|
||||||||
It can never be, sir; it does not sound likely. Human beings never enjoy complete happiness in this world. I was not born for a different destiny to the rest of my species: to imagine such a lot befalling me is a fairy talea day-dream. Which I can and will realise. I shall begin to-day. This morning I wrote to my banker in London to send me certain jewels he has in his keeping,heirlooms for the ladies of Thornfield. In a day or two I hope to pour them into your lap: for every privilege, every attention shall be yours that I would accord a peers daughter, if about to marry her. Oh, sir!never rain jewels! I dont like to hear them spoken of. Jewels for Jane Eyre sounds unnatural and strange: I would rather not have them. I will myself put the diamond chain round your neck, and the circlet on your forehead,which it will become: for nature, at least, has stamped her patent of nobility on this brow, Jane; and I will clasp the bracelets on these fine wrists, and load these fairy- like fingers with rings. No, no, sir! think of other subjects, and speak of other things, and in another strain. Dont address me as if I were a beauty; I am your plain, Quakerish governess. You are a beauty in my eyes, and a beauty just after the desire of my heart,delicate and aerial. Puny and insignificant, you mean. You are dreaming, sir,or you are sneering. For Gods sake dont be ironical! I will make the world acknowledge you a beauty, too, he went on, while I really became uneasy at the strain he had adopted, because I felt he was either deluding himself or trying to delude me. I will attire my Jane in satin and lace, and she shall have roses in her hair; and I will cover the head I love best with a priceless veil. And then you wont know me, sir; and I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer, but an ape in a harlequins jacketa jay in borrowed plumes. I would as soon see you, Mr. Rochester, tricked out in stage-trappings, as myself clad in a court-ladys robe; and I dont call you handsome, sir, though I love you most dearly: far too dearly to flatter you. Dont flatter me. He pursued his theme, however, without noticing my deprecation. This very day I shall take you in the carriage to Millcote, and you must choose some dresses for yourself. I told you we shall be married in four weeks. The wedding is to take place quietly, in the church down below yonder; and then I shall waft you away at once to town. After a brief stay there, I shall bear my treasure to regions nearer the sun: to French vineyards and Italian plains; and she shall see whatever is famous in old story and in modern record: she shall taste, too, of the life of cities; and she shall learn to value herself by just comparison with others. Shall I travel?and with you, sir? You shall sojourn at Paris, Rome, and Naples: at Florence, Venice, and Vienna: all the ground I have wandered over shall be re-trodden by you: wherever I stamped my hoof, your sylphs foot shall step also. Ten years since, I flew through Europe half mad; with disgust, hate, and rage as my companions: now I shall revisit it healed and cleansed, with a very angel as my comforter. I laughed at him as he said this. I am not an angel, I asserted; and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. Mr. Rochester, you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of mefor you will not get it, any more than I shall get it of you: which I do not at all anticipate. What do you anticipate of me? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details. | ||||||||