Page:Jane Eyre (1st edition), Volume 1.djvu/66

58 under her control; her children only, at times defied her authority and laughed it to scorn; she dressed well, and had a presence and port calculated to set off handsome attire.

Sitting on a low stool, a few yards from her arm-chair, I examined her figure; I perused her features. In my hand I held the tract, containing the sudden death of the Liar; to which narrative my attention had been pointed as to an appropriate warning. What had just passed; what Mrs. Reed had said concerning me to Mr. Brocklehurst; the whole tenor of their conversation, was recent, raw and stinging in my mind: I had felt every word as acutely, as I had heard it plainly; and a passion of resentment fermented now within me.

Mrs. Reed looked up from her work; her eye settled on mine, her fingers at the same time suspended their nimble movements.

"Go out of the room: return to the nursery," was her mandate. My look or something else must have struck her as offensive, for she spoke with extreme, though suppressed, irritation. I got up, I went to the door; I came back again: I walked to the window, across the room, then close up to her.

Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely and must turn: but how? What strength had I