Chapter 20

Summary

At night, Jane wakes up to hear a bloodcurdling scream, followed by calls for help. The person also calls for Mr. Rochester. Jane rushes out of her room to the hall, as does everyone else, and they panic and clamor around until Mr. Rochester shows up. He convinces everyone that a servant merely had a nightmare, and gets them back to bed. Jane also goes to her room, but she is the only one who heard the cries for help after the initial scream, because they came from right above her room. She stays awake, and waits for Mr. Rochester to knock – and sure enough, he does, and summons her to help him. He bids her to get a sponge and smelling salts, and takes her up to a room on the third floor. He talks with someone in a low voice, and Jane hears the unmistakable laugh of Grace Poole. Then she enters to see Mason on a chair, unconscious and bleeding heavily from his arm. Mr. Rochester goes to fetch a surgeon, instructs Jane to sponge Mason’s arm, and orders Mason and Jane not to speak a word to each other. As she tends to the wound, Jane mulls over the night’s events. What hurt Mason? Why could he not talk about it?

After a few hours, Mr. Rochester finally returns with a surgeon. Mr. Rochester keeps making light of the wound, and tries to cheer Mason up. Then, as the surgeon works on the injury, Mr. Rochester has a strange conversation with Mason. From their exchange, it can be inferred that Mason’s attacker is a woman that both of them are familiar with. She apparently attacked Mason that night when he visited her. She stabbed Mason with a knife, and bit him multiple times. He cried for help, and Mr. Rochester heard and came to the rescue. The woman then tried to suck Mason’s blood, and said she would “drain his heart” (243) before she was subdued. Soon, the surgery is over, so Jane is told to fetch clothes and some kind of (almost certainly alcoholic) drink for Mason. As the surgeon escorts the wounded man to a carriage, Mason tells Mr. Rochester to try to treat the woman who attacked him as “tenderly” (246) as possible and then begins to cry. Mr. Rochester assures him he will, and then bids Mason goodbye as the carriage drives away.

It is early morning now, and Mr. Rochester invites Jane to walk with him for a while outside. He expresses his disgust for the mansion, which Jane thinks quite lovely. He then offers her a rose, and she accepts it. He tells her that she needn’t worry about Grace Poole, but that he is afraid of Mason because Mason may unknowingly ruin his chances for happiness by just a word. Then he says that Jane has the same power over him. She still doesn’t get his subtle hints, but I don’t blame her for being confused, because the next moment, he actually asks her to promise to stay up with him the night before his wedding because he will surely be nervous, and boasts of Blanche’s beauty. Presently, they notice others up and about, and part ways.

Reaction

Well, that was eventful! First of all, I seriously doubt Grace Poole bit Mason. It just seems too strange for a middle aged, placid woman to bite a stranger. In addition, why would Mason visit her anyway? And if he was so hurt by the woman, why did he ask for her to be treated with kindness? That was unexpectedly sweet after what she (whoever she is) did to him. I’m sure Jane must have been as curious as I am, so I cannot believe Mr. Rochester didn’t explain anything on their walk. And Mr. Rochester is the master of mixed signals. He gives Jane a flower, and then talks about how “buxom” (252) Blanche is. Yeah, weirdest conversation ever.