CHAPTER THIRTEEN Mr. Mason is Attacked
I woke up in the middle of the night to hear someone shouting. I jumped out of bed. It came from the top floor! What was happening? Then I heard the sounds of two people fighting.
“Help! Help! Help! Won’t anyone help me?” yelled a man’s voice. “Rochester! Rochester! for God’s sake!”
All the ladies and gentlemen woke up and opened their doors. “What’s happening? Are there murderers in the house? Where’s Rochester?” they cried.
“Here I am!” said Rochester, coming from the stairs. “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid, ladies. A servant has had a bad dream, that’s all, and started shouting. There’s nothing to worry about. Please go back to sleep.” These words seemed to calm everyone, so they went back to bed.
But I knew that I had heard two people fighting. I dressed and waited in my room, in case Mr. Rochester needed me. Soon Thornfield Hall was quiet again. Then I heard someone outside my door.
“Are you awake, Jane?” said Mr. Rochester.
“yes, sir, and dressed.”
“Good, I need your help. Bring a clean cloth with you.” Quickly and quietly we went up to the top floor. Mr. Rochester opened one of the small black doors. “Does the sight of blood frighten you? He asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. We walked into a large, dark room with curtains hung on the walls. On one of the walls a curtain was pushed back. I saw a secret door that led into another room. From inside the room, I heard angry sounding noises. They sounded like an animal’s but also like a human’s
“Wait here,” said Mr. Rochester. Quickly he went into the secret room. I heard loud, frightening laughter, and Mr. Rochester speaking in a soft voice. Grace Poole was in there, I thought. She must truly be crazy! Then Mr. Rochester came out, closing the secret door behind him. Suddenly I noticed that Mr. Mason was witting in a chair. He was covered in blood. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked at us.
“Am I going to die?” he asked.
“No, of course not,” answered Mr. Rochester. “Now Jane,” he said, turning to me, “I’ll have to leave you alone with Mason while I find the doctor. Please care for him while I’m gone, but do not speak to him.” I nodded, and nervously watched him leave the room. He locked the door when he left.
So here I was, locked in a room with a wounded man and a crazy, violent murderer, only on the other side of a small door! It was a long night. I had plenty of time to think about all the strange things that had happened. First, there was the fire in Mr. Rochester’s room, and now another attack on a stranger. How was Mr. Mason involved? What was he doing on the top floor? Not many people at Thornfield went up there, Mr. Mason’s bedroom was near mine. And, most of all, why was Mr. Rochester so frightened when I told him that Mr. Mason had come to Thornfield?
At last, Rochester and the doctor arrived.
“This is strange!” said the doctor. “The skin on the shoulder has been bitten, but also cut with a knife.”
“When Rochester took the knife from her, she bit me,” Mason said weakly.
“Well, Mason, I told you never to see her alone, or something like this might happen.” Said Rochester. “When you return to the West Indies, forget about her. She is not the same person you knew. You must think of her as dead. Now, doctor, is Mason going to be all right? When you leave here, you can take him home with you, and then in a few days he can leave England.”
It was now early in the morning, and the birds were beginning to sing. But the house was still quiet. No one saw Mr. mason leave with the doctor.
“Look after him, doctor.” Said Rochester. “Goodbye, Richard.” I thought his voice sounded tired ,and sad.
“Edward, always take care of her, treat her well…”
“I’ll do my best, Richard. I always have,” said Rochester, Then Mr. Mason left. “But I wish all this would be over!” he said to himself, after he had gone.
As we returned to the house, he said to me, “Jane, were you frightened when I left you there with Mason?”
“I wasn’t afraid of Mason, sir. I was afraid of Grace Poole.”
“But I licked her in that room so no one would be hurt. I would never leave you in danger.”
“Will she continue to live here, sir?” I asked.
“Yes, but don’t think about her. She can’t hurt you.”
“Sir, I’m sure your life is in danger while she’s at Thornfield.”
“Don’t worry, Jane. Mason is more dangerous to me. He could hurt me very badly.”
“How, sir?” I asked.
“If he decided to talk about me, he could destroy my chance for happiness in life. Sit sown with me in the garden, Jane. I want to ask you something.”
The sky was blue and the birds were singing. “Now, Jane, what if there was a man who made a terrible mistake, years ago in a foreign country. For many years he must live with this mistake. It seems he will always be unhappy and alone. Suddenly, he meets someone fresh, good and pure. Now, can he forget the terrible past, and live the rest of his life with her in peace?”
It was a difficult question to answer. In the end I said.
“Sir, even if this woman was very good, another human can’t give you peace. You must ask for God’s help.”
“But I think I’ve found the woman who can make me happy forever! It’s…” he paused. I thought my heart would stop. I was waiting for him to say…
“Blanche Ingram,” Mr. Rochester said in a hard-sounding voice. His face looked much less happy than before. He would not look at me as he spoke. “You know that I love her, don’t you, Jane? Don’t you think she’ll make me happy?” |