With her new financial security, Jane closes the Morton school, sharing a tearful, fond farewell with her 60 pupils, who clearly adore her, before moving to Moor House to prepare for Diana and Mary’s return. She throws herself