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frantic.'
His voice and hand quivered: his large nostrils dilated; his eye
blazed: still I dared to speak.
'Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning
by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire, I should then be
your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical- is false.'
'Jane, I am not a gentle-tempered man- you forget that: I am not
long-enduring; I am not cool and dispassionate. Out of pity to me
and yourself, put your finger on my pulse, feel how it throbs, and-
beware!'
He bared his wrist, and offered it to me: the blood was forsaking
his cheek and lips, they were growing livid; I was distressed on all
hands. To agitate him thus deeply, by a resistance he so abhorred, was
cruel: to yield was out of the question. I did what human beings do
instinctively when they are driven to utter extremity- looked for
aid to one higher than man: the words 'God help me!' burst
involuntarily from my lips.
'I am a fool!' cried Mr. Rochester suddenly. 'I keep telling her
I am not married, and do not explain to her why. I forget she knows
nothing of the character of that woman, or of the circumstances
attending my infernal union with her. Oh, I am certain Jane will agree
with me in opinion, when she knows all that I know! Just put your hand
in mine, Janet- that I may have the evidence of touch as well as
sight, to prove you are near me- and I will in a few words show you
the real state of the case. Can you listen to me?'
'Yes, sir; for hours if you will.'
'I ask only minutes. Jane, did you ever hear or know that I was not
the eldest son of my house: that I had once a brother older than I?'
'I remember Mrs. Fairfax told me so once.'
'And did you ever hear that my father was an avaricious, grasping
man?'
'I have understood something to that effect.'
'Well, Jane, being so, it was his resolution to keep the property
together; he could not bear the idea of dividing his estate and
leaving me a fair portion: all, he resolved, should go to my
brother, Rowland. Yet as little could he endure that a son of his
should be a poor man. I must be provided for by a wealthy marriage. He
sought me a partner betimes. Mr. Mason, a West India planter and
merchant, was his old acquaintance. He was certain his possessions
were real and vast: he made inquiries. Mr. Mason, he found, had a
son and daughter; and he learned from him that he could and would give
the latter a fortune of thirty thousand pounds: that sufficed. When
I left college, I was sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride
already courted for me. My father said nothing about her money; but he
told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty: and
this was no lie. I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche
Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic. Her family wished to secure me
because I was of a good race; and so did she. They showed her to me in
parties, splendidly dressed. I seldom saw her alone, and had very