CHAPTER XXXVII 556
" His manners , I think , you said are not to your taste ? -- priggish and parsonic ?"
" I never mentioned his manners ; but , unless I had a very bad taste , they must suit it ; they are polished , calm , and gentlemanlike ."
" His appearance , -- I forget what description you gave of his appearance ; -- a sort of raw curate , half strangled with his white neckcloth , and stilted up on his thick-soled high-lows , eh ?"
" St . John dresses well . He is a handsome man : tall , fair , with blue eyes , and a Grecian profile ."
( Aside .) " Damn him !" -- ( To me .) " Did you like him , Jane ?" " Yes , Mr . Rochester , I liked him : but you asked me that before ."
I perceived , of course , the drift of my interlocutor . Jealousy had got hold of him : she stung him ; but the sting was salutary : it gave him respite from the gnawing fang of melancholy . I would not , therefore , immediately charm the snake .
" Perhaps you would rather not sit any longer on my knee , Miss Eyre ?" was the next somewhat unexpected observation .
" Why not , Mr . Rochester ?"
" The picture you have just drawn is suggestive of a rather too overwhelming contrast . Your words have delineated very prettily a graceful Apollo : he is present to your imagination , -- tall , fair , blue-eyed , and with a Grecian profile . Your eyes dwell on a Vulcan , -- a real blacksmith , brown , broad-shouldered : and blind and lame into the bargain ."
" I never thought of it , before ; but you certainly are rather like Vulcan , sir ."