第26章

OldMr。Rivers，shesaid，wasaplainmanenough，butagentleman，andofasancientafamilyascouldbefound。MarshEndhadbelongedtotheRiverseversinceitwasahouse:anditwas，sheaffirmed，“aboontwohundredyearold—forallitlookedbutasmall，humbleplace，naughttocomparewi’Mr。Oliver’sgrandhalldowni’MortonVale。ButshecouldrememberBillOliver’sfatherajourneymanneedlemaker;andth’Riversworgentryi’th’owddayso’th’Henrys，asonybodymightseebylookingintoth’registersi’MortonChurchvestry。”Still，sheallowed，“theowdmaisterwaslikeotherfolk—naughtmichouto’t’commonway:starkmado’shooting，andfarming，andsichlike。”Themistresswasdifferent。Shewasagreatreader，andstudiedadeal;andthe“bairns”hadtakenafterher。Therewasnothinglikethemintheseparts，noreverhadbeen;theyhadlikedlearning，allthree，almostfromthetimetheycouldspeak;andtheyhadalwaysbeen“ofamak’oftheirown。”Mr。St。John，whenhegrewup，wouldgotocollegeandbeaparson;andthegirls，assoonastheyleftschool，wouldseekplacesasgovernesses:fortheyhadtoldhertheirfatherhadsomeyearsagolostagreatdealofmoneybyamanhehadtrustedturningbankrupt;andashewasnownotrichenoughtogivethemfortunes，theymustprovideforthemselves。Theyhadlivedverylittleathomeforalongwhile，andwereonlycomenowtostayafewweeksonaccountoftheirfather’sdeath;buttheydidsolikeMarshEndandMorton，andallthesemoorsandhillsabout。TheyhadbeeninLondon，andmanyothergrandtowns;buttheyalwayssaidtherewasnoplacelikehome;andthentheyweresoagreeablewitheachother—neverfelloutnor“threaped。”Shedidnotknowwheretherewassuchafamilyforbeingunited。

Havingfinishedmytaskofgooseberrypicking，Iaskedwherethetwoladiesandtheirbrotherwerenow。

“GoneovertoMortonforawalk;buttheywouldbebackinhalf—an—hourtotea。”

TheyreturnedwithinthetimeHannahhadallottedthem:theyenteredbythekitchendoor。Mr。St。John，whenhesawme，merelybowedandpassedthrough;thetwoladiesstopped:Mary，inafewwords，kindlyandcalmlyexpressedthepleasureshefeltinseeingmewellenoughtobeabletocomedown;Dianatookmyhand:sheshookherheadatme。

“Youshouldhavewaitedformyleavetodescend，”shesaid。“Youstilllookverypale—andsothin！Poorchild！—poorgirl！”

Dianahadavoicetoned，tomyear，likethecooingofadove。ShepossessedeyeswhosegazeIdelightedtoencounter。Herwholefaceseemedtomefillofcharm。Mary’scountenancewasequallyintelligent—herfeaturesequallypretty;butherexpressionwasmorereserved，andhermanners，thoughgentle，moredistant。Dianalookedandspokewithacertainauthority:shehadawill，evidently。Itwasmynaturetofeelpleasureinyieldingtoanauthoritysupportedlikehers，andtobend，wheremyconscienceandself—respectpermitted，toanactivewill。

“Andwhatbusinesshaveyouhere？”shecontinued。“Itisnotyourplace。MaryandIsitinthekitchensometimes，becauseathomeweliketobefree，eventolicense—butyouareavisitor，andmustgointotheparlour。”

“Iamverywellhere。”

“Notatall，withHannahbustlingaboutandcoveringyouwithflour。”

“Besides，thefireistoohotforyou，”interposedMary。

“Tobesure，”addedhersister。“Come，youmustbeobedient。”Andstillholdingmyhandshemademerise，andledmeintotheinnerroom。

