[00:00.57]Chapter 33.
[00:02.83]Sinjan's News.
[00:05.97]All the following day, snow swept into the valley and lay in drifts.
[00:11.94]In the evening twilight, I lit the fire and sat reading.
[00:16.44]The door banged, and in with a flurry of snow came Sinjan Rivers, wrapped in his cloak.
[00:24.55]It was far too wild a night for anyone to come out.
[00:29.92]What's the matter?
[00:31.93]I demanded.
[00:33.62]Nothing.
[00:36.41]He took off his wet cloak and stamped snow from his boots.
[00:43.35]I need to talk to you.
[00:47.77]Then he simply sat down by the fire and gazed calmly and thoughtfully into it, saying nothing.
[00:56.65]I tried talking about the school, but he took little interest.
[01:02.59]Finally, he said, I have a story to tell you.
[01:08.80]I recently heard about a poor curate who married a rich man's daughter, but within two years they had both died.
[01:19.03]They left a baby daughter who was brought up by a Mrs. Reed of Gateshead.
[01:26.13]You look startled, Miss Elliot.
[01:29.62]Perhaps you just heard a cat somewhere.
[01:34.87]The child went to Lowood school, then became governess in the home of a gentleman named Rochester.
[01:44.24]Mr. Rivers, I gasped.
[01:48.66]Mr. Rochester, he went on, wanted to marry her, but she discovered at the altar that he was already married and his wife was insane.
[02:01.24]The governess ran away and has never been traced, although Mr. Rochester tried far and wide to find her.
[02:12.84]It is now vital that she is found.
[02:17.72]A solicitor called Mr. Briggs has just written to me with all this information.
[02:25.90]Now, Miss Elliot, what do you think of this story?
[02:35.32]There was no point in trying to pretend any longer.
[02:39.59]He knew everything.
[02:43.57]Please, only tell me this.
[02:47.81]I begged him, how is Mr. Rochester?
[02:53.99]I have no idea.
[02:57.40]I am only interested in the governess.
[03:04.80]He took out a thin piece of paper torn along one edge.
[03:10.41]It was the piece he had torn from my scrap paper.
[03:15.56]In a thoughtless moment, I had written Jane Air on it.
[03:22.12]You are Jane Air, he said.
[03:27.67]Yes.
[03:29.95]But did Mr. Briggs say how Mr. Rochester is?
[03:34.79]Never mind, Mr. Rochester.
[03:39.22]Mr. Briggs was looking for you because your uncle, John Air of Madeira, is dead.
[03:46.54]He was wealthy and left you everything he possessed.
[03:52.89]Do you understand?
[03:56.82]You are a very rich woman.
[04:03.89]The only relation I had in the world was dead, and I had never met him.
[04:12.04]But now, I was an independent woman.
[04:21.23]But why did Mr. Briggs write to you of all people? I asked.
[04:29.09]Oh, he looked embarrassed and got up to go.
[04:34.02]It is a complicated business.
[04:36.59]I will tell you another time.
[04:40.78]Tell me now, I insisted, sure that he was hiding something.
[04:49.04]I placed myself between Sinjan and the door.
[04:54.80]You must tell me, I said, I will not be put off.
[05:04.45]I suppose you had to know sooner or later, he said at last.
[05:13.34]My full name is Sanjan Air Rivers.
[05:17.85]My mother's name was Air.
[05:21.02]She was your father's sister.
[05:27.56]You mean that my uncle John was your uncle John too?
[05:33.53]So you are all my cousins, you, Diana and Mary?
[05:39.61]Yes.
[05:44.69]I had a family.
[05:48.87]The best, the most glorious, wonderful news, my friends were my family.
[06:00.19]I insisted on sharing the money equally with Sinjan, Diana, and Mary.
[06:07.68]They argued and tried to persuade me not to, but I had my way.
[06:13.98]By Christmas, I had shared out my wealth with my cousins and resigned from the school, and Diana and Mary were coming home to Moore House to stay.