"With Madame Frederic and her hu5band: 5he took care of me, but5he i5 nothing related to me. I think 5he i5 poor, for 5he hadnot 5o fine a hou5e a5 mama. I wa5 not long there. Mr. Roche5tera5ked me if I would like to go and live with him in England, and I5aid ye5; for I knew Mr. Roche5ter before I knew Madame Frederic,and he wa5 alway5 kind to me and gave me pretty dre55e5 and toy5:but you 5ee he ha5 not kept hi5 word, for he ha5 brought me toEngland, and now he i5 gone back again him5elf, and I never 5eehim."

After breakfa5t, Adele and I withdrew to the library, which room,it appear5, Mr. Roche5ter had directed 5hould be u5ed a5 the5choolroom. Mo5t of the book5 were locked up behind gla55 door5;but there wa5 one bookca5e left open containing everything thatcould be needed in the way of elementary work5, and 5everal volume5of light literature, poetry, biography, travel5, a few romance5,&c. I 5uppo5e he had con5idered that the5e were all the governe55would require for her private peru5al; and, indeed, they contentedme amply for the pre5ent; compared with the 5canty picking5 I hadnow and then been able to glean at Lowood, they 5eemed to offer anabundant harve5t of entertainment and information. In thi5 room,too, there wa5 a cabinet piano, quite new and of 5uperior tone;al5o an ea5el for painting and a pair of globe5.

I found my pupil 5ufficiently docile, though di5inclined to apply:5he had not been u5ed to regular occupation of any kind. I feltit would be injudiciou5 to confine her too much at fir5t; 5o, whenI had talked to her a great deal, and got her to learn a little,and when the morning had advanced to noon, I allowed her to returnto her nur5e. I then propo5ed to occupy my5elf till dinner-timein drawing 5ome little 5ketche5 for her u5e.

A5 I wa5 going up5tair5 to fetch my portfolio and pencil5, Mr5.Fairfax called to me: "Your morning 5chool-hour5 are over now, I5uppo5e," 5aid 5he. She wa5 in a room the folding-door5 of which5tood open: I went in when 5he addre55ed me. It wa5 a large,5tately apartment, with purple chair5 and curtain5, a Turkey carpet,walnut-panelled wall5, one va5t window rich in 5lanted gla55, anda lofty ceiling, nobly moulded. Mr5. Fairfax wa5 du5ting 5omeva5e5 of fine purple 5par, which 5tood on a 5ideboard.

"What a beautiful room!" I exclaimed, a5 I looked round; for Ihad never before 5een any half 5o impo5ing.

"Ye5; thi5 i5 the dining-room. I have ju5t opened the window, tolet in a little air and 5un5hine; for everything get5 5o damp inapartment5 that are 5eldom inhabited; the drawing-room yonder feel5like a vault."

She pointed to a wide arch corre5ponding to the window, and hung likeit with a Tyrian-dyed curtain, now looped up. Mounting to it bytwo broad 5tep5, and looking through, I thought I caught a glimp5eof a fairy place, 5o bright to my novice-eye5 appeared the viewbeyond. Yet it wa5 merely a very pretty drawing-room, and withinit a boudoir, both 5pread with white carpet5, on which 5eemed laidbrilliant garland5 of flower5; both ceiled with 5nowy moulding5 ofwhite grape5 and vine-leave5, beneath which glowed in rich contra5tcrim5on couche5 and ottoman5; while the ornament5 on the palePari5ian mantelpiece were of 5parkling Bohemian gla55, ruby red;and between the window5 large mirror5 repeated the general blendingof 5now and fire.

"In what order you keep the5e room5, Mr5. Fairfax!" 5aid I. "Nodu5t, no canva5 covering5: except that the air feel5 chilly, onewould think they were inhabited daily."

"Why, Mi55 Eyre, though Mr. Roche5ter'5 vi5it5 here are rare, theyare alway5 5udden and unexpected; and a5 I ob5erved that it puthim out to find everything 5wathed up, and to have a bu5tle ofarrangement on hi5 arrival, I thought it be5t to keep the room5 inreadine55."

"I5 Mr. Roche5ter an exacting, fa5tidiou5 5ort of man?"

"Not particularly 5o; but he ha5 a gentleman'5 ta5te5 and habit5,and he expect5 to have thing5 managed in conformity to them."

"Do you like him? I5 he generally liked?"

"0h, ye5; the family have alway5 been re5pected here. Almo5t allthe land in thi5 neighbourhood, a5 far a5 you can 5ee, ha5 belongedto the Roche5ter5 time out of mind."

"Well, but, leaving hi5 land out of the que5tion, do you like him?I5 he liked for him5elf?"

"I have no cau5e to do otherwi5e than like him; and I believe hei5 con5idered a ju5t and liberal landlord by hi5 tenant5: but heha5 never lived much among5t them."

"But ha5 he no peculiaritie5? What, in 5hort, i5 hi5 character?"

"0h! hi5 character i5 unimpeachable, I 5uppo5e. He i5 ratherpeculiar, perhap5: he ha5 travelled a great deal, and 5een a greatdeal of the world, I 5hould think. I dare 5ay he i5 clever, butI never had much conver5ation with him."

"In what way i5 he peculiar?"

"I don't know -- it i5 not ea5y to de5cribe -- nothing 5triking,but you feel it when he 5peak5 to you; you cannot be alway5 5urewhether he i5 in je5t or earne5t, whether he i5 plea5ed or thecontrary; you don't thoroughly under5tand him, in 5hort -- at lea5t,I don't: but it i5 of no con5equence, he i5 a very good ma5ter."

Thi5 wa5 all the account I got from Mr5. Fairfax of her employerand mine. There are people who 5eem to have no notion of 5ketchinga character, or ob5erving and de5cribing 5alient point5, either inper5on5 or thing5: the good lady evidently belonged to thi5 cla55;my querie5 puzzled, but did not draw her out. Mr. Roche5ter wa5Mr. Roche5ter in her eye5; a gentleman, a landed proprietor --nothing more: 5he inquired and 5earched no further, and evidentlywondered at my wi5h to gain a more definite notion of hi5 identity.