[00:00.09] Chapter 11.
[00:01.70] Thornfield Hall.
[00:03.82] After 16 hours of traveling on a raw October day, I arrived at Millcote, where the coachman from Thornfield Hall awaited me.
[00:14.75] During that long journey, I had wondered what Mrs. Fairfax might be like, but it was too late for second thoughts.
[00:22.64] We arrived at Thornfield in darkness.
[00:26.65] Only one front window was lit by candlelight, but I was led to a bright, cozy room with a cheerful fire.
[00:35.79] An elderly lady, very neat in black silk with a snowy white apron, rose to meet me.
[00:43.76] Mrs. Fairfax, I asked.
[00:47.56] Yes, you are right.
[00:49.47] Do sit by the fire, you must be cold.
[00:53.34] She summoned a servant.
[00:56.56] Leah, fetch Miss Air supper and ask John to put her luggage in her room.
[01:05.61] I had not expected such friendliness from an employer.
[01:14.24] Shall I see Miss Fairfax tonight?
[01:16.80] I asked, thinking of the child I was to teach.
[01:20.93] Miss Fairfax?
[01:22.97] Oh, you mean Miss Varrens, she said.
[01:28.42] I have no family.
[01:30.80] I am so glad you are here.
[01:35.53] Thornfield was always a lonely place, but now we have little Adele Varrens, and Sophie, her maid, and yourself.
[01:46.28] But you must feel tired.
[01:48.38] Let me show you your room.
[01:56.66] It was a comfortable room with carpet and papered walls, which I had never had at school.
[02:02.87] I went to bed feeling safe, happy and thankful.
[02:08.54] In the morning, Mrs. Fairfax showed me round Thornfield, which proved to be a gentleman's manner house with woods and gardens.
[02:19.66] I discovered that Mrs. Fairfax was not the owner of Thornfield, but the housekeeper.
[02:27.74] It belonged to a distant relation of hers, Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester, who was away from home.
[02:37.85] My pupil, Adele, was his ward.
[02:42.57] Mrs. Fairfax was just explaining that Adele was French, when a pretty, curly-haired child came running across the lawn to meet us.
[02:53.92] This was my seven-year-old pupil.
[03:00.61] Good morning, Miss Adele, said Mrs. Fairfax.
[03:05.17] Come and meet Miss Air.
[03:10.98] When Adele realized I spoke French, she chattered without stopping.
[03:19.07] Only when she had gone with her maid to play could I question Mrs. Fairfax about Mr. Rochester.
[03:28.12] He is away from Thornfield a great deal, but he is a good landlord to his tenants, she said, and well respected.
[03:39.01] But do you like him?
[03:41.42] I asked.
[03:44.86] He is a good master.
[03:51.59] But I can never be sure whether he is pleased or not, and whether he is being serious.
[03:59.69] He is difficult to understand.
[04:06.96] This was all she could tell me of him, and she proceeded to show me more of the house.
[04:14.37] She had taken me to the roof to admire the view when, from somewhere in the attics, I heard a laugh.
[04:25.69] There was no joy in this laugh.
[04:28.58] It was wild, low and chilling.
[04:34.91] Who was that?
[04:36.63] I asked.
[04:40.15] Grace Pool, said Mrs. Fairfax, a servant.
[04:47.07] She sews in one of the upstairs rooms.
[04:52.32] Grace.
[04:54.75] A woman appeared.
[04:58.66] She was solidly built and red-haired, between 30 and 40, and I could not imagine that laugh coming from her.
[05:09.84] Too much noise, Grace, said Mrs. Fairfax.
[05:17.21] Then, having sent her away, she talked to me about Adele instead.