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1"The eagerness of a listener quickens the tongue of a narrator." I said this rather to myself than to the gipsy, whose
2strange talk, voice, manner, had by this time wrapped me in a kind of dream. One unexpected sentence came from her lips
3after another, till I got involved in a web of mystification; and wondered what unseen spirit had been sitting for weeks
4by my heart watching its workings and taking record of every pulse. "Eagerness of a listener!" repeated she: "yes; Mr.
5Rochester has sat by the hour, his ear inclined to the fascinating lips that took such delight in their task of
6communicating; and Mr. Rochester was so willing to receive and looked so grateful for the pastime given him; you have
7noticed this?" "Grateful! I cannot remember detecting gratitude in his face." "Detecting! You have analysed, then. And
8what did you detect, if not gratitude?" I said nothing. "You have seen love: have you not?--and, looking forward, you
9have seen him married, and beheld his bride happy?" "Humph! Not exactly. Your witch's skill is rather at fault
10sometimes." "What the devil have you seen, then?" "Never mind: I came here to inquire, not to confess. Is it known that
11Mr. Rochester is to be married?" "Yes; and to the beautiful Miss Ingram." "Shortly?" "Appearances would warrant that
12conclusion: and, no doubt (though, with an audacity that wants chastising out of you, you seem to question it), they
13will be a superlatively happy pair. He must love such a handsome, noble, witty, accomplished lady; and probably she
14loves him, or, if not his person, at least his purse. I know she considers the Rochester estate eligible to the last
15degree; though (God pardon me!) I told her something on that point about an hour ago which made her look wondrous grave:
16the corners of her mouth fell half an inch. I would advise her blackaviced suitor to look out: if another comes, with a
17longer or clearer rent-roll,--he's dished--" "But, mother, I did not come to hear Mr. Rochester's fortune: I came to
18hear my own; and you have told me nothing of it." "Your fortune is yet doubtful: when I examined your face, one trait
19contradicted another. Chance has meted you a measure of happiness: that I know. I knew it before I came here this
20evening. She has laid it carefully on one side for you. I saw her do it. It depends on yourself to stretch out your
21hand, and take it up: but whether you will do so, is the problem I study. Kneel again on the rug." "Don't keep me long;
22the fire scorches me." She did not stoop towards me, but only gazed, leaning back in her chair I knelt. She did not
23stoop towards me, but only gazed, leaning back in her chair. She began muttering,-- "The flame flickers in the eye; the
24eye shines like dew; it looks soft and full of feeling; it smiles at my jargon: it is susceptible; impression follows
25impression through its clear sphere; where it ceases to smile, it is sad; an unconscious lassitude weighs on the lid:
26that signifies melancholy resulting from loneliness. It turns from me; it will not suffer further scrutiny; it seems to
27deny, by a mocking glance, the truth of the discoveries I have already made,--to disown the charge both of sensibility
28and chagrin: its pride and reserve only confirm me in my opinion. The eye is favourable. "As to the mouth, it delights
29at times in laughter; it is disposed to impart all that the brain conceives; though I daresay it would be silent on much
30the heart experiences. Mobile and flexible, it was never intended to be compressed in the eternal silence of solitude:
31it is a mouth which should speak much and smile often, and have human affection for its interlocutor. That feature too
32is propitious. "I see no enemy to a fortunate issue but in the brow; and that brow professes to say,--'I can live alone,
33if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure
34born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot
35afford to give.' The forehead declares, 'Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst
36away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may
37imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgment shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in
38every decision. Strong wind, earthquake-shock, and fire may pass by: but I shall follow the guiding of that still small
39voice which interprets the dictates of conscience.' "Well said, forehead; your declaration shall be respected. I have
40formed my plans--right plans I deem them--and in them I have attended to the claims of conscience, the counsels of
41reason. I know how soon youth would fade and bloom perish, if, in the cup of bliss offered, but one dreg of shame, or
42one flavour of remorse were detected; and I do not want sacrifice, sorrow, dissolution--such is not my taste. I wish to
43foster, not to blight--to earn gratitude, not to wring tears of blood--no, nor of brine: my harvest must be in smiles,
44in endearments, in sweet--That will do. I think I rave in a kind of exquisite delirium. I should wish now to protract
45this moment ad infinitum; but I dare not. So far I have governed myself thoroughly. I have acted as I inwardly swore I
46would act; but further might try me beyond my strength. Rise, Miss Eyre: leave me; 'the play is played out.'" Where was
47I? Did I wake or sleep? Had I been dreaming? Did I dream still? The old woman's voice had changed: her accent, her
48gesture, and all were familiar to me as my own face in a glass--as the speech of my own tongue. I got up, but did not
49go. I looked; I stirred the fire, and I looked again: but she drew her bonnet and her bandage closer about her face, and
50again beckoned me to depart. The flame illuminated her hand stretched out: roused now, and on the alert for discoveries,
51I at once noticed that hand. It was no more the withered limb of eld than my own; it was a rounded supple member, with
52smooth fingers, symmetrically turned; a broad ring flashed on the little finger, and stooping forward, I looked at it,
53and saw a gem I had seen a hundred times before. Again I looked at the face; which was no longer turned from me--on the
54contrary, the bonnet was doffed, the bandage displaced, the head advanced. "Well, Jane, do you know me?" asked the
55familiar voice. "Only take off the red cloak, sir, and then--" "But the string is in a knot--help me." "Break it, sir."
56"There, then--'Off, ye lendings!'" And Mr. Rochester stepped out of his disguise. "Now, sir, what a strange idea!" "But
57well carried out, eh? Don't you think so?" "With the ladies you must have managed well." "But not with you?" "You did
58not act the character of a gipsy with me." "What character did I act? My own?" "No; some unaccountable one. In short, I
59believe you have been trying to draw me out--or in; you have been talking nonsense to make me talk nonsense. It is
60scarcely fair, sir." "Do you forgive me, Jane?" "I cannot tell till I have thought it all over. If, on reflection, I
61find I have fallen into no great absurdity, I shall try to forgive you; but it was not right." "Oh, you have been very
62correct--very careful, very sensible." I reflected, and thought, on the whole, I had. It was a comfort; but, indeed, I
63had been on my guard almost from the beginning of the interview. Something of masquerade I suspected. I knew gipsies and
64fortune-tellers did not express themselves as this seeming old woman had expressed herself; besides I had noted her
65feigned voice, her anxiety to conceal her features. But my mind had been running on Grace Poole--that living enigma,
66that mystery of mysteries, as I considered her. I had never thought of Mr. Rochester. "Well," said he, "what are you
67musing about? What does that grave smile signify?" "Wonder and self-congratulation, sir. I have your permission to
68retire now, I suppose?" "No; stay a moment; and tell me what the people in the drawing-room yonder are doing."
69"Discussing the gipsy, I daresay." "Sit down!--Let me hear what they said about me." "I had better not stay long, sir;
70it must be near eleven o'clock. Oh, are you aware, Mr. Rochester, that a stranger has arrived here since you left this
71morning?"
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