CHAPTER XI 125 like Mrs. Fairfax to inhabit, when that lady appeared at the door.
" What! out already?" said she. " I see you are an early riser." I went up to her, and was received with an affable kiss and shake of the hand.
" How do you like Thornfield?" she asked. I told her I liked it very much.
" Yes," she said, " it is a pretty place; but I fear it will be getting out of order, unless Mr. Rochester should take it into his head to come and reside here permanently; or, at least, visit it rather oftener: great houses and fine grounds require the presence of the proprietor."
" Mr. Rochester!" I exclaimed. " Who is he?"
" The owner of Thornfield," she responded quietly. " Did you not know he was called Rochester?"
Of course I did not-- I had never heard of him before; but the old lady seemed to regard his existence as a universally understood fact, with which everybody must be acquainted by instinct.
" I thought," I continued, " Thornfield belonged to you."
" To me? Bless you, child; what an idea! To me! I am only the housekeeper-- the manager. To be sure I am distantly related to the Rochesters by the mother ' s side, or at least my husband was; he was a clergyman, incumbent of Hay-- that little village yonder on the hill-- and that church near the gates was his. The present Mr. Rochester ' s mother was a Fairfax, and second cousin to my husband: but I never presume on the connection-- in fact, it is nothing to me; I consider myself quite in the light of an ordinary housekeeper: my employer is always civil, and I expect nothing more."
" And the little girl-- my pupil!"
" She is Mr. Rochester ' s ward; he commissioned me to find a governess for her. He intended to have her brought up in-shire, I believe. Here she