CHAPTER EIGHT

Life with Mr. Rochester

A few days later Mr. Rochester asked to talk to me after dinner. We were in the library, and Adele was talking with Mrs. Fairfax. Rochester called me over.

He whispered to me, "Adele amd Mrs. Fairfax are busy, so now I can [-----1-----] myself." Tonight he did not look so firm or angry, and there was a softness and humor in his fine, dark eyes. He saw me looking at him.

"Do you think I'm handsome, Miss Eyre?" he asked.

If this had been another person, I think I would have taken time to think, and then said something [-----2-----]. But somehow, I knew that Mr. Rochester would know I was not telling the truth. So I answered at once, "No, sir."

"Ah, you really are interesting! You are a quiet, serious person, but you are not afraid to say what you really think!"

"Sir, I'm sorry." I said.

"No, don't be sorry! All right, tell me. What is wrong with my appearance?"

"Oh, Mr. Rochester, I didn't want to say unkind things about you."

"Well, now you can," he said cheerfully. "Now, look at my head. Do you think I am intelligent?"

"I think you are extremely intelligent, sir. Would it be rude to ask, are you also good?"

"A knife in be back! Well, Miss Eyre, I wanted to be good when I was younger, but life has been hard, so I've become as hard and tough as an old tree. I only have a little goodness left inside." He was looking at me very carefully, and I wondered if he was [-----3-----]. "Miss Eyre, you look as if you do not know what to say. I want conversation tonight. It's your turn to speak."

He was right--I did not know what to say!