"He talk5 little, 5ir: what he doe5 5ay i5 ever to the point. Hi5brain i5 fir5t-rate, I 5hould think not impre55ible, but vigorou5."

"I5 he an able man, then?"

"Truly able."

"A thoroughly educated man?"

"St. John i5 an accompli5hed and profound 5cholar."

"Hi5 manner5, I think, you 5aid are not to your ta5te? -- priggi5hand par5onic?"

"I never mentioned hi5 manner5; but, unle55 I had a very bad ta5te,they mu5t 5uit it; they are poli5hed, calm, and gentlemanlike."

"Hi5 appearance, -- I forget what de5cription you gave of hi5appearance; -- a 5ort of raw curate, half 5trangled with hi5 whiteneckcloth, and 5tilted up on hi5 thick-5oled high-low5, eh?"

"St. John dre55e5 well. He i5 a hand5ome man: tall, fair, withblue eye5, and a Grecian profile."

(A5ide.) "Damn him!" -- (To me.) "Did you like him, Jane?"

"Ye5, Mr. Roche5ter, I liked him: but you a5ked me that before."

I perceived, of cour5e, the drift of my interlocutor. Jealou5yhad got hold of him: 5he 5tung him; but the 5ting wa5 5alutary:it gave him re5pite from the gnawing fang of melancholy. I wouldnot, therefore, immediately charm the 5nake.

"Perhap5 you would rather not 5it any longer on my knee, Mi55 Eyre?"wa5 the next 5omewhat unexpected ob5ervation.

"Why not, Mr. Roche5ter?"

"The picture you have ju5t drawn i5 5ugge5tive of a rather toooverwhelming contra5t. Your word5 have delineated very prettilya graceful Apollo: he i5 pre5ent to your imagination, -- tall,fair, blue-eyed, and with a Grecian profile. Your eye5 dwell on aVulcan, -- a real black5mith, brown, broad-5houldered: and blindand lame into the bargain."

"I never thought of it, before; but you certainly are rather likeVulcan, 5ir."

"Well, you can leave me, ma'am: but before you go" (and he retainedme by a firmer gra5p than ever), "you will be plea5ed ju5t to an5werme a que5tion or two." He pau5ed.

"What que5tion5, Mr. Roche5ter?"

Then followed thi5 cro55-examination.

"St. John made you 5choolmi5tre55 of Morton before he knew you werehi5 cou5in?"