Summary
In the morning, Jane prepares to leave Moor House for four days, at least. She plans to go to Thornfield and find out what has become of Mr. Rochester. She hopes he will still be there. Mary and Diana respect Jane’s privacy by not asking questions, and bid her goodbye. Jane takes the same coach to Thornfield as she did when running away from Mr. Rochester. The coach drops her off at a nearby inn, and Jane walks to Thornfield, feeling nervous and excited. When she gets there, however, oh horror! Thornfield has been burned to the ground, and is clearly empty. Jane goes back to the inn and inquires about what happened. She learns that Bertha Mason set Thornfield on fire last autumn, and fell to her death. Mr. Rochester is blind and missing a hand, because he tried to save everyone and a beam fell on him as he exited the burning house. Mr. Rochester is at Ferndean, his other manor, with just two servants. Jane offers to pay double the normal fare if the guy can drive her to Ferndean before dark.
Reaction
Jane is going to see Mr. Rochester soon! And he’s disabled, poor guy. I absolutely loved Jane coming back to Thornfield being compared to a man trying to surprise his sleeping lover. The guy at the Rochester Arms trying to tell Jane about her own story is pretty amusing. Also, Mr. Rochester no longer has a wife, so he and Jane technically can marry now. Hey, just saying.
I ADORED that analogy too. SO beautiful and sad. Poor Rochester! But hurrah for Jane finally realizing that she must be with him!
ReplyDelete(It's awfully convenient that Rochester is single again though. Just saying.)