[00:00.30] Chapter 37.
[00:03.08] At Ferdean.
[00:05.67] Ferdean Manner was set in Woodland.
[00:09.92] As I approached from the trees, the door opened and a man came out, holding out his hand to tell if it was raining.
[00:18.58] It was my Edward Rochester.
[00:22.67] I stood silent and still, watching him.
[00:27.30] He stood strong and upright, and his hair was still black, but brooding sorrow was in his face.
[00:36.06] He was a caged eagle.
[00:40.95] Presently, John came out and took him into the house.
[00:47.98] I knocked at the door.
[00:50.94] Mary answered, remembered me, and welcomed me into the kitchen where a glass of water had been set on a tray.
[01:01.85] Is that for Mr. Rochester?
[01:04.25] I asked.
[01:07.68] It's all he has in the evenings now, she said.
[01:11.95] He never wants supper.
[01:16.06] Let me take it, I said.
[01:19.26] But as I carried it to the parlor, my hands shook so much I spilled half of it.
[01:27.46] Mr. Rochester was leaning against the parlor mantelpiece.
[01:34.84] Pilot saw me, bounded up with delight to greet me and nearly knocked the glass over.
[01:44.97] I put down the tray and handed Mr. Rochester the glass.
[01:52.95] Is that you, Mary?
[01:55.65] asks Mr. Rochester.
[01:59.79] Mary is in the kitchen, I said.
[02:04.20] He turned his head sharply.
[02:08.87] Would you like more water as I spilled most of it?
[02:13.89] Who is it?
[02:15.85] he demanded.
[02:17.85] That voice, who are you?
[02:22.95] He stretched out his hand and I took it.
[02:29.81] Jane's hand, he said.
[02:32.69] And in the next second he had wrapped me in his arms.
[02:38.42] Jane Air, my darling, is this a dream?
[02:42.51] I have dreamed of you so much.
[02:47.66] I have come back to you, I said, and kissed his blind face.
[02:53.92] I will stay this time and be your companion and friend if you want me to.
[03:00.92] Jane, how can you spend your life nursing a cripple?
[03:06.96] You need to be free to marry someone else.
[03:12.31] I don't want to, I said.
[03:16.36] I am a rich woman now and my own mistress.
[03:22.23] I can make my own choices and I want to be with you.
[03:28.39] I persuaded him to have supper by telling him I was hungry and we ate together.
[03:36.19] In his company, I felt we had both come alive again.
[03:45.00] Afterwards, I combed his wild hair and teased him as I used to.
[03:53.89] Am I hideous now, Jane?
[03:57.48] he asked.
[04:00.71] You always were, I said.
[04:07.96] Where have you been, you changeling?
[04:12.58] And who with?
[04:14.69] I shall tell you in the morning.
[04:18.04] I am tired, I said.
[04:23.42] Wherever you were, he said, were there only ladies there?
[04:28.89] I laughed and escaped to the room Mary had prepared for me.
[04:36.99] In the morning I woke to hear him questioning Mary.
[04:41.73] Which is Miss Air's room?
[04:44.69] Is she up?
[04:47.06] Does she want anything?
[04:49.20] Go and ask her.
[04:53.73] Later, we walked through the woods and I described the scene to him.
[05:03.61] Of course, he demanded to know where I had been and what I had done.
[05:11.79] I led him to a bench where he sat me on his knee and I told him everything.
[05:19.28] He was most interested to hear about St. John Rivers.
[05:27.65] I suppose he was one of those plain, clumsy curates, he said.
[05:35.21] No, he was handsome and well-mannered.
[05:42.12] Oh, was he?
[05:45.35] You don't have to sit on my knee, Jane, if you don't want to.
[05:51.66] What did you talk about?
[05:57.48] We learned Hindustani together, I said, and stayed where I was.
[06:05.86] Why Hindustani?
[06:11.95] He wanted me to marry him and go to India.
[06:22.83] Jane, you can leave me, he said firmly.
[06:28.18] Why are you still sitting on my knee?
[06:33.75] Because I like to.
[06:36.36] No, Jane.
[06:38.84] Your heart is with Sinjan, he said bravely.
[06:44.28] You must go to the man you have chosen.
[06:48.27] No, I don't love him, and he doesn't love me.
[06:56.92] I'm unhappy in his company.
[07:02.72] I put my arms around him and saw him smile.
[07:08.28] I want to stay with you.
[07:12.41] But I'm a wreck, Jane, he protested.
[07:17.19] I'm like the lightning struck tree at Thornfield.
[07:23.90] No, you are alive and strong.
[07:28.42] Plants will grow around your roots and in your shadow, and your strength will support them.
[07:39.19] Do you mean friends, Jane?
[07:42.85] Yes, I said hesitantly.
[07:49.08] I meant more than friends, but I was not sure how to say it.
[07:57.12] But I want a wife.
[08:00.75] Oh, do you?
[08:05.94] Then you should choose the one who loves you best.
[08:12.83] I will choose the one I love best.
[08:19.95] Jane.
[08:23.94] Will you marry me?
[08:28.68] Yes, sir, I said, poor, blind, and crippled.
[08:37.17] Yes, sir, I want nothing more in the world than to be with you.
[08:45.33] God bless you, darling.
[08:49.62] We must be married without delay, instantly, this week.
[08:58.65] By this time, it was so late that Pilot had given up and gone home ahead of us for his dinner.
[09:08.04] But Mr. Rochester had one more thing to tell me.
[09:15.91] In these last few months, Jane, since you went away, I have learned to pray.
[09:26.02] I had little time for God before, but in despair, I needed him to help me.
[09:36.74] Last Monday, thinking that you must be dead, I begged God to let me die too, so I could be with you.
[09:49.61] Sitting by the window, lonely and hopeless, I called your name three times.
[09:59.35] Jane, Jane, Jane.
[10:05.90] And I heard your voice as if you were with me.
[10:12.62] I heard you call, I am coming.
[10:18.79] Wait for me, where are you?
[10:24.95] I did not tell him this at first, but it was the very night that I had heard him call my name.