CHAPTER XX 261
sort , no doubt ; and has taken a fit with fright . Now , then , I must see you all back into your rooms ; for , till the house is settled , she cannot be looked after . Gentlemen , have the goodness to set the ladies the example . Miss Ingram , I am sure you will not fail in evincing superiority to idle terrors . Amy and Louisa , return to your nests like a pair of doves , as you are . Mesdames " ( to the dowagers ), " you will take cold to a dead certainty , if you stay in this chill gallery any longer ."
And so , by dint of alternate coaxing and commanding , he contrived to get them all once more enclosed in their separate dormitories . I did not wait to be ordered back to mine , but retreated unnoticed , as unnoticed I had left it .
Not , however , to go to bed : on the contrary , I began and dressed myself carefully . The sounds I had heard after the scream , and the words that had been uttered , had probably been heard only by me ; for they had proceeded from the room above mine : but they assured me that it was not a servant ' s dream which had thus struck horror through the house ; and that the explanation Mr . Rochester had given was merely an invention framed to pacify his guests . I dressed , then , to be ready for emergencies . When dressed , I sat a long time by the window looking out over the silent grounds and silvered fields and waiting for I knew not what . It seemed to me that some event must follow the strange cry , struggle , and call .
No : stillness returned : each murmur and movement ceased gradually , and in about an hour Thornfield Hall was again as hushed as a desert . It seemed that sleep and night had resumed their empire . Meantime the moon declined : she was about to set . Not liking to sit in the cold and darkness , I thought I would lie down on my bed , dressed as I was . I left the window , and moved with little noise across the carpet ; as I stooped to take off my shoes , a cautious hand tapped low at the door .
" Am I wanted ?" I asked . " Are you up ?" asked the voice I expected to hear , viz ., my master ' s . " Yes , sir ."