Chapter 13 Strange laughter

1 My room the next morning looked bright and gay in the sunshine, with papered walls and a carpeted floor, so unlike the bare wood and stained plaster of Lowood that I became cheerful at the sight of it. Perhaps a happier time of life was beginning for me.

2 I rose and dressed myself with care. Both my clothes and my features were plain, but I was neat by nature, and my black dress fitted me well.

3 Going downstairs, I found the hall door open, and stepped outside. It was a fine autumn morning, and advancing on to the lawn, I looked up and examined the front of the house. It was three storeys high, and of great size.

4 I was enjoying the pleasant fresh air when Mrs Fairfax appeared at the door.

5 'What! Out already?' she said. 'I see you are an early riser. How do you like Thornfield?'

6 I told her that I liked it very much.

7 'Yes,' she said, 'it is a pretty place, but I fear it will be getting out of order, unless Mr Rochester should decide to come and live here permanently.'

8 'Mr Rochester!' I exclaimed. 'Who is he?'

9 'The owner of Thornfield,' she replied quietly.

10 'But I thought that Thornfield belonged to you.'

11 'To me? Oh, no, child. What an idea! I am only the housekeeper.'

12 'And the little girl—my pupil?'

13 'Mr Rochester is her guardian. He asked me to find her a governess. Here she comes, with her nurse.'

14 The mystery, then, was explained. This kind little widow was not a great lady, and the equality between her and me was real. I felt better pleased than ever.

15 As I was thinking over this information, a little girl came running up. She was perhaps seven or eight years old, with a pale face and small features, and hair falling in curls to her waist.

16 'Good morning, Miss Adèle,' said Mrs Fairfax. 'Come and speak to the lady who is to teach you.'

17 She approached. 'Is that my governess?' she said in French, pointing to me, and addressing her nurse, who answered in the same language:

18 'Yes, certainly.'

19 'Are they foreigners?' I inquired.

20 'The nurse is a foreigner, and Adèle was born in Paris, and, I believe, never left it till six months ago. When she first came here she could speak no English, but now she can talk it a little.'

21 Fortunately I had had the advantage of being taught French by a French lady, and had practised conversation with her as often as I could. I immediately addressed my pupil in her own language, and she was soon talking happily to me at the breakfast table.

22 After the meal, Adèle and I went to the library, which Mr Rochester had ordered to be used as the schoolroom. I found my pupil obedient, but not used to regular occupation of any kind. I felt it would be unwise to be too strict with her at first, so when I had got her to learn a little, and it was near midday, I allowed her to return to her nurse.

23 As I was going upstairs, Mrs Fairfax addressed me from across the hall:

24 'Your morning hours of school are over, I suppose.'

25 I went into the room that she was tidying.

26 'What a beautiful room!' I exclaimed, as I looked round.

27 'Yes, this is the dining room. I have just opened the windows to admit a little air and sunshine. Everything gets so damp in rooms that are seldom used.'

28 'In what good order you keep these rooms, Mrs Fairfax!'

29 'Well, Miss Eyre, though Mr Rochester's visits here are rare, they are always sudden and unexpected, and he dislikes not finding everything ready to receive him.'

30 'Is Mr Rochester hard to please?'

31 'Not particularly, but he has a gentleman's tastes and habits.'

32 'But has he no peculiarities?'

33 'He is rather peculiar, perhaps. He has travelled a great deal, and seen a great deal of the world. I suppose he is clever, but I have never had much conversation with him. It is not easy to describe, but you cannot be sure, when he speaks to you, whether he is joking or in earnest.'

34 This was all the account that I got from the simple old lady, of her employer and mine.

35 When we left the dining room, she proposed to show me over the rest of the house, and I followed her upstairs and downstairs, admiring as I went. The large front rooms I thought especially grand, and some of the third storey rooms, though dark and low, contained some interesting old furniture.

36 'Do the servants sleep in these rooms?' I asked.

37 'No, they occupy a set of smaller rooms at the back.'

38 'You have no ghost here, I suppose?'

39 'None that I ever heard of,' replied Mrs Fairfax, smiling. 'Will you come and see the view from the roof?'

40 I followed up a narrow staircase and a ladder. As I looked down, the neighbourhood lay beneath me like a map: lawn, fields, woods, the church at the gates, the road, the village, and the quiet hills.

41 While I moved downwards, Mrs Fairfax stayed behind for a moment to fasten the door leading to the roof. I reached the third storey, and waited in the long passage separating the front and the back rooms. It was narrow, low, and dark, with only one window at the far end.

42 As I walked on softly, I heard a most unexpected sound in so still a place—a laugh. It was a curious laugh: clear, unnatural, not at all merry. I stood still. The sound stopped, but only for an instant. Then it began again, louder. It passed off in a noisy burst that seemed to repeat itself in every lonely room.

43 'Mrs Fairfax!' I called out, as I now heard her coming down the stairs. 'Did you hear that loud laugh? Who is it?'

44 'Some of the servants, very likely,' she answered. 'Perhaps Grace Poole. She sews in one of these rooms. Sometimes another maid is with her: they frequently get rather noisy in each other's company.'

45 The laugh was repeated on its low note, and ended in a peculiar murmur.

46 'Grace!' exclaimed Mrs Fairfax.

47 I really did not expect anyone to answer, because the laugh was so despairing and ghostlike. However, the door nearest to me opened, and a servant came out—a woman between thirty and forty, with a square figure, and a hard, plain face. Nothing more ordinary could be imagined.

48 'Too much noise, Grace,' said Mrs Fairfax. 'Remember your orders!' Grace disappeared obediently, and we went downstairs to dinner.