan raised by a scheming and spiteful wolf. Eventually he gets a job working as a hairdresser for the gracious Lord Rabbit of Rabbit Towers. The unlikely couple rapidly succumb to a splendid passion.

On the day of their wedding, a thoughtless nun escapes from the attic of Rabbit Towers and starts a fire. Believing that Lord Rabbit is dead, Matthew flees from the church and wanders the windy moors for days until he is rescued by a lovable teacher.

However, although Lord Rabbit is blinded by the fire, he still breathes. Without Matthew he becomes clumsy and rude. He turns to alcohol for comfort. The ghost of the nun from the attic haunts him.

Meanwhile, thinking Lord Rabbit is dead, Matthew accepts a marriage proposal from his saviour, the teacher. However, one night he believes he can hear Lord Rabbit calling, "Matthew, where are you? Matthew come home!" and he returns to Rabbit Towers.

On Matthew's return, he finds Lord Rabbit drunk and without sight. Mistaking him for the ghost of the thoughtless nun, he attacks him with an arrow and Matthew Rabbit dies.

As he attends to the body, Lord Rabbit realises what he has done. Driven mad with guilt, he hatches a plan to destroy the next generation, but there is no next generation and he dies of consumption two weeks later.