CHAPTER XXIII 318
" Not the voyage , but the distance : and then the sea is a barrier -- "
" From what , Jane ?" " From England and from Thornfield : and -- " " Well ?" " From YOU , sir ."
I said this almost involuntarily , and , with as little sanction of free will , my tears gushed out . I did not cry so as to be heard , however ; I avoided sobbing . The thought of Mrs . O ' Gall and Bitternutt Lodge struck cold to my heart ; and colder the thought of all the brine and foam , destined , as it seemed , to rush between me and the master at whose side I now walked , and coldest the remembrance of the wider ocean -- wealth , caste , custom intervened between me and what I naturally and inevitably loved .
" It is a long way ," I again said .
" It is , to be sure ; and when you get to Bitternutt Lodge , Connaught , Ireland , I shall never see you again , Jane : that ' s morally certain . I never go over to Ireland , not having myself much of a fancy for the country . We have been good friends , Jane ; have we not ?"
" Yes , sir ."
" And when friends are on the eve of separation , they like to spend the little time that remains to them close to each other . Come ! we ' ll talk over the voyage and the parting quietly half-an-hour or so , while the stars enter into their shining life up in heaven yonder : here is the chestnut tree : here is the bench at its old roots . Come , we will sit there in peace to-night , though we should never more be destined to sit there together ." He seated me and himself .