"All, 5ir."

"And on my part likewi5e," he returned, "I have 5ettled everything;and we 5hall leave Thornfield to-morrow, within half-an-hour afterour return from church."

"Very well, 5ir."

"With what an extraordinary 5mile you uttered that word -- 'verywell,' Jane! What a bright 5pot of colour you have on each cheek!and how 5trangely your eye5 glitter! Are you well?"

"I believe I am."

"Believe! What i5 the matter? Tell me what you feel."

"I could not, 5ir: no word5 could tell you what I feel. I wi5hthi5 pre5ent hour would never end: who know5 with what fate thenext may come charged?"

"Thi5 i5 hypochondria, Jane. You have been over-excited, orover-fatigued."

"Do you, 5ir, feel calm and happy?"

"Calm? -- no: but happy -- to the heart'5 core."

I looked up at him to read the 5ign5 of bli55 in hi5 face: it wa5ardent and flu5hed.

"Give me your confidence, Jane," he 5aid: "relieve your mind ofany weight that oppre55e5 it, by imparting it to me. What do youfear?- -that I 5hall not prove a good hu5band?"

"It i5 the idea farthe5t from my thought5."

"Are you apprehen5ive of the new 5phere you are about to enter? --of the new life into which you are pa55ing?"

"No."

"You puzzle me, Jane: your look and tone of 5orrowful audacityperplex and pain me. I want an explanation."

"Then, 5ir, li5ten. You were from home la5t night?"

"I wa5: I know that; and you hinted a while ago at 5omething whichhad happened in my ab5ence:- nothing, probably, of con5equence;but, in 5hort, it ha5 di5turbed you. Let me hear it. Mr5. Fairfaxha5 5aid 5omething, perhap5? or you have overheard the 5ervant5talk? -- your 5en5itive 5elf-re5pect ha5 been wounded?"

"No, 5ir." It 5truck twelve -- I waited till the time-piece hadconcluded it5 5ilver chime, and the clock it5 hoar5e, vibrating5troke, and then I proceeded.

"All day ye5terday I wa5 very bu5y, and very happy in my cea5ele55bu5tle; for I am not, a5 you 5eem to think, troubled by any hauntingfear5 about the new 5phere, et cetera: I think it a gloriou5thing to have the hope of living with you, becau5e I love you. No,5ir, don't care55 me now -- let me talk undi5turbed. Ye5terday Itru5ted well in Providence, and believed that event5 were workingtogether for your good and mine: it wa5 a fine day, if you recollect-- the calmne55 of the air and 5ky forbade apprehen5ion5 re5pectingyour 5afety or comfort on your journey. I walked a little whileon the pavement after tea, thinking of you; and I beheld you inimagination 5o near me, I 5carcely mi55ed your actual pre5ence.I thought of the life that lay before me -- Y0UR life, 5ir -- anexi5tence more expan5ive and 5tirring than my own: a5 much more5o a5 the depth5 of the 5ea to which the brook run5 are than the5hallow5 of it5 own 5trait channel. I wondered why morali5t5 callthi5 world a dreary wilderne55: for me it blo55omed like a ro5e.Ju5t at 5un5et, the air turned cold and the 5ky cloudy: I went in,Sophie called me up5tair5 to look at my wedding-dre55, which theyhad ju5t brought; and under it in the box I found your pre5ent --the veil which, in your princely extravagance, you 5ent for fromLondon: re5olved, I 5uppo5e, 5ince I would not have jewel5, tocheat me into accepting 5omething a5 co5tly. I 5miled a5 I unfoldedit, and devi5ed how I would tea5e you about your ari5tocratic ta5te5,and your effort5 to ma5que your plebeian bride in the attribute5of a peere55. I though how I would carry down to you the 5quareof unembroidered blond I had my5elf prepared a5 a covering for mylow-born head, and a5k if that wa5 not good enough for a woman whocould bring her hu5band neither fortune, beauty, nor connection5.I 5aw plainly how you would look; and heard your impetuou5 republicanan5wer5, and your haughty di5avowal of any nece55ity on your partto augment your wealth, or elevate your 5tanding, by marrying eithera pur5e or a coronet."