“Sitthere，”shesaid，placingmeonthesofa，“whilewetakeourthingsoffandgettheteaready;itisanotherprivilegeweexerciseinourlittlemoorlandhome—toprepareourownmealswhenwearesoinclined，orwhenHannahisbaking，brewing，washing，orironing。”

Sheclosedthedoor，leavingmesoluswithMr。St。John，whosatopposite，abookornewspaperinhishand。Iexaminedfirst，theparlour，andthenitsoccupant。

Theparlourwasratherasmallroom，veryplainlyfurnished，yetcomfortable，becausecleanandneat。Theold—fashionedchairswereverybright，andthewalnut—woodtablewaslikealooking—glass。Afewstrange，antiqueportraitsofthemenandwomenofotherdaysdecoratedthestainedwalls;acupboardwithglassdoorscontainedsomebooksandanancientsetofchina。Therewasnosuperfluousornamentintheroom—notonemodernpieceoffurniture，saveabraceofworkboxesandalady’sdeskinrosewood，whichstoodonaside—table:everything—includingthecarpetandcurtains—lookedatoncewellwornandwellsaved。

Mr。St。John—sittingasstillasoneofthedustypicturesonthewalls，keepinghiseyesfixedonthepageheperused，andhislipsmutelysealed—waseasyenoughtoexamine。Hadhebeenastatueinsteadofaman，hecouldnothavebeeneasier。Hewasyoung—perhapsfromtwenty—eighttothirty—tall，slender;hisfacerivetedtheeye;itwaslikeaGreekface，verypureinoutline:quiteastraight，classicnose;quiteanAthenianmouthandchin。Itisseldom，indeed，anEnglishfacecomessoneartheantiquemodelsasdidhis。Hemightwellbealittleshockedattheirregularityofmylineaments，hisownbeingsoharmonious。Hiseyeswerelargeandblue，withbrownlashes;hishighforehead，colourlessasivory，waspartiallystreakedoverbycarelesslocksoffairhair。

Thisisagentledelineation，isitnot，reader？Yethewhomitdescribesscarcelyimpressedonewiththeideaofagentle，ayielding，animpressible，orevenofaplacidnature。Quiescentashenowsat，therewassomethingabouthisnostril，hismouth，hisbrow，which，tomyperceptions，indicatedelementswithineitherrestless，orhard，oreager。Hedidnotspeaktomeoneword，norevendirecttomeoneglance，tillhissistersreturned。Diana，asshepassedinandout，inthecourseofpreparingtea，broughtmealittlecake，bakedonthetopoftheoven。

“Eatthatnow，”shesaid:“youmustbehungry。Hannahsaysyouhavehadnothingbutsomegruelsincebreakfast。”

Ididnotrefuseit，formyappetitewasawakenedandkeen。Mr。Riversnowclosedhisbook，approachedthetable，and，ashetookaseat，fixedhisbluepictorial—lookingeyesfullonme。Therewasanunceremoniousdirectness，asearching，decidedsteadfastnessinhisgazenow，whichtoldthatintention，andnotdiffidence，hadhithertokeptitavertedfromthestranger。

“Youareveryhungry，”hesaid。

“Iam，sir。”Itismyway—italwayswasmyway，byinstinct—evertomeetthebriefwithbrevity，thedirectwithplainness。

“Itiswellforyouthatalowfeverhasforcedyoutoabstainforthelastthreedays:therewouldhavebeendangerinyieldingtothecravingsofyourappetiteatfirst。Nowyoumayeat，thoughstillnotimmoderately。”

“ItrustIshallnoteatlongatyourexpense，sir，”wasmyveryclumsily—contrived，unpolishedanswer。

“No，”hesaidcoolly:“whenyouhaveindicatedtoustheresidenceofyourfriends，wecanwritetothem，andyoumayberestoredtohome。”

“That，Imustplainlytellyou，isoutofmypowertodo;beingabsolutelywithouthomeandfriends。”

