St. John rejects the idea outright, arguing that practical and religious duty demand marriage: he needs a wife he can keep permanently at his side, a fully devoted helpmeet, not a sister who could leave or be taken from him, and that refusing his proposal is not denying him, but denying God’s call. Jane stands her ground, telling him she can give him comradely fidelity, a fellow worker’s devotion, but not a wife’s heart, that she will never marry a man who offers her only the counterfeit of love. He is unmoved, and gives her a fortnight to consider before he leaves for Cambridge, warning her that rejection will consign her to a life of “selfish ease and barren obscurity.” That night, after kissing his sisters goodbye, he refuses to shake Jane’s hand, leaving her hurt and confused. Diana, seeing the quarrel, urges Jane to run after him, and when she does, their reconciliation is cold: St. John is distant, displeased, and makes it clear he expects her to accept his proposal when he returns. Jane is left trapped in the orbit of his rigid, purpose-driven will, her future hanging in the balance.
第三十五章 / CHAPTER XXXVII
The week before St. John’s departure to Cambridge stretched like a sentence of penance. Without overt hostility or upbraiding words, he punished Jane with cold, marble-like composure. To her, he became no longer flesh but marble; his eye a cold, bright, blue gem; his tongue a speaking instrument and nothing more. This refined, lingering torture kept up a slow fire of indignation and grief within her. She felt that if she were his wife, this good man could kill her without drawing a single drop of blood.
On the night before he left, Jane made a final attempt at reconciliation in the garden. St. John remained unmoved, his gaze fixed on the rising moon. When Jane refused his proposal once more, telling him he would kill her as his wife, his lips turned white with controlled anger. He accused her of clinging unlawfully to Mr. Rochester. Jane confessed the truth by silence and admitted she must find out what had become of him. St. John departed down the glen with a final prayer that she not become a castaway.
Diana Rivers questioned Jane about her brother’s conduct, and Jane revealed that St. John had asked her to marry him only to procure a fellow-labourer for his Indian missionary work. Diana was horrified, urging Jane to refuse and recognising the madness of sending her delicate constitution to such a climate.
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