jane-eyre

as any one of you three. Miserable I am, and must be for a
time; for the catastrophe which drove me from a house I
had found a paradise was of a strange and direful nature. I
observed but two points in planning my departure—speed,
secrecy: to secure these, I had to leave behind me everything
I possessed except a small parcel; which, in my hurry
and trouble of mind, I forgot to take out of the coach that
brought me to Whitcross. To this neighbourhood, then, I
came, quite destitute. I slept two nights in the open air, and
wandered about two days without crossing a threshold: but
twice in that space of time did I taste food; and it was when
brought by hunger, exhaustion, and despair almost to the
last gasp, that you, Mr. Rivers, forbade me to perish of want
at your door, and took me under the shelter of your roof. I
know all your sisters have done for me since—for I have
not been insensible during my seeming torpor—and I owe
to their spontaneous, genuine, genial compassion as large a
debt as to your evangelical charity.’
‘Don’t make her talk any more now, St. John,’ said Diana,
as I paused; ‘she is evidently not yet fit for excitement. Come
to the sofa and sit down now, Miss Elliott.’
I gave an involuntary half start at hearing the alias: I had
forgotten my new name. Mr. Rivers, whom nothing seemed
to escape, noticed it at once.
‘You said your name was Jane Elliott?’ he observed.
‘I did say so; and it is the name by which I think it expedient
to be called at present, but it is not my real name, and
when I hear it, it sounds strange to me.’
‘Your real name you will not give?’
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