Thethreelookedatme，butnotdistrustfully;Ifelttherewasnosuspicionintheirglances:therewasmoreofcuriosity。Ispeakparticularlyoftheyoungladies。St。John’seyes，thoughclearenoughinaliteralsense，inafigurativeoneweredifficulttofathom。Heseemedtousethemratherasinstrumentstosearchotherpeople’sthoughts，thanasagentstorevealhisown:thewhichcombinationofkeennessandreservewasconsiderablymorecalculatedtoembarrassthantoencourage。

“Doyoumeantosay，”heasked，“thatyouarecompletelyisolatedfromeveryconnection？”

“Ido。Notatielinksmetoanylivingthing:notaclaimdoIpossesstoadmittanceunderanyroofinEngland。”

“Amostsingularpositionatyourage！”

HereIsawhisglancedirectedtomyhands，whichwerefoldedonthetablebeforeme。Iwonderedwhathesoughtthere:hiswordssoonexplainedthequest。

“Youhaveneverbeenmarried？Youareaspinster？”

Dianalaughed。“Why，shecan’theaboveseventeenoreighteenyearsold，St。John，”saidshe。

“Iamnearnineteen:butIamnotmarried。No。”

Ifeltaburningglowmounttomyface;forbitterandagitatingrecollectionswereawakenedbytheallusiontomarriage。Theyallsawtheembarrassmentandtheemotion。DianaandMaryrelievedmebyturningtheireyeselsewherethantomycrimsonedvisage;butthecolderandsternerbrothercontinuedtogaze，tillthetroublehehadexcitedforcedouttearsaswellascolour。

“Wheredidyoulastreside？”henowasked。

“Youaretooinquisitive，St。John，”murmuredMaryinalowvoice;butheleanedoverthetableandrequiredananswerbyasecondfirmandpiercinglook。

“Thenameoftheplacewhere，andofthepersonwithwhomIlived，ismysecret，”Irepliedconcisely。

“Which，ifyoulike，youhave，inmyopinion，arighttokeep，bothfromSt。Johnandeveryotherquestioner，”remarkedDiana。

“YetifIknownothingaboutyouoryourhistory，Icannothelpyou，”hesaid。“Andyouneedhelp，doyounot？”

“Ineedit，andIseekitsofar，sir，thatsometruephilanthropistwillputmeinthewayofgettingworkwhichIcando，andtheremunerationforwhichwillkeepme，ifbutinthebarestnecessariesoflife。”

“IknownotwhetherIamatruephilanthropist;yetIamwillingtoaidyoutotheutmostofmypowerinapurposesohonest。First，then，tellmewhatyouhavebeenaccustomedtodo，andwhatyoucando。”

Ihadnowswallowedmytea。Iwasmightilyrefreshedbythebeverage;asmuchsoasagiantwithwine:itgavenewtonetomyunstrungnerves，andenabledmetoaddressthispenetratingyoungjudgesteadily。

“Mr。Rivers，”Isaid，turningtohim，andlookingathim，ashelookedatme，openlyandwithoutdiffidence，“youandyoursistershavedonemeagreatservice—thegreatestmancandohisfellow—being;youhaverescuedme，byyournoblehospitality，fromdeath。Thisbenefitconferredgivesyouanunlimitedclaimonmygratitude，andaclaim，toacertainextent，onmyconfidence。Iwilltellyouasmuchofthehistoryofthewandereryouhaveharboured，asIcantellwithoutcompromisingmyownpeaceofmind—myownsecurity，moralandphysical，andthatofothers。

“Iamanorphan，thedaughterofaclergyman。MyparentsdiedbeforeIcouldknowthem。Iwasbroughtupadependant;educatedinacharitableinstitution。Iwilleventellyouthenameoftheestablishment，whereIpassedsixyearsasapupil，andtwoasateacher—LowoodOrphanAsylum，—shire:youwillhaveheardofit，Mr。Rivers？—theRev。RobertBrocklehurstisthetreasurer。”

“IhaveheardofMr。Brocklehurst，and