Chapter 37: Jane travels the last
mile to Ferndean on foot so that the coach does not draw attention. It is about to get dark, and
she sees Mr. Rochester come out of the house and try to feel his way around. She sees that his
figure and appearance are the same, but that he walks slowly and hides his left hand. John comes
out, and after the two of them go in, Jane knocks at the door. John's wife, Mary, answers, and
she recognizes Jane. Rochester rings for some water, and Jane takes it in instead of Mary.
When Jane speaks Rochester realizes it is not Mary, but does not believe it is Jane. Jane says
that it is she, and that she will never leave him again. She kisses him and tells him that she
is now rich, and that if she does not let him live with him, she will build a house near. Rochester
gets gloomy when Jane again says she will stay with him, as he feels himself to be unworthy of her companionship
now that he is blind. Jane makes a better fire and some supper, and soon things are more cheerful.
Jane tells Rochester some of where she has been, but he becomes jealous when she says she has been with
good people, and he asks if any men were there. She laughs at him and bids him goodnight.
The next day Jane comes down to
breakfast, and Rochester is relieved that she has not left in the night. They go for a walk, and
he tells her how horrible he felt when he realized that she had left Thornfield and had taken no money
or goods. Jane tells him how she had been received at Moor House and about St. John. He
asks many questions about him, finally telling Jane that she can go and be with him. She convinces
him that her heart is with him, not St. John, and that she will take care of him. Rochester asks
Jane to marry him, and she accepts. He then relates a story from a few nights before. He
says that he was feeling very sad and longing for her and called out "Jane! Jane! Jane!," and that he
heard someone answer, "I am coming.Where are you?" Jane decides that Rochester has been through enough,
and so does not tell him of the fantastic coincidence.
Chapter 38: Jane and Rochester
have a quiet wedding three days after that. Diana and Mary are happy for her and say they will come
to visit. St. John did not reply to the letter Jane sent to him regarding the wedding; however,
he has since maintained a correspondence with her. Jane goes to see Adele and changes her school
for a better and closer one. Jane then tells the reader that it has been ten years now that she has
been married as she sits to write about her life. She and Rochester are always together, and after
two years, he had regained sight in one of his eyes, enough to see his first-born son. Diana and
Mary are both married and come to visit Jane, and she visits them. St. John went to India and
is still there. He remained unmarried, and Jane relates that he feels that he will soon die and
join God.
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