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Rh undone the bandages; "only I wish I could have got here sooner: he would not have bled so much&mdash;but how is this? The flesh on the shoulder is torn as well as cut. This wound was not done with a knife; there have been teeth here!"

"She bit me," he murmured. "She worried me like a tigress, when Rochester got the knife from her."

"You should not have yielded; you should have grappled with her at once," said Mr. Rochester.

"But under such circumstances, what could one do?" returned Mason. "Oh, it was frightful!" he added, shuddering. "And I did not expect it; she looked so quiet at first."

"I warned you," was his friend's answer; "I said&mdash;be on your guard when you go near her. Besides, you might have waited till tomorrow, and had me with you. It was mere folly to attempt the interview tonight, and alone."

"I thought I could have done some good."

"You thought! you thought! Yes, it makes me impatient to hear you; but, however, you have suffered, and are likely to suffer enough for not taking my advice; so I'll say no more. Carter&mdash;hurry!&mdash;hurry! The sun will soon rise, and I must have him off."

"Directly, sir; the shoulder is just bandaged. I must look to this other wound in the arm. She has had her teeth here too, I think."

"She sucked the blood! she said she'd drain my heart!" said Mason.

I saw Mr. Rochester shudder; a singularly marked expression of disgust, horror, hatred, warped his countenance almost to distortion; but he only said:

"Come, be silent, Richard, and never mind her gibberish; don't repeat it."

"I wish I could forget it," was the answer.

"You will when you are out of the country. When you get back to Spanish Town, you may think of her as dead and buried&mdash;or rather, you need not think of her at all."

"Impossible to forget this night!"

"It is not impossible. Have some energy, man. You thought you were as dead as a herring two hours since, and you are all alive and talking now. There!&mdash;Carter has done with you or nearly so; I'll make you decent in a trice. Jane" (he turned to me for the first time since his re-entrance), "take this key, go down into my bedroom, and walk straight forward into my dressing-room; open the top drawer of the wardrobe and take out a clean shirt and neck-handkerchief. Bring them here; and be nimble."

I went; sought the repository he had mentioned, found the articles named, and returned with them.

"Now," said he, "go to the other side of the bed while I order his toilet; but don't leave the room; you may be wanted again."