CHAPTER XXIV 328
the rest of my species : to imagine such a lot befalling me is a fairy tale -- a day-dream ."
" Which I can and will realise . I shall begin to-day . This morning I wrote to my banker in London to send me certain jewels he has in his keeping , -- heirlooms for the ladies of Thornfield . In a day or two I hope to pour them into your lap : for every privilege , every attention shall be yours that I would accord a peer ' s daughter , if about to marry her ."
" Oh , sir ! -- never rain jewels ! I don ' t like to hear them spoken of . Jewels for Jane Eyre sounds unnatural and strange : I would rather not have them ."
" I will myself put the diamond chain round your neck , and the circlet on your forehead , -- which it will become : for nature , at least , has stamped her patent of nobility on this brow , Jane ; and I will clasp the bracelets on these fine wrists , and load these fairy-like fingers with rings ."
" No , no , sir ! think of other subjects , and speak of other things , and in another strain . Don ' t address me as if I were a beauty ; I am your plain , Quakerish governess ."
" You are a beauty in my eyes , and a beauty just after the desire of my heart , -- delicate and aerial ."
" Puny and insignificant , you mean . You are dreaming , sir , -- or you are sneering . For God ' s sake don ' t be ironical !"
" I will make the world acknowledge you a beauty , too ," he went on , while I really became uneasy at the strain he had adopted , because I felt he was either deluding himself or trying to delude me . " I will attire my Jane in satin and lace , and she shall have roses in her hair ; and I will cover the head I love best with a priceless veil ."
" And then you won ' t know me , sir ; and I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer , but an ape in a harlequin ' s jacket -- a jay in borrowed plumes . I would as soon see you , Mr . Rochester , tricked out in stage-trappings , as