"Why do you have to leave, Jane?" [-----1-----].
"Why? What do you mean, why?" I cried, amazed. "Because you're marrying Miss Ingram. She wouldn't want me here. She's your bride."
"My bride! I have no bride!" he answered. "But I will have one, and you must stay!"
"I won't stay here, I won't!" I shouted angrily, standing up. "Do you think I can watch you marry another woman? Do you think I am a machine, with no feelings? Do you think, sir, that because I'm small and poor and not pretty, that I have no soul and no heart? Well, you're wrong! I have as much soul and heart as you, or more! And I know my heart speaks to yours. We are equal!"
"We are!" said Mr. Rochester, taking me in his arms and kissing me. "[-----2-----]!"
"Let me go, Mr. Rochester! I am not a bird--I'm a free woman!" Finally he let me go. "Yes, Jane, you must make your own decision. I ask you to spend your life with me, to be with me always."
I could barely speak; I was both angry and terribly sad. "Mr. Rochester, you're laughing at me! You've already chosen your companion for life." Mr. Rochester looked gently and seriously at me while I cried.
"Jane," he said, "I ask you to be my wife. You are my equal, Jane. I love you. Will you marry me? Don't you believe me?"
"No, I do not, sir!" I answered.
"I'll promise you! I don't love Blanche Ingram, and she doesn't love me. She only wanted to marry me for my money. But when she found out that I had only a little money, she forgot about me quickly. I love you, you, [-----3-----]! You, small and poor and plain, I ask you to marry me!" |