Page:Jane Eyre (1st edition), Volume 2.djvu/213

Rh "It is a long way off, sir."

"No matter—a girl of your sense will not object to the voyage or the distance."

"Not the voyage, but the distance: and then the sea is a barrier "

"From what, Jane?"

"From England; and from Thornfield: and "

"Well?"

"From you, sir."

I said this almost involuntarily; and with as little sanction of free will, my tears gushed out. I did not cry so as to be heard, however; I avoided sobbing. The thought of Mrs. O'Gall and Bitternutt Lodge struck cold to my heart; and colder the thought of all the brine and foam, destined, as it seemed, to rush, between me and the master, at whose side I now walked; and coldest at the remembrance of the wider ocean—wealth, caste, custom intervened between me and what I naturally and inevitably loved."loved. [sic]

"It is a long way," I again said.

"It is, to be sure; and when you get to Bitternutt Lodge, Connaught, Ireland, I shall never see you again, Jane: that's morally certain. I never go over to Ireland, not having myself much of a fancy for the country.