A touch of a spurred heel made his horse first start and rear,and then bound away; the dog rushed in his traces; all three vanished,
'Like heath that, in the wilderness,
The wild wind whirls away.'
I took up my muff and walked on. The incident had occurred andwas gone for me: it was an incident of no moment, no romance, nointerest in a sense; yet it marked with change one single hour of amonotonous life. My help had been needed and claimed; I had givenit: I was pleased to have done something; trivial, transitory thoughthe deed was, it was yet an active thing, and I was weary of anexistence all passive. The new face, too, was like a new pictureintroduced to the gallery of memory; and it was dissimilar to allthe others hanging there: firstly, because it was masculine; and,secondly, because it was dark, strong, and stern. I had it stillbefore me when I entered Hay, and slipped the letter into thepost-office; I saw it as I walked fast down-hill all the way home.When I came to the stile, I stopped a minute, looked round andlistened, with an idea that a horse's hoofs might ring on the causewayagain, and that a rider in a cloak, and a Gytrash-like Newfoundlanddog, might be again apparent: I saw only the hedge and a pollardwillow before me, rising up still and straight to meet themoonbeams; I heard only the faintest waft of wind roaming fitful amongthe trees round Thornfield, a mile distant; and when I glanced down inthe direction of the murmur, my eye, traversing the hall-front, caughta light kindling in a window: it reminded me that I was late, and Ihurried on.
I did not like re-entering Thornfield. To pass its threshold was toreturn to stagnation; to cross the silent hall, to ascend the darksomestaircase, to seek my own lonely little room, and then to meettranquil Mrs. Fairfax, and spend the long winter evening with her, andher only, was to quell wholly the faint excitement wakened by mywalk,- to slip again over my faculties the viewless fetters of anuniform and too still existence; of an existence whose very privilegesof security and ease I was becoming incapable of appreciating. Whatgood it would have done me at that time to have been tossed in thestorms of an uncertain struggling life, and to have been taught byrough and bitter experience to long for the calm amidst which I nowrepined! Yes, just as much good as it would do a man tired ofsitting still in a 'too easy chair' to take a long walk: and just asnatural was the wish to stir, under my circumstances, as it would beunder his.
I lingered at the gates; I lingered on the lawn; I pacedbackwards and forwards on the pavement; the shutters of the glass doorwere closed; I could not see into the interior; and both my eyes andspirit seemed drawn from the gloomy house- from the grey hollow filledwith rayless cells, as it appeared to me- to that sky expandedbefore me,- a blue sea absolved from taint of cloud; the moonascending it in solemn march; her orb seeming to look up as she leftthe hill-tops, from behind which she had come, far and farther belowher, and aspired to the zenith, midnight dark in its fathomlessdepth and measureless distance; and for those trembling stars thatfollowed her course; they made my heart tremble, my veins glow whenI viewed them. Little things recall us to earth; the clock struck inthe hall; that sufficed; I turned from moon and stars, opened aside-door, and went in.
The hall was not dark, nor yet was it lit, only by the high-hungbronze lamp; a warm glow suffused both it and the lower steps of theoak staircase. This ruddy shine issued from the great dining-room,whose two-leaved door stood open, and showed a genial fire in thegrate, glancing on marble hearth and brass fire-irons, and revealingpurple draperies and polished furniture, in the most pleasantradiance. It revealed, too, a group near the mantelpiece: I hadscarcely caught it, and scarcely become aware of a cheerful minglingof voices, amongst which I seemed to distinguish the tones of Adele,when the door closed.
I hastened to Mrs. Fairfax's room; there was a fire there too,but no candle, and no Mrs. Fairfax. Instead, all alone, sittingupright on the rug, and gazing with gravity at the blaze, I beheld agreat black and white long-haired dog, just like the Gytrash of thelane. It was so like it that I went forward and said- 'Pilot,' and thething got up and came to me and snuffed me. I caressed him, and hewagged his great tail; but he looked an eerie creature to be alonewith, and I could not tell whence he had come. I rang the bell, forI wanted a candle; and I wanted, too, to get an account of thisvisitant. Leah entered.
'What dog is this?'
'He came with master.'
'With whom?'
'With master- Mr. Rochester- he is just arrived.'
'Indeed! and is Mrs. Fairfax with him?'
'Yes, and Miss Adele; they are in the dining-room, and John is gonefor a surgeon; for master has had an accident; his horse fell andhis ankle is sprained.'
'Did the horse fall in Hay Lane?'
