CHAPTER VIII 87
round us , for it is everywhere ; and those spirits watch us , for they are commissioned to guard us ; and if we were dying in pain and shame , if scorn smote us on all sides , and hatred crushed us , angels see our tortures , recognise our innocence ( if innocent we be : as I know you are of this charge which Mr . Brocklehurst has weakly and pompously repeated at second-hand from Mrs . Reed ; for I read a sincere nature in your ardent eyes and on your clear front ), and God waits only the separation of spirit from flesh to crown us with a full reward . Why , then , should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress , when life is so soon over , and death is so certain an entrance to happiness -- to glory ?"
I was silent ; Helen had calmed me ; but in the tranquillity she imparted there was an alloy of inexpressible sadness . I felt the impression of woe as she spoke , but I could not tell whence it came ; and when , having done speaking , she breathed a little fast and coughed a short cough , I momentarily forgot my own sorrows to yield to a vague concern for her .
Resting my head on Helen ' s shoulder , I put my arms round her waist ; she drew me to her , and we reposed in silence . We had not sat long thus , when another person came in . Some heavy clouds , swept from the sky by a rising wind , had left the moon bare ; and her light , streaming in through a window near , shone full both on us and on the approaching figure , which we at once recognised as Miss Temple .
" I came on purpose to find you , Jane Eyre ," said she ; " I want you in my room ; and as Helen Burns is with you , she may come too ."
We went ; following the superintendent ' s guidance , we had to thread some intricate passages , and mount a staircase before we reached her apartment ; it contained a good fire , and looked cheerful . Miss Temple told Helen Burns to be seated in a low arm-chair on one side of the hearth , and herself taking another , she called me to her side .
" Is it all over ?" she asked , looking down at my face . " Have you cried your grief away ?"