CHAPTER VIII 86
" But what have I to do with millions ? The eighty , I know , despise me ."
" Jane , you are mistaken : probably not one in the school either despises or dislikes you : many , I am sure , pity you much ."
" How can they pity me after what Mr . Brocklehurst has said ?"
" Mr . Brocklehurst is not a god : nor is he even a great and admired man : he is little liked here ; he never took steps to make himself liked . Had he treated you as an especial favourite , you would have found enemies , declared or covert , all around you ; as it is , the greater number would offer you sympathy if they dared . Teachers and pupils may look coldly on you for a day or two , but friendly feelings are concealed in their hearts ; and if you persevere in doing well , these feelings will ere long appear so much the more evidently for their temporary suppression . Besides , Jane " -- she paused .
" Well , Helen ?" said I , putting my hand into hers : she chafed my fingers gently to warm them , and went on -
" If all the world hated you , and believed you wicked , while your own conscience approved you , and absolved you from guilt , you would not be without friends ."
" No ; I know I should think well of myself ; but that is not enough : if others don ' t love me I would rather die than live -- I cannot bear to be solitary and hated , Helen . Look here ; to gain some real affection from you , or Miss Temple , or any other whom I truly love , I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken , or to let a bull toss me , or to stand behind a kicking horse , and let it dash its hoof at my chest -- "
" Hush , Jane ! you think too much of the love of human beings ; you are too impulsive , too vehement ; the sovereign hand that created your frame , and put life into it , has provided you with other resources than your feeble self , or than creatures feeble as you . Besides this earth , and besides the race of men , there is an invisible world and a kingdom of spirits : that world is