CHAPTER XXV 354 charged ?"
" This is hypochondria , Jane . You have been over-excited , or over-fatigued ."
" Do you , sir , feel calm and happy ?" " Calm ? -- no : but happy -- to the heart ' s core ."
I looked up at him to read the signs of bliss in his face : it was ardent and flushed .
" Give me your confidence , Jane ," he said : " relieve your mind of any weight that oppresses it , by imparting it to me . What do you fear ? - -that I shall not prove a good husband ?"
" It is the idea farthest from my thoughts ."
" Are you apprehensive of the new sphere you are about to enter ? -- of the new life into which you are passing ?"
" No ."
" You puzzle me , Jane : your look and tone of sorrowful audacity perplex and pain me . I want an explanation ."
" Then , sir , listen . You were from home last night ?"
" I was : I know that ; and you hinted a while ago at something which had happened in my absence : - nothing , probably , of consequence ; but , in short , it has disturbed you . Let me hear it . Mrs . Fairfax has said something , perhaps ? or you have overheard the servants talk ? -- your sensitive self-respect has been wounded ?"
" No , sir ." It struck twelve -- I waited till the time-piece had concluded its silver chime , and the clock its hoarse , vibrating stroke , and then I