[00:00.58]Chapter 23, Midsummer Eve.
[00:04.61]Midsummer was radiantly sunny.
[00:07.94]On the long warm evening of midsummer day when the sun was setting, I went for a walk in the orchard.
[00:15.42]The air was fragrant with flowers, but another scent lingered too.
[00:21.99]It was Mr. Rochester's cigar.
[00:25.63]He was walking into the orchard.
[00:29.70]I would have slipped quietly away, but he saw me.
[00:34.88]It's a shame to go indoors on such an evening, he said.
[00:39.75]Are you enjoying Thornfield in summer?
[00:43.33]Very much, sir, I said.
[00:48.23]And you have become fond of simple Dame Fairfax and foolish little Adele.
[00:53.59]Yes, sir.
[00:57.86]You do understand, Jane, that you must leave when I am married.
[01:04.56]So you are to be married, sir.
[01:09.53]You are absolutely right, as usual.
[01:14.94]And as you know, Adele and the beautiful Blanche Ingram cannot live happily together under one roof.
[01:22.82]Adele must go to school, and I am trying to find employment for you.
[01:28.67]I have friends in Ireland who need a governess.
[01:33.96]Such a long way from Thornfield and from him.
[01:38.65]I struggled against tears and hoped he would not see.
[01:43.53]Shall we sit on the bench under the chestnut tree, he suggested, and led me to it.
[01:50.84]Come, we shall spend a last evening together.
[01:55.61]You will soon forget me in Thornfield.
[01:59.65]I cannot.
[02:03.27]My self control broke down, and I sobbed.
[02:07.16]I hate to leave Thornfield.
[02:10.45]I have been so happy, I have met you, and I can't bear to be torn away.
[02:18.68]Must you go?
[02:20.76]He said suddenly.
[02:23.83]You have just said that I must, I sobbed.
[02:28.07]No.
[02:29.67]You will stay.
[02:31.58]I swear it.
[02:36.45]You are playing with my feelings, I cried.
[02:42.21]Just because I am plain and poor and unimportant, do you think I feel nothing?
[02:49.79]I speak to you now as if we were equals.
[02:54.54]I wish you found it as hard to leave me as I do to leave you.
[02:59.88]Jane.
[03:02.12]He gathered me in his arms and kissed me.
[03:09.85]You are nearly married, I said struggling.
[03:15.19]You are going to marry a woman you don't love.
[03:19.85]I wouldn't marry without love, so I'm better than you.
[03:24.24]Let me go.
[03:26.68]I struggled free.
[03:29.59]Yes, Jane.
[03:31.84]You are a free woman, he said.
[03:36.08]So choose freely now.
[03:40.82]I offer you my heart, my hand, and all my life.
[03:49.24]This was more than I could believe.
[03:54.38]You are laughing at me, I said.
[03:58.64]Your bride is Miss Ingram.
[04:05.20]My bride is here.
[04:07.95]My bride, my equal and my likeness.
[04:13.15]Will you marry me, Jane?
[04:18.79]It was too much to believe and I could not answer.
[04:24.35]Do you doubt me, Jane?
[04:28.32]Entirely, I said.
[04:32.90]You know I do not love Miss Ingram, he insisted.
[04:40.08]And she doesn't want me, since I pretended that I am not so very rich.
[04:48.60]I love you, Jane.
[04:51.97]I must have you for my own.
[04:57.78]In the moonlight, I examined his face.
[05:02.50]Truly he was earnest and anxious.
[05:07.99]Accept me, please, Jane, he said.
[05:13.63]Use my name, Edward, and accept me.
[05:20.34]I swear that I love you.
[05:26.75]Then sir, Edward, I will marry you, I said, and thought I was in paradise.
[05:38.08]He asked me over and again, are you happy, Jane?
[05:43.80]As we sat together under the chestnut tree.
[05:49.47]Night fell.
[05:51.51]The wind grew strong and the tree creaked and groaned.
[05:57.31]A storm was gathering, but we stayed there until thunder and lightning crashed.
[06:04.97]It was midnight when we reached the house.
[06:11.08]Good night, my darling, he said, and kissed me repeatedly to the astonishment of Mrs.
[06:20.51]Fairfax, who was standing on the stairs.
[06:27.76]In the night, he knocked at my door to ask if I was worried by the storm.
[06:34.83]But I was far too happy to worry about anything.
[06:43.04]In the morning, Adele ran to tell me that the chestnut tree had been struck by lightning in the night and split in two.