CHAPTER XXXVI 538
" Yes , indeed was he ; and he went up to the attics when all was burning above and below , and got the servants out of their beds and helped them down himself , and went back to get his mad wife out of her cell . And then they called out to him that she was on the roof , where she was standing , waving her arms , above the battlements , and shouting out till they could hear her a mile off : I saw her and heard her with my own eyes . She was a big woman , and had long black hair : we could see it streaming against the flames as she stood . I witnessed , and several more witnessed , Mr . Rochester ascend through the sky-light on to the roof ; we heard him call ' Bertha !' We saw him approach her ; and then , ma ' am , she yelled and gave a spring , and the next minute she lay smashed on the pavement ."
" Dead ?"
" Dead ! Ay , dead as the stones on which her brains and blood were scattered ."
" Good God !" " You may well say so , ma ' am : it was frightful !" He shuddered . " And afterwards ?" I urged .
" Well , ma ' am , afterwards the house was burnt to the ground : there are only some bits of walls standing now ."
" Were any other lives lost ?" " No -- perhaps it would have been better if there had ." " What do you mean ?"
" Poor Mr . Edward !" he ejaculated , " I little thought ever to have seen it ! Some say it was a just judgment on him for keeping his first marriage