"Hitherto I have hated to be helped--to be led: henceforth, I feel I shall hate it no more. I did not like to put my hand into a hireling's, but it is pleasant to feel it circled by Jane's little fingers. I preferred utter loneliness to the constant attendance of servants; but Jane's soft ministry will be a perpetual joy. Jane suits me: do I suit her?"

     "To the finest fibre of my nature, sir."

     "The case being so, we have nothing in the world to wait for: we must be married instantly."

     He looked and spoke with eagerness: his old impetuosity was rising.

     "We must become one flesh without any delay, Jane: there is but the licence to get--then we marry."

     "Mr. Rochester, I have just discovered the sun is far declined from its meridian, and Pilot is actually gone home to his dinner. Let me look at your watch."

     "Fasten it into your girdle, Janet, and keep it henceforward: I have no use for it."

     "It is nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, sir. Don't you feel hungry?"