T he well-known face was there: stern, relentless as ever— there was that peculiar eye which nothing could melt, and the somewhat raised, imperious, despotic eyebrow. How often had it lowered on me menace and hate! and how the recollection of childhood’s terrors and sorrows revived as I traced its harsh line now! And yet […]
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How is Mrs. Reed?’ I asked soon, looking calmly at Georgiana, who thought fit to bridle at the direct address, as if it were an unexpected liberty. ‘Mrs. Reed? Ah! mama, you mean; she is extremely poorly: I doubt if you can see her to-night.’ ‘If,’ said I, ‘you would just step upstairs and tell […]
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‘You shall go into the breakfast-room first,’ said Bessie, as she preceded me through the hall; ‘the young ladies will be there.’ In another moment I was within that apartment. There was every article of furniture looking just as it did on the morning I was first introduced to Mr. Brocklehurst: the very rug he […]
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‘Bless you!—I knew you would come!’ exclaimed Mrs. Leaven, as I entered. ‘Yes, Bessie,’ said I, after I had kissed her; ‘and I trust I am not too late. How is Mrs. Reed?—Alive still, I hope.’ ‘Yes, she is alive; and more sensible and collected than she was. The doctor says she may linger a […]
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‘You shall walk up the pyramids of Egypt!’ he growled. ‘At your peril you advertise! I wish I had only offered you a sovereign instead of ten pounds. Give me back nine pounds, Jane; I’ve a use for it.’ ‘And so have I, sir,’ I returned, putting my hands and my purse behind me. ‘I […]
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‘Does that person want you?’ she inquired of Mr. Rochester; and Mr. Rochester turned to see who the ‘person’ was. He made a curious grimace—one of his strange and equivocal demonstrations—threw down his cue and followed me from the room. ‘Well, Jane?’ he said, as he rested his back against the schoolroom door, which he […]
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‘Mr. John died yesterday was a week, at his chambers in London.’ ‘Mr. John?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘And how does his mother bear it?’ ‘Why, you see, Miss Eyre, it is not a common mishap: his life has been very wild: these last three years he gave himself up to strange ways, and his death was shocking.’ […]
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‘If you have no more to fear from Mr. Mason than you have from me, sir, you are very safe.’ ‘God grant it may be so! Here, Jane, is an arbour; sit down.’ The arbour was an arch in the wall, lined with ivy; it contained a rustic seat. Mr. Rochester took it, leaving room, […]
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‘Jane, will you have a flower?’ He gathered a half-blown rose, the first on the bush, and offered it to me. ‘Thank you, sir.’ ‘Do you like this sunrise, Jane? That sky with its high and light clouds which are sure to melt away as the day waxes warm—this placid and balmly atmosphere?’ ‘I do, […]
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It was by this time half-past five, and the sun was on the point of rising; but I found the kitchen still dark and silent. T he side- passage door was fastened; I opened it with as little noise as possible: all the yard was quiet; but the gates stood wide open, and there was […]
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