CHAPTER X 110
for the night , the inevitable Miss Gryce was still my companion : we had only a short end of candle in our candlestick , and I dreaded lest she should talk till it was all burnt out ; fortunately , however , the heavy supper she had eaten produced a soporific effect : she was already snoring before I had finished undressing . There still remained an inch of candle : I now took out my letter ; the seal was an initial F .; I broke it ; the contents were brief .
" If J . E ., who advertised in the -shire Herald of last Thursday , possesses the acquirements mentioned , and if she is in a position to give satisfactory references as to character and competency , a situation can be offered her where there is but one pupil , a little girl , under ten years of age ; and where the salary is thirty pounds per annum . J . E . is requested to send references , name , address , and all particulars to the direction : -
" Mrs . Fairfax , Thornfield , near Millcote , -shire ."
I examined the document long : the writing was old-fashioned and rather uncertain , like that of an elderly lady . This circumstance was satisfactory : a private fear had haunted me , that in thus acting for myself , and by my own guidance , I ran the risk of getting into some scrape ; and , above all things , I wished the result of my endeavours to be respectable , proper , en regle . I now felt that an elderly lady was no bad ingredient in the business I had on hand . Mrs . Fairfax ! I saw her in a black gown and widow ' s cap ; frigid , perhaps , but not uncivil : a model of elderly English respectability . Thornfield ! that , doubtless , was the name of her house : a neat orderly spot , I was sure ; though I failed in my efforts to conceive a correct plan of the premises . Millcote , - shire ; I brushed up my recollections of the map of England , yes , I saw it ; both the shire and the town . -shire was seventy miles nearer London than the remote county where I now resided : that was a recommendation to me . I longed to go where there was life and movement : Millcote was a large manufacturing town on the banks of the A- ; a busy place enough , doubtless : so much the better ; it would be a complete change at least . Not that my fancy was much captivated by the idea of long chimneys and clouds of smoke -- " but ," I argued , " Thornfield will , probably , be a good way from the town ."