"Come, we will sit here in peace tonight"

H. S. Grieg

Source: Brontë, facing p.19.

See Chapter 23 in the Victorian Web text of Jane Eyre. This is a key episode in the novel. Jane encounters Mr Rochester in the garden at Thornfield, and learns that he has plans that, it seems, will necessitate her departure. "And when friends are on the eve of separation," he tells her, "they like to spend the little time that remains to them close to each other. Come! we'll talk over the voyage and the parting quietly half-an-hour or so, while the stars enter into their shining life up in heaven yonder: here is the chestnut tree: here is the bench at its old roots. Come, we will sit there in peace to-night, though we should never more be destined to sit there together." [Commentary continues below.]

Image scan and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the source, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one. Click on the image, or on the link below, for the article in which this image appears. Mouse over the text to see the links.]