Chapter 21 The fortune-teller

1 The library looked quiet enough as I entered it, and the witch—if she really were such—was seated in an armchair by the fire. She had some sort of loose red coat wrapped around her, and a wide hat tied down with a handkerchief round her face. She seemed to be reading from a little black book, and murmured the words to herself, as most old women do, while she read.

2 As I stood on the rug and warmed my hands, I felt as calm as ever I did in my life. The woman shut her book and looked up slowly. Her hat partly shaded her face, but I could see that it was a strange one, and that she had a great deal of untidy hair. Her eyes met mine with a bold and direct stare.

3 'Well, and do you want your fortune told?' she said in a voice as rough as her appearance.

4 'I don't care about it, mother; you may please yourself. But I ought to warn you that I shall not believe you.'

5 'It's the sort of answer I expected of you. I heard it in your step when you came in.'

6 'Did you? You've a quick ear.'

7 'I have; and a quick eye and a quick brain. I need them, especially when I've people like you to deal with. Why don't you tremble?'

8 'I'm not cold.'

9 'Why don't you turn pale?'

10 'I am not sick.'

11 'Why don't you ask me about your future?'

12 'I'm not silly.'

13 The old woman gave a high, thin-sounding laugh, and lighting a short black pipe, began to smoke. After several minutes she raised her bent body, took the pipe from her lips, and said:

14 'You are cold; you are sick; and you are silly.'

15 'Prove it,' I replied.

16 'You are cold, because you are alone. Nothing strikes the fire from you that is in you. You are sick, because the best of feelings, the highest and sweetest that is given to man, keeps away from you. You are silly, because however much you suffer, you will make no sign to it to approach, nor will you move one step to meet it where it waits for you.'

17 'You might say that to almost anyone living in my condition.'

18 'There is scarcely anyone living in just your condition. If you knew it, your situation is an unusual one: very near happiness, yes, within reach of it. The materials are all prepared: only a movement is needed to combine them.'

19 'I don't understand mysteries.'

20 'If you wish me to speak more plainly, show me your hand.'

21 'And you expect some money, I suppose?'

22 'Of course.'

23 I gave her a shilling. She put it in an old stocking, tied it up, and approached her face to my hand.

24 'It is too fine,' she said. 'I cannot read it. Besides, fate is not written in a hand. It is in the face. Kneel, and lift up your head.'

25 'Ah! Now you are coming to reality,' I said, as I obeyed her.

26 She stirred the fire, so that a faint moving flame broke from the disturbed coal and its light fell full upon me.

27 'I wonder what thoughts are busy in your heart during all the hours that you sit among the fine people over there,' she said, when she had examined me for a time.

28 'I feel tired often, sleepy sometimes, but seldom sad.'

29 'Then you have some secret hope to support you and please you with whispers of the future?'

30 'Not I. The most I hope is to save enough money to set up a little school of my own some day.'

31 'A poor food for the spirit to exist on, and, sitting in that window-seat (you see, I know your habits) ... '

32 'You have learnt them from the servants.'

33 'Ah! You think yourself sharp. Well, to tell the truth, I do know one of them, Mrs Poole ... '

34 I sprang to my feet. 'You do ... do you?' I thought. 'There is something peculiar about this.'

35 'Don't be alarmed,' continued the strange being. 'You can trust Mrs Poole. She can keep a secret. But as I was saying: sitting in the window-seat, do you think of nothing but your future school? Is there not one face that you study? Or perhaps two?'

36 'I like to study all the faces.'

37 'But when a lady, young and beautiful, and of high rank, sits and smiles in the eyes of a gentleman whom you ... '

38 'Whom what?'

39 'Whom you know ... and perhaps think well of him.'

40 'I don't know the gentlemen here. I have scarcely spoken to any of them.'

41 'Will you say that of the master of the house?'

42 'He is not at home.'

43 'And because he is away from here for a few hours, do you say then that you do not know him?'

44 'No, but I do not see what Mr Rochester has to do with the subject.'

45 'I was talking of ladies smiling into the eyes of gentlemen.'

46 'Mr Rochester has a right to enjoy the society of his guests.'

47 'Yes, Mr Rochester has sat for hours, his ear towards those charming lips, looking grateful for the entertainment given to him.'

48 'Grateful! I cannot remember observing grateful feelings in his face.'

49 'Observing! You have watched him closely, then. What did you observe, if not grateful feelings? You have seen love, haven't you? ... And looking into the future, you have seen him married, and his bride happy?'

50 'Not exactly. Your witch's skill is at fault sometimes.'

51 'What in the world have you seen, then?'

52 'Never mind. I came here to inquire, not to confess. Is it known that Mr Rochester is to be married?'

53 'Yes, to the beautiful Miss Ingram. He must love such a charming lady, and probably she loves him, or at least his money. Yet I told her something about the Rochester property half an hour ago, that made her look rather anxious.'

54 'But mother, you have told me nothing of my own fortune.'

55 'Yours is as yet doubtful. When I examined your face, one feature promised one thing, another the opposite. Chance has laid on one side a measure of happiness for you. It depends on yourself to stretch out your hand and take it up: but whether you will do so, is the problem I study. Kneel again on the rug.'

56 'Don't keep me long: the fire burns me.'

