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1"There again! Another stick of the penknife, when she pretended to pat my head: and that is because I said I did not
2like the society of children and old women (low be it spoken!). No, young lady, I am not a general philanthropist; but I
3bear a conscience;" and he pointed to the prominences which are said to indicate that faculty, and which, fortunately
4for him, were sufficiently conspicuous; giving, indeed, a marked breadth to the upper part of his head: "and, besides, I
5once had a kind of rude tenderness of heart. When I was as old as you, I was a feeling fellow enough; partial to the
6unfledged, unfostered, and unlucky; but Fortune has knocked me about since: she has even kneaded me with her knuckles,
7and now I flatter myself I am hard and tough as an India-rubber ball; pervious, though, through a chink or two still,
8and with one sentient point in the middle of the lump. Yes: does that leave hope for me?" "Hope of what, sir?" "Of my
9final re-transformation from India-rubber back to flesh?" "Decidedly he has had too much wine," I thought; and I did not
10know what answer to make to his queer question: how could I tell whether he was capable of being re-transformed? "You
11looked very much puzzled, Miss Eyre; and though you are not pretty any more than I am handsome, yet a puzzled air
12becomes you; besides, it is convenient, for it keeps those searching eyes of yours away from my physiognomy, and busies
13them with the worsted flowers of the rug; so puzzle on. Young lady, I am disposed to be gregarious and communicative
14to-night." With this announcement he rose from his chair, and stood, leaning his arm on the marble mantelpiece: in that
15attitude his shape was seen plainly as well as his face; his unusual breadth of chest, disproportionate almost to his
16length of limb. I am sure most people would have thought him an ugly man; yet there was so much unconscious pride in his
17port; so much ease in his demeanour; such a look of complete indifference to his own external appearance; so haughty a
18reliance on the power of other qualities, intrinsic or adventitious, to atone for the lack of mere personal
19attractiveness, that, in looking at him, one inevitably shared the indifference, and, even in a blind, imperfect sense,
20put faith in the confidence. "I am disposed to be gregarious and communicative to-night," he repeated, "and that is why
21I sent for you: the fire and the chandelier were not sufficient company for me; nor would Pilot have been, for none of
22these can talk. Adèle is a degree better, but still far below the mark; Mrs. Fairfax ditto; you, I am persuaded, can
23suit me if you will: you puzzled me the first evening I invited you down here. I have almost forgotten you since: other
24ideas have driven yours from my head; but to-night I am resolved to be at ease; to dismiss what importunes, and recall
25what pleases. It would please me now to draw you out--to learn more of you--therefore speak." Instead of speaking, I
26smiled; and not a very complacent or submissive smile either. "Speak," he urged. "What about, sir?" "Whatever you like.
27I leave both the choice of subject and the manner of treating it entirely to yourself." Accordingly I sat and said
28nothing: "If he expects me to talk for the mere sake of talking and showing off, he will find he has addressed himself
29to the wrong person," I thought. "You are dumb, Miss Eyre." I was dumb still. He bent his head a little towards me, and
30with a single hasty glance seemed to dive into my eyes. "Stubborn?" he said, "and annoyed. Ah! it is consistent. I put
31my request in an absurd, almost insolent form. Miss Eyre, I beg your pardon. The fact is, once for all, I don't wish to
32treat you like an inferior: that is" (correcting himself), "I claim only such superiority as must result from twenty
33years' difference in age and a century's advance in experience. This is legitimate, et j'y tiens, as Adèle would say;
34and it is by virtue of this superiority, and this alone, that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little
35now, and divert my thoughts, which are galled with dwelling on one point--cankering as a rusty nail." He had deigned an
36explanation, almost an apology, and I did not feel insensible to his condescension, and would not seem so. "I am willing
37to amuse you, if I can, sir--quite willing; but I cannot introduce a topic, because how do I know what will interest
38you? Ask me questions, and I will do my best to answer them." "Then, in the first place, do you agree with me that I
39have a right to be a little masterful, abrupt, perhaps exacting, sometimes, on the grounds I stated, namely, that I am
40old enough to be your father, and that I have battled through a varied experience with many men of many nations, and
41roamed over half the globe, while you have lived quietly with one set of people in one house?" "Do as you please, sir."
42"That is no answer; or rather it is a very irritating, because a very evasive one. Reply clearly." "I don't think, sir,
43you have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I
44have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience." "Humph! Promptly spoken.
45But I won't allow that, seeing that it would never suit my case, as I have made an indifferent, not to say a bad, use of
46both advantages. Leaving superiority out of the question, then, you must still agree to receive my orders now and then,
47without being piqued or hurt by the tone of command. Will you?" I smiled: I thought to myself Mr. Rochester is
48peculiar--he seems to forget that he pays me £30 per annum for receiving his orders. "The smile is very well," said he,
49catching instantly the passing expression; "but speak too." "I was thinking, sir, that very few masters would trouble
50themselves to inquire whether or not their paid subordinates were piqued and hurt by their orders." "Paid subordinates!
51What! you are my paid subordinate, are you? Oh yes, I had forgotten the salary! Well then, on that mercenary ground,
52will you agree to let me hector a little?" "No, sir, not on that ground; but, on the ground that you did forget it, and
53that you care whether or not a dependent is comfortable in his dependency, I agree heartily." "And will you consent to
54dispense with a great many conventional forms and phrases, without thinking that the omission arises from insolence?" "I
55am sure, sir, I should never mistake informality for insolence: one I rather like, the other nothing free-born would
56submit to, even for a salary." "Humbug! Most things free-born will submit to anything for a salary; therefore, keep to
57yourself, and don't venture on generalities of which you are intensely ignorant. However, I mentally shake hands with
58you for your answer, despite its inaccuracy; and as much for the manner in which it was said, as for the substance of
59the speech; the manner was frank and sincere; one does not often see such a manner: no, on the contrary, affectation, or
60coldness, or stupid, coarse-minded misapprehension of one's meaning are the usual rewards of candour. Not three in three
61thousand raw school-girl-governesses would have answered me as you have just done. But I don't mean to flatter you: if
62you are cast in a different mould to the majority, it is no merit of yours: Nature did it. And then, after all, I go too
63fast in my conclusions: for what I yet know, you may be no better than the rest; you may have intolerable defects to
64counterbalance your few good points." "And so may you," I thought. My eye met his as the idea crossed my mind: he seemed
65to read the glance, answering as if its import had been spoken as well as imagined--
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