The red-room was a square chamber very seldom slept in. A bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany,; the carpet was red; the walls were a soft fawn colour with a blush of pink in it.
Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four o’clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight. I heard the rain still beating continuously on the staircase window, and the wind howling in the grove behind the hall; I grew by degrees cold as a stone, and then my courage sank.
“She has screamed out on purpose,”
“What for? Are you hurt? Have you seen something?”
I lifted my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room; at this moment a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself, a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture in the blind? No; moonlight was still, and this stirred; while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my head.
“What is all this?”
“Miss Jane screamed so loud, ma’am,”
My heart beat thick, my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears, which I deemed the rushing of wings; something seemed near me; I was oppressed, suffocated: endurance broke down;
“Take me out! Let me go into the nursery!” was my cry.“What for? Are you hurt? Have you seen something?” again demanded Bessie.“Oh! I saw a light, and I thought a ghost would come.” I had now got hold of Bessie’s hand, and she did not snatch it from me.“She has screamed out on purpose,” declared Abbot, in some
“Oh! I saw a light, and I thought a ghost would come.”
“What is all this?” demanded another voice peremptorily; and Mrs. Reed came along the corridor, her cap flying wide, her gown rustling stormily. “Abbot and Bessie, I believe I gave orders that Jane Eyre should be left in the red-room till I came to her myself.”“Miss Jane screamed so loud, ma’am,” pleaded Bessie
”Oh! I saw a light, and I thought a ghost would come