CHAPTER XVI 192
CHAPTER XVI
I both wished and feared to see Mr . Rochester on the day which followed this sleepless night : I wanted to hear his voice again , yet feared to meet his eye . During the early part of the morning , I momentarily expected his coming ; he was not in the frequent habit of entering the schoolroom , but he did step in for a few minutes sometimes , and I had the impression that he was sure to visit it that day .
But the morning passed just as usual : nothing happened to interrupt the quiet course of Adele ' s studies ; only soon after breakfast , I heard some bustle in the neighbourhood of Mr . Rochester ' s chamber , Mrs . Fairfax ' s voice , and Leah ' s , and the cook ' s -- that is , John ' s wife -- and even John ' s own gruff tones . There were exclamations of " What a mercy master was not burnt in his bed !" " It is always dangerous to keep a candle lit at night ." " How providential that he had presence of mind to think of the water-jug !" " I wonder he waked nobody !" " It is to be hoped he will not take cold with sleeping on the library sofa ," & c .
To much confabulation succeeded a sound of scrubbing and setting to rights ; and when I passed the room , in going downstairs to dinner , I saw through the open door that all was again restored to complete order ; only the bed was stripped of its hangings . Leah stood up in the window-seat , rubbing the panes of glass dimmed with smoke . I was about to address her , for I wished to know what account had been given of the affair : but , on advancing , I saw a second person in the chamber -- a woman sitting on a chair by the bedside , and sewing rings to new curtains . That woman was no other than Grace Poole .
There she sat , staid and taciturn-looking , as usual , in her brown stuff gown , her check apron , white handkerchief , and cap . She was intent on her work , in which her whole thoughts seemed absorbed : on her hard forehead , and in her commonplace features , was nothing either of the paleness or desperation one would have expected to see marking the countenance of a woman who had attempted murder , and whose intended victim had followed her last night to her lair , and ( as I believed ), charged her with the