CHAPTER XIV 169
" You are dumb , Miss Eyre ."
I was dumb still . He bent his head a little towards me , and with a single hasty glance seemed to dive into my eyes .
" Stubborn ?" he said , " and annoyed . Ah ! it is consistent . I put my request in an absurd , almost insolent form . Miss Eyre , I beg your pardon . The fact is , once for all , I don ' t wish to treat you like an inferior : that is " ( correcting himself ), " I claim only such superiority as must result from twenty years ' difference in age and a century ' s advance in experience . This is legitimate , et j ' y tiens , as Adele would say ; and it is by virtue of this superiority , and this alone , that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little now , and divert my thoughts , which are galled with dwelling on one point -- cankering as a rusty nail ."
He had deigned an explanation , almost an apology , and I did not feel insensible to his condescension , and would not seem so .
" I am willing to amuse you , if I can , sir -- quite willing ; but I cannot introduce a topic , because how do I know what will interest you ? Ask me questions , and I will do my best to answer them ."
" Then , in the first place , do you agree with me that I have a right to be a little masterful , abrupt , perhaps exacting , sometimes , on the grounds I stated , namely , that I am old enough to be your father , and that I have battled through a varied experience with many men of many nations , and roamed over half the globe , while you have lived quietly with one set of people in one house ?"
" Do as you please , sir ."
" That is no answer ; or rather it is a very irritating , because a very evasive one . Reply clearly ."
" I don ' t think , sir , you have a right to command me , merely because you are older than I , or because you have seen more of the world than I have ; your