CHAPTER XXII 311
All I had now to do was to obey him in silence : no need for me to colloquise further . I got over the stile without a word , and meant to leave him calmly . An impulse held me fast -- a force turned me round . I said -- or something in me said for me , and in spite of me -
" Thank you , Mr . Rochester , for your great kindness . I am strangely glad to get back again to you : and wherever you are is my home -- my only home ."
I walked on so fast that even he could hardly have overtaken me had he tried . Little Adele was half wild with delight when she saw me . Mrs . Fairfax received me with her usual plain friendliness . Leah smiled , and even Sophie bid me " bon soir " with glee . This was very pleasant ; there is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures , and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort .
I that evening shut my eyes resolutely against the future : I stopped my cars against the voice that kept warning me of near separation and coming grief . When tea was over and Mrs . Fairfax had taken her knitting , and I had assumed a low seat near her , and Adele , kneeling on the carpet , had nestled close up to me , and a sense of mutual affection seemed to surround us with a ring of golden peace , I uttered a silent prayer that we might not be parted far or soon ; but when , as we thus sat , Mr . Rochester entered , unannounced , and looking at us , seemed to take pleasure in the spectacle of a group so amicable -- when he said he supposed the old lady was all right now that she had got her adopted daughter back again , and added that he saw Adele was " prete e croquer sa petite maman Anglaise " -- I half ventured to hope that he would , even after his marriage , keep us together somewhere under the shelter of his protection , and not quite exiled from the sunshine of his presence .
A fortnight of dubious calm succeeded my return to Thornfield Hall . Nothing was said of the master ' s marriage , and I saw no preparation going on for such an event . Almost every day I asked Mrs . Fairfax if she had yet heard anything decided : her answer was always in the negative . Once she said she had actually put the question to Mr . Rochester as to when he was going to bring his bride home ; but he had answered her only by a joke and