 course: I told you you should. I pass over the madness about parting
from me. You mean you must become a part of me. As to the new existence, it is
all right: you shall yet be my wife: I am not married. You shall be Mrs.
Rochester - both virtually and nominally. I shall keep only to you so long as
you and I live. You shall go to a place I have in the south of France: a
white-washed villa on the shores of the Mediterranean. There you shall live a
happy, and guarded, and most innocent life. Never fear that I wish to lure you
into error - to make you my mistress. Why do you shake your head? Jane, you must
be reasonable; or in truth I shall again become frantic.«
    His voice and hand quivered: his large nostrils dilated; his eye blazed:
still I dared to speak: -
    »Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by
yourself. If I lived with you as you desire, I should then be your mistress: to
say otherwise is sophistical - is false.«
    »Jane, I am not a gentle-tempered man - you forget that: I am not
long-enduring; I am not cool and dispassionate. Out of pity to me and yourself,
put your finger on my pulse, feel how it throbs, and - beware!«
    He bared his wrist, and offered it to me: the blood was forsaking his cheek
and lips, they were growing livid; I was distressed on all hands. To agitate him
thus deeply, by a resistance he so abhorred, was cruel: to yield was out of the
question. I did what human beings do instinctively when they are driven to utter
extremity - looked for aid to one higher than man: the words »God help me!«
burst involuntarily from my lips.
    »I am a fool!« cried Mr. Rochester, suddenly. »I keep telling her I am not
married, and do not explain to her why. I forget she knows nothing of the
character of that woman, or of the circumstances attending my infernal union
with her. Oh, I am certain Jane will agree with me in opinion, when she knows
all that I know! Just put your hand in mine, Janet - that I may have the
evidence of touch as well as sight, to prove you are near me - and I will in a
few words show you the real state of the case. Can you listen to me
