Chapter 20 Fortune-telling

1 Those were merry days at Thornfield Hall, and busy days too: how different from the first three months of uneventful stillness that I had passed under its roof! There was life everywhere, movement all day long. The drawing rooms were only quiet when the fine spring weather called the guests out into the garden.

2 Even when rain fell for some days, no shadow seemed to fall on their enjoyment. Indoor amusements of various kinds filled most of the time.

3 One day Mr Rochester was called away to Millcote on business. The afternoon was wet, and the guests did not seem to know how to occupy themselves, because if he was absent for even an hour, they seemed to lose their gaiety.

4 Some of the younger ladies and gentlemen began to talk idly. The older ones settled down to a quiet game of cards. Blanche Ingram discouraged all the efforts made to draw her into the conversation, and first played over some tunes idly on the piano. Then, having fetched a novel from the library, she sank down in an armchair to pass the time reading.

5 It was nearly time to dress for dinner, when little Adèle, who was kneeling by me on the drawing room window-seat, suddenly exclaimed in French:

6 'There's Mr Rochester coming back.'

7 I turned, and Miss Ingram rushed forward, because at the same time a sound of wheels and a noise of horses' feet could be heard.

8 'Why is he coming home in a carriage?' said Miss Ingram. 'He went out on horseback, didn't he?'

9 As she said this, a gentleman stepped from the carriage in travelling dress. He was a stranger.

10 'How annoying!' exclaimed Miss Ingram. 'You troublesome monkey,' she said, addressing Adèle. 'Who put you up there in the window to give false information?' And she gave me an angry look, as if I were to blame.

11 Some conversation could be heard in the hall, and soon the newcomer entered. He bowed to Lady Ingram, judging her to be the oldest lady present.

12 'It appears that I come at an awkward time, madam,' he said, 'when my friend, Mr Rochester, is away from home. But I have had a very long journey, and I think I may be so bold as to remain here till he returns.'

13 I soon learned that his name was Mason, and that he had only recently arrived from the West Indies, where he first met Mr Rochester. His manner was polite, his pronunciation a little unusual. He had regular features, but his eye wandered, and his expression was both unsettled and lacking in life. He seemed an unlikely kind of friend for my master.

14 I was thinking about this later on after dinner, when something unexpected happened. Mr Mason, not being used to cold weather, asked for some more coal to be put on the fire. The servant who brought it stopped near Mr Eshton's chair and said something to him in a low voice.

15 'Tell her that she shall be punished if she does not take herself away,' replied that gentleman.

16 'No ... stop!' interrupted Colonel Dent. 'Don't send her away, Eshton. She might amuse the ladies.' And speaking aloud, he continued, 'Ladies, there is an old woman in the servants' hall who insists upon being brought in to tell your fortunes. Would you like to see her?'

17 'Surely, Colonel,' cried Lady Ingram, 'you would not encourage such a deceiver? Dismiss her, by all means, at once!'

18 'But I cannot persuade her to go away, my lady,' said the servant. 'She says she will not move until she gets permission to come in here.'

19 'What is she like?' inquired the Misses Eshton, both at once.

20 'A shockingly ugly old person, miss, almost as black as coal.'

21 'Why, she's a real witch,' cried one of the young men. 'Let us have her in, of course.'

22 'My dear boy, what are you thinking about?' exclaimed his mother.

23 'I cannot possibly allow such a thing,' added Lady Ingram.

24 'Indeed, Mama, but you can—and will,' stated the voice of Blanche, as she turned round on the piano seat. 'I have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, bring the old woman in.'

25 'My dearest Blanche! Consider ... '

26 'I do. And I must have her ... quick!'

27 The servant still hesitated.

28 'She looks such a rough one,' he said.

29 'Go!' exclaimed Miss Ingram, and the man went. A minute later he returned.

30 'She won't come now,' he said. 'She says I must take her into a room by herself, and then those who wish to receive any information from her must go to her one by one.'

31 'You see now,' began Lady Ingram, 'she is making the most of her chances. Be advised, my dearest ... '

32 'Show her into the library, of course,' interrupted her daughter.

33 'I think I had better just look at her before any of the ladies go,' said Colonel Dent.

34 The servant went, and returned once more.

35 'She says, sir, that she'll have no gentlemen, nor any ladies either,' he added, keeping himself with great difficulty from smiling, 'except the young and unmarried.'

36 Miss Ingram rose solemnly. 'I go first,' she said.

37 'Oh, my best! Oh, my love! Pause, think what you are doing!' was her fond mother's cry, but Blanche passed out of the room without a word.

38 A silence followed. Lady Ingram looked despairing. Miss Mary declared that she could never dare to go. Amy and Louisa laughed nervously and appeared a little frightened.

39 The minutes passed very slowly: fifteen were counted before the library door opened again, and Miss Ingram returned to us.

40 Would she laugh? Would she take it as a joke? All eyes met hers with a glance of eager curiosity. She walked stiffly to her seat and took it.

41 'Well, Blanche?'

42 'What did she say?'

43 'Now, now, good people,' replied Miss Ingram, 'Don't get so excited. I have seen an old woman, who has told me what fortune-tellers usually tell. My fancy has been satisfied, and that's all.'

44 She took up a book, leant back in her chair, and refused further conversation. For half an hour she never turned a page, and her face became darker and more dissatisfied.

45 Meanwhile Mary Ingram, and Amy and Louisa Eshton, declared they dare not go alone; and yet they all wished to go. After the exchange of many messages through the servant, permission was at last given for the three of them to go together.

46 Their visit was not so quiet as Blanche Ingram's had been. We heard nervous laughter and little cries from the library, and after about twenty minutes they burst into the room running and half frightened.

47 'I am sure she has strange powers!' they cried. 'She told us such things! She knows all about us!' and they sank breathless into the various seats that the gentlemen hastened to bring them.

48 Urged for further explanation, they declared that she told them of things which they had said and done in their childhood, and described possessions that they had at home. She had even guessed their thoughts, and had whispered in the ear of each the name of the person whom she liked best in the world.

49 Here the gentlemen earnestly begged to be given more information on the last point, but they only received shy looks and laughter in return. The elder ladies tried to calm the younger, while their husbands laughed.

50 As I watched this scene, I heard a voice at my side. I turned and saw the servant.

51 'If you please, miss, the old woman declares there is another unmarried young lady in the room, and swears she will not go till she has seen all. What shall I tell her?'

52 'Oh, I will go, certainly,' I answered. I was glad of the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. I slipped out of the room unnoticed and closed the door quietly behind me.