57 'The flame shines on the eye; the eye shines gently; it looks soft and full of feeling; it smiles at my words: it is open to influence. When it smiles no longer, it is sad: it shows heaviness of spirit resulting from loneliness. It turns from me with a scornful look: it seems to refuse to accept the truth of what I have discovered. Its pride and self-control only strengthen me in my opinion. The eye is favourable.

58 'As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter; it tends to express its owner's thoughts, but it may be silent about her feelings. It is a mouth that needs to smile and speak in answer to human love. That too is favourable.

59 'I can see no enemy except in the forehead, and that forehead seems to say: "I can live alone, if self-respect and conditions of life demand that I should do so. Reason sits firm and will not let the feelings burst forth. The passions may burn fiercely and the desires imagine all sorts of useless things, but judgment shall conquer in every argument."

60 'Well said, forehead; your declaration shall be respected. I have formed my plans, and in them I have attended to the claims of conscience. I must gather smiles, not tears. But I have said enough. So far I have kept myself under control, but further might try me beyond my strength. Rise, Miss Eyre. Leave me. The play is ended.'

61 Where was I? Did I wake or sleep? The old woman's voice had changed. It was now as familiar to me as my own face in a mirror. I got up, but did not go. The witch again made a sign to me to leave. The fire shone on her arm. It was round, not thin and old. A broad ring flashed on the little finger: I had seen it many times before.

62 'Well, Jane, do you know me?' asked the familiar voice.

63 'Only take off these red clothes, sir, and then ... '

64 'But the string is in a knot ... help me.'

65 'Break it, sir.'

66 'There, then ... ' And Mr Rochester stepped out of his borrowed clothes.

67 'Now, sir, what a strange idea!'

68 'But well carried out, don't you think?'

69 'With the ladies you must have managed well.'

70 'But not with you?'

71 'You did not act the character of a witch with me.'

72 'What character did I act? My own?'

73 'No. I believe you have been trying to make me speak too freely. You have been talking nonsense to make me talk nonsense. It is scarcely fair, sir.'

74 'Do you forgive me, Jane?'

75 'I cannot tell until I have thought about it. If, after consideration, I find that I have said nothing very foolish, I shall try to forgive you, but it was not right.'

76 'Oh, you have been very correct—very careful, very sensible.'

77 I considered, and thought, on the whole, that I had. It was a comfort; but, indeed, I had been suspicious almost from the the beginning of the visit. I knew that fortunetellers did not express themselves like this seeming old woman. My mind, however, had been full of Grace Poole. I had never thought of Mr Rochester.

78 'Well,' he said, 'what are you thinking about? What does that calm smile mean?'

79 'Wonder and self-congratulation, sir. I have your permission to go now, I suppose?'

80 'No, stay a moment.'

81 'I had better not remain long, sir. It must be near eleven o'clock. Oh, do you know, Mr Rochester, that a stranger has arrived here since you left this morning?'

82 'A stranger! I expected no one. Has he gone?'

83 'No. He said he had known you a long time. His name is Mason, and he comes from the West Indies; from Spanish Town in Jamaica, I think.'

84 Mr Rochester was standing near me. He had taken my hand, as if to lead me to a chair. As I spoke, he grasped my wrist violently, the smile on his face stiffened, and he breathed quickly. He repeated the words 'Mason ... the West Indies!' several times, his face becoming, as he spoke, whiter than ashes. He hardly seemed to know what he was doing.

85 'Do you feel ill, sir?' I inquired.

86 'Jane, I've had a blow. I've had a blow, Jane!' He nearly fell.

87 'Oh, lean on me, sir.'

88 'Jane, you offered me your shoulder once before. Let me have it now.'

89 He sat down, and made me sit beside him.

90 'My little friend!' he said, 'I wish I were on a quiet island alone with you, and with trouble, and danger, and evil memories removed from me.'

91 'Can I help you, sir?'

92 'Fetch me, Jane, a glass of wine from the dining room.'

93 I went. I found all the party at supper. I filled a wine glass. I saw Miss Ingram watch me disapprovingly as I did so: she thought I was taking it for myself.

94 When I returned, Mr Rochester's extreme paleness had disappeared, and he looked once more firm and serious. He took the glass from my hand, swallowed the wine, and gave the glass back to me.

95 'What are they doing, Jane?'

96 'Laughing and talking, sir.'

97 'They don't look solemn and mysterious, as if they had heard something strange?'

98 'Not at all. They are full of gaiety.'

99 'And Mason?'

100 'He was laughing too.'

101 'If all these people turned away from me in scorn, what would you do, Jane? Would you go with them?'

102 'I rather think not, sir. I should have more pleasure in staying with you.'

103 'And if they drove you out of society for supporting me?'

104 'I could bear that for the sake of any friend who deserves my support; as you do, I am sure.'

105 'Go back now into the dining room. Step quietly up to Mason and whisper in his ear that Mr Rochester has come and wishes to see him. Bring him in here, and then leave me.'

106 'Yes, sir.'

107 I obeyed. All the company stared at me as I passed straight among them. I went up to Mr Mason, and did as I had been directed.

108 At a late hour, after I had been in bed for some time, I heard Mr Rochester's voice say:

109 'This way, Mason. This is your room. Good night.'

110 He spoke cheerfully. The gay sound of his voice set my heart at rest. I was soon asleep.