'Yes, coming down-hill; it slipped on some ice.'
'Ah! Bring me a candle, will you, Leah?'
Leah brought it; she entered, followed by Mrs. Fairfax, whorepeated the news; adding that Mr. Carter the surgeon was come, andwas now with Mr. Rochester: then she hurried out to give ordersabout tea, and I went upstairs to take off my things.
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CHAPTER XIII
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MR. ROCHESTER, it seems, by the surgeon's orders, went to bed earlythat night; nor did he rise soon next morning. When he did comedown, it was to attend to business: his agent and some of histenants were arrived, and waiting to speak with him.
Adele and I had now to vacate the library: it would be in dailyrequisition as a reception-room for callers. A fire was lit in anapartment upstairs, and there I carried our books, and arranged it forthe future schoolroom. I discerned in the course of the morning thatThornfield Hall was a changed place: no longer silent as a church,it echoed every hour or two to a knock at the door, or a clang ofthe bell: steps, too, often traversed the hall, and new voices spokein different keys below; a rill from the outer world was flowingthrough it; it had a master: for my part, I liked it better.
Adele was not easy to teach that day; she could not apply: she keptrunning to the door and looking over the banisters to see if she couldget a glimpse of Mr. Rochester; then she coined pretexts to godownstairs, in order, as I shrewdly suspected, to visit the library,where I knew she was not wanted; then, when I got a little angry,and made her sit still, she continued to talk incessantly of her 'ami,Monsieur Edouard Fairfax de Rochester,' as she dubbed him (I had notbefore heard his prenomens), and to conjecture what presents he hadbrought her: for it appears he had intimated the night before, thatwhen his luggage came from Millcote, there would be found amongst it alittle box in whose contents she had an interest.
'Et cela doit signifier,' said she, 'qu'il y aura la dedans uncadeau pour moi, et peut-etre pour vous aussi, mademoiselle.Monsieur a parle de vous: il m'a demande le nom de ma gouvernante,et si elle n'etait pas une petite personne, assez mince et un peupale. J'ai dit qu'oui: car c'est vrai, n'est-ce pas, mademoiselle?'
I and my pupil dined as usual in Mrs. Fairfax's parlour; theafternoon was wild and snowy, and we passed it in the schoolroom. Atdark I allowed Adele to put away books and work, and to rundownstairs; for, from the comparative silence below, and from thecessation of appeals to the door-bell, I conjectured that Mr.Rochester was now at liberty. Left alone, I walked to the window;but nothing was to be seen thence: twilight and snowflakes togetherthickened the air, and hid the very shrubs on the lawn. I let down thecurtain and went back to the fireside.
In the clear embers I was tracing a view, not unlike a picture Iremembered to have seen of the castle of Heidelberg, on the Rhine,when Mrs. Fairfax came in, breaking up by her entrance the fierymosaic I had been piecing together, and scattering too some heavyunwelcome thoughts that were beginning to throng on my solitude.
'Mr. Rochester would be glad if you and your pupil would take teawith him in the drawing-room this evening,' said she: 'he has beenso much engaged all day that he could not ask to see you before.'
'When is his tea-time?' I inquired.
'Oh, at six o'clock: he keeps early hours in the country. You hadbetter change your frock now; I will go with you and fasten it. Hereis a candle.'
'Is it necessary to change my frock?'
'Yes, you had better: I always dress for the evening when Mr.Rochester is here.'
This additional ceremony seemed somewhat stately; however, Irepaired to my room, and, with Mrs. Fairfax's aid, replaced my blackstuff dress by one of black silk; the best and the only additional oneI had, except one of light grey, which, in my Lowood notions of thetoilette, I thought too fine to be worn, except on first-rateoccasions.
'You want a brooch,' said Mrs. Fairfax. I had a single little pearlornament which Miss Temple gave me as a parting keepsake: I put it on,and then we went downstairs. Unused as I was to strangers, it wasrather a trial to appear thus formally summoned in Mr. Rochester'spresence. I let Mrs. Fairfax precede me into the dining-room, and keptin her shade as we crossed that apartment; and, passing the arch,whose curtain was now dropped, entered the elegant recess beyond.
