Chapter 22 A cry in the night

1 I had forgotten to draw my curtain, and when the moon, which was full and bright, came and looked at me through the window, I opened my eyes. I half rose, and raised my arm to shut out the light.

2 Good God! What a cry!

3 The night—its silence—its rest, was torn by a wild sharp sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall.

4 My heart stood still. My outstretched arm remained motionless. The cry died away.

5 It came from the third storey, above me. And above me—yes, in the room just over my head—I now heard a struggle: a murderous one, it seemed, from the noise, and a breathless voice shouted:

6 'Help! Help! Help!' and then: 'Rochester! For God's sake, come!'

7 A door opened. Someone ran, or rushed, along the passage. Above me something fell, and there was silence.

8 I put on some clothes, though my body shook with horror, and dared to leave my room. Door after door opened. The guests were all disturbed. Exclamations, frightened murmurs, sounded everywhere. 'Oh, what is it?' ... 'Who was hurt?' ... 'What has happened?' ... 'Are there robbers?' was demanded on all sides.

9 'Where is Rochester?' cried Colonel Dent. 'I cannot find him in his bed.'

10 'Here! Here!' was shouted in return. 'Be calm, all of you. I'm coming.'

11 The door at the end of the passage opened, and Mr Rochester advanced with a candle. He had come down from the third storey. One of the ladies ran to him instantly. She seized his arm: it was Miss Ingram.

12 'All's well! All's well!' he cried. 'It is a mere nothing. Ladies, keep off, or I shall become dangerous.'

13 And he looked dangerous. His black eyes flashed. Calming himself with an effort, he added:

14 'A servant has had a bad dream. That is all. She's a nervous person, easily excited. She imagined that she saw a ghost, and has been taken ill with fright. Now, I must see you all back to your rooms, because, till the house is settled, she cannot be looked after.'

15 So, by persuasion and command, he succeeded in getting them to return to rest. I went back to my room, but I did not go to bed. Instead, I began to dress myself carefully. The sounds that I had heard after the scream, and the words that had been spoken, made me sure that it was not a servant's dream that had thus wakened the house, and that the explanation that Mr Rochester had given was merely an invention to calm his guests. I dressed so as to be ready if needed, and sat a long time by the window.

16 Stillness returned. Each murmur and movement gradually died away, and in about an hour Thornfield Hall seemed once again asleep. The moon was about to set, and I thought I would lie down again, dressed as I was. As I bent to take off my shoes, a cautious hand tapped at the door.

17 'Are you up?' asked the voice that I expected to hear.

18 'Yes, sir.'

19 'And dressed?'

20 'Yes.'

21 'Come out, then, quietly.'

22 I obeyed. Mr Rochester stood in the passage holding a light.

23 'I want you,' he said. 'Come this way. Don't hurry, and don't make a noise.'

24 He moved silently along the passage and up the stairs, to the third storey. I followed. He held a key in his hand, and approaching one of the small doors, put it into the lock. He paused.

25 'You don't turn sick at the sight of blood?'

26 'I think I shall not, but I have never been tested.'

27 He turned the key and opened the door. I saw a room that I remembered having seen before, on the day that Mrs Fairfax showed me over the house, but now an inner door could be seen, which had been hidden then behind a curtain. This door was open, and I heard from the room beyond a wild animal-like sound, almost like dogs quarrelling. Mr Rochester, putting down his candle, said to me: 'Wait a minute,' and went forward to the inner room. A shout of laughter greeted his entrance, noisy at first, and ending in Grace Poole's ghostly: 'Ha! Ha!' She, then, was there.

28 In a moment my master came out and closed the door.

29 'Here, Jane,' he said, and I walked round a screen to the other side of a large bed, with curtains drawn around it. An armchair was near the bed, and a man sat in it, dressed except for his coat. I recognised his pale and seemingly lifeless face—the stranger, Mason. I saw, too, that his shirt on one side and one arm, was stained with blood.

30 'Hold the candle,' said Mr Rochester. I took it. He fetched a basin of water, opened the shirt of the wounded man, and began to wash away the blood, which was flowing fast. Mr Mason soon opened his eyes and groaned.

31 'Is there immediate danger?' he asked.

32 'No—it's a mere scratch. Don't worry, man! I'll fetch a doctor for you now, myself. You'll be able to be removed by morning. Jane,' he continued.

33 'Sir?'

34 'I shall have to leave you in this room with this gentleman for an hour, or perhaps two hours. You will wash away the blood when it returns. If he feels weak you will put a glass of water to his lips. You will not speak to him at all—and Richard, it will be at the risk of your life if you speak to her. If you excite yourself, I cannot be responsible for what may happen.'

35 Again the poor man groaned. Mr Rochester watched me carry out his directions for a moment. Then, saying, 'Remember—no conversation,' he left the room. I experienced a strange feeling as the key turned in the lock, and the sound of his steps died away.

36 Here I was on the third storey, fastened into one of its rooms, with a pale and bloody sight under my eyes, and a murderess hardly separated from me by a single door. The rest I could bear, but I trembled at the thought of Grace Poole bursting out upon me.

37 I must keep to my post, however. And I had to listen as well as watch. I listened—but all night I heard only three sounds—a footstep, an animal murmur, and a deep human groan.

38 My own thoughts, too, worried me. What crime was this, what mystery, that broke out now in fire and now in blood, in the middle of the night? What creature was it, that in an ordinary woman's shape, possessed the voice, now of an evil spirit, now of a wild animal? And this man whom I now bent over, this quiet stranger—how had he come to be mixed up in this affair of horror? What made him find his way to this part of the house? Why did he yield to Mr Rochester's demands for secrecy? Why did Mr Rochester enforce this secrecy?

39 'When will he come? When will he come?' I cried to myself, as the night slowly passed, while my bleeding patient groaned, and no help came.