CHAPTER XXV 350
seemed to throw on me one bewildered , dreary glance , and buried herself again instantly in the deep drift of cloud . The wind fell , for a second , round Thornfield ; but far away over wood and water , poured a wild , melancholy wail : it was sad to listen to , and I ran off again .
Here and there I strayed through the orchard , gathered up the apples with which the grass round the tree roots was thickly strewn ; then I employed myself in dividing the ripe from the unripe ; I carried them into the house and put them away in the store-room . Then I repaired to the library to ascertain whether the fire was lit , for , though summer , I knew on such a gloomy evening Mr . Rochester would like to see a cheerful hearth when he came in : yes , the fire had been kindled some time , and burnt well . I placed his arm-chair by the chimney-corner : I wheeled the table near it : I let down the curtain , and had the candles brought in ready for lighting . More restless than ever , when I had completed these arrangements I could not sit still , nor even remain in the house : a little time-piece in the room and the old clock in the hall simultaneously struck ten .
" How late it grows !" I said . " I will run down to the gates : it is moonlight at intervals ; I can see a good way on the road . He may be coming now , and to meet him will save some minutes of suspense ."
The wind roared high in the great trees which embowered the gates ; but the road as far as I could see , to the right hand and the left , was all still and solitary : save for the shadows of clouds crossing it at intervals as the moon looked out , it was but a long pale line , unvaried by one moving speck .
A puerile tear dimmed my eye while I looked -- a tear of disappointment and impatience ; ashamed of it , I wiped it away . I lingered ; the moon shut herself wholly within her chamber , and drew close her curtain of dense cloud : the night grew dark ; rain came driving fast on the gale .
" I wish he would come ! I wish he would come !" I exclaimed , seized with hypochondriac foreboding . I had expected his arrival before tea ; now it was dark : what could keep him ? Had an accident happened ? The event of last night again recurred to me . I interpreted it as a warning of disaster . I feared