Two wax candles stood lighted on the table, and two on themantelpiece; basking in the light and heat of a superb fire, layPilot- Adele knelt near him. Half reclined on a couch appeared Mr.Rochester, his foot supported by the cushion; he was looking atAdele and the dog: the fire shone full on his face. I knew mytraveller with his broad and jetty eyebrows; his square forehead, madesquarer by the horizontal sweep of his black hair. I recognised hisdecisive nose, more remarkable for character than beauty; his fullnostrils, denoting, I thought, choler; his grim mouth, chin, andjaw- yes, all three were very grim, and no mistake. His shape, nowdivested of cloak, I perceived harmonised in squareness with hisphysiognomy: I suppose it was a good figure in the athletic sense ofthe term- broad chested and thin flanked, though neither tall norgraceful.
Mr. Rochester must have been aware of the entrance of Mrs.Fairfax and myself; but it appeared he was not in the mood to noticeus, for he never lifted his head as we approached.
'Here is Miss Eyre, sir,' said Mrs. Fairfax, in her quiet way. Hebowed, still not taking his eyes from the group of the dog and child.
'Let Miss Eyre be seated,' said he: and there was something inthe forced stiff bow, in the impatient yet formal tone, which seemedfurther to express, 'What the deuce is it to me whether Miss Eyre bethere or not? At this moment I am not disposed to accost her.'
I sat down quite disembarrassed. A reception of finished politenesswould probably have confused me: I could not have returned or repaidit by answering grace and elegance on my part; but harsh capricelaid me under no obligation; on the contrary, a decent quiescence,under the freak of manner, gave me the advantage. Besides, theeccentricity of the proceeding was piquant: I felt interested to seehow he would go on.
He went on as a statue would, that is, he neither spoke normoved. Mrs. Fairfax seemed to think it necessary that some oneshould be amiable, and she began to talk. Kindly, as usual- and, asusual, rather trite- she condoled with him on the pressure of businesshe had had all day; on the annoyance it must have been to him withthat painful sprain: then she commended his patience andperseverance in going through with it.
'Madam, I should like some tea,' was the sole rejoinder she got.She hastened to ring the bell; and when the tray came, she proceededto arrange the cups, spoons, etc., with assiduous celerity. I andAdele went to the table; but the master did not leave his couch.
'Will you hand Mr. Rochester's cup?' said Mrs. Fairfax to me;'Adele might perhaps spill it.'
I did as requested. As he took the cup from my hand, Adele,thinking the moment propitious for making a request in my favour,cried out-
'N'est-ce pas, monsieur, qu'il y a un cadeau pour Mademoiselle Eyredans votre petit coffre?'
'Who talks of cadeaux?' said he gruffly. 'Did you expect a present,Miss Eyre? Are you fond of presents?' and he searched my face witheyes that I saw were dark, irate, and piercing.
'I hardly know, sir; I have little experience of them: they aregenerally thought pleasant things.'
'Generally thought? But what do you think?'
'I should be obliged to take time, sir, before I could give youan answer worthy of your acceptance: a present has many faces to it,has it not? and one should consider all, before pronouncing an opinionas to its nature.'
'Miss Eyre, you are not so unsophisticated as Adele: she demandsa "cadeau," clamorously, the moment she sees me: you beat about thebush.'
'Because I have less confidence in my deserts than Adele has: shecan prefer the claim of old acquaintance, and the right too of custom;for she says you have always been in the habit of giving herplaythings; but if I had to make out a case I should be puzzled, sinceI am a stranger, and have done nothing to entitle me to anacknowledgment.'
'Oh, don't fall back on over-modesty! I have examined Adele, andfind you have taken great pains with her: she is not bright, she hasno talents; yet in a short time she has made much improvement.'
'Sir, you have now given me my "cadeau"; I am obliged to you: it isthe meed teachers most covet-praise of their pupils' progress.'
'Humph!' said Mr. Rochester, and he took his tea in silence.
'Come to the fire,' said the master, when the tray was takenaway, and Mrs. Fairfax had settled into a corner with her knitting;while Adele was leading me by the hand round the room, showing methe beautiful books and ornaments on the consoles and chiffonnieres.We obeyed, as in duty bound; Adele wanted to take a seat on my knee,but she was ordered to amuse herself with Pilot.
'You have been resident in my house three months?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And you came from-?'
'Ah! a charitable concern. How long were you there?'
'Eight years.'
'Eight years! you must be tenacious of life. I thought half thetime in such a place would have done up any constitution! No wonderyou have rather the look of another world. I marvelled where you hadgot that sort of face. When you came on me in Hay Lane last night, Ithought unaccountably of fairy tales, and had half a mind to demandwhether you had bewitched my horse: I am not sure yet. Who are yourparents?'
