Name: Jane Eyre by Charlotte BRONTË Chapter 05
Uploaded: 2023-07-18T22:31:22.000Z
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CHAPTER FIVE of Jane Eyre This is a Librivox recording.

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Recording by Elizabeth Klett Jane Eyre by Charlotte BRONTË Chapter Five

Five o'clock had hardly struck on the morning of the 19th of January,

when Bessie brought a candle into my closet and found me already up and

I had risen half-an-hour before her entrance, and had

washed my face, and put on my clothes by the light of a half-moon just

setting, whose rays streamed through the narrow window near my crib.

I was to leave Gateshead that day by a coach

Bessie was the only person yet risen; she had lit a fire in

the nursery, where she now proceeded to make my breakfast.

Few children can eat when excited with the thoughts of

a journey; nor could I. Bessie, having pressed me in vain to take a few spoonfuls

of the boiled milk and bread she had prepared for me, wrapped up

some biscuits in a paper and put them into my bag; then she helped me on

with my pelisse and bonnet, and wrapping herself in a shawl, she and I

As we passed Mrs. Reed's bedroom, she said, "Will

"No, Bessie: she came to my crib last night when you were gone down to

supper, and said I need not disturb her in the morning, or my cousins

either; and she told me to remember that she had always been my best

friend, and to speak of her and be grateful to her accordingly."

"Nothing: I covered my face with the bedclothes, and turned from her to

Your Missis has not been my friend: she has been my foe."

cried I, as we passed through the hall and went

The moon was set, and it was very dark; Bessie carried a lantern, whose

light glanced on wet steps and gravel road sodden by a recent thaw.

Raw and chill was the winter morning: my teeth

There was a light in the porter's lodge: when we reached it,

we found the porter's wife just kindling her fire: my trunk, which had

been carried down the evening before, stood corded at the door.

It wanted but a few minutes of six, and shortly

after that hour had struck, the distant roll of wheels announced the coming

coach; I went to the door and watched its lamps approach rapidly through

"Is she going by herself?" asked the porter's wife.

I wonder Mrs. Reed is not afraid to trust her so far

The coach drew up; there it was at the gates with its four horses and its

top laden with passengers: the guard and coachman loudly urged haste; my

trunk was hoisted up; I was taken from Bessie's neck, to which I clung

"Be sure and take good care of her," cried she to the guard, as he lifted

was the answer: the door was slapped to, a voice exclaimed "All

Thus was I severed from Bessie and Gateshead; thus whirled away to unknown, and, as I then

I remember but little of the journey; I only know that the day seemed to

me of a preternatural length, and that we appeared to travel over

We passed through several towns, and in one, a very large one, the coach stopped; the horses

were taken out, and the passengers alighted to dine.

I was carried into an inn, where the guard wanted me to have some dinner; but, as I had

no appetite, he left me in an immense room with a fireplace at each end,

a chandelier pendent from the ceiling, and a little red gallery high

up against the wall filled with musical instruments.

Here I walked about for a long time, feeling very strange, and mortally apprehensive of

some one coming in and kidnapping me; for I believed in kidnappers,

their exploits having frequently figured in Bessie's fireside chronicles.

At last the guard returned; once more I was stowed away in the

coach, my protector mounted his own seat, sounded his hollow horn, and

away we rattled over the "stony street" of L-.

The afternoon came on wet and somewhat misty: as it waned into dusk, I

began to feel that we were getting very far indeed from Gateshead: we

ceased to pass through towns; the country changed; great grey hills

heaved up round the horizon: as twilight deepened, we descended a valley,

dark with wood, and long after night had overclouded the prospect, I

Lulled by the sound, I at last dropped asleep; I had not long slumbered

when the sudden cessation of motion awoke me; the coach-door was open,

and a person like a servant was standing at it: I saw her face and dress

"Is there a little girl called Jane Eyre here?"

I answered "Yes," and was then lifted out; my trunk was

handed down, and the coach instantly drove away.

I was stiff with long sitting, and bewildered with the noise and motion

of the coach: Gathering my faculties, I looked about me.

Rain, wind, and darkness filled the air; nevertheless, I dimly

discerned a wall before me and a door open in it; through this door I

passed with my new guide: she shut and locked it behind her.

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte BRONTË Chapter 05

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