CHAPTER XXIV 341
bear being dressed like a doll by Mr . Rochester , or sitting like a second Danae with the golden shower falling daily round me . I will write to Madeira the moment I get home , and tell my uncle John I am going to be married , and to whom : if I had but a prospect of one day bringing Mr . Rochester an accession of fortune , I could better endure to be kept by him now ." And somewhat relieved by this idea ( which I failed not to execute that day ), I ventured once more to meet my master ' s and lover ' s eye , which most pertinaciously sought mine , though I averted both face and gaze . He smiled ; and I thought his smile was such as a sultan might , in a blissful and fond moment , bestow on a slave his gold and gems had enriched : I crushed his hand , which was ever hunting mine , vigorously , and thrust it back to him red with the passionate pressure .
" You need not look in that way ," I said ; " if you do , I ' ll wear nothing but my old Lowood frocks to the end of the chapter . I ' ll be married in this lilac gingham : you may make a dressing-gown for yourself out of the pearl-grey silk , and an infinite series of waistcoats out of the black satin ."
He chuckled ; he rubbed his hands . " Oh , it is rich to see and hear her ?" he exclaimed . " Is she original ? Is she piquant ? I would not exchange this one little English girl for the Grand Turk ' s whole seraglio , gazelle-eyes , houri forms , and all !"
The Eastern allusion bit me again . " I ' ll not stand you an inch in the stead of a seraglio ," I said ; " so don ' t consider me an equivalent for one . If you have a fancy for anything in that line , away with you , sir , to the bazaars of Stamboul without delay , and lay out in extensive slave-purchases some of that spare cash you seem at a loss to spend satisfactorily here ."
" And what will you do , Janet , while I am bargaining for so many tons of flesh and such an assortment of black eyes ?"
" I ' ll be preparing myself to go out as a missionary to preach liberty to them that are enslaved -- your harem inmates amongst the rest . I ' ll get admitted there , and I ' ll stir up mutiny ; and you , three-tailed bashaw as you are , sir , shall in a trice find yourself fettered amongst our hands : nor will I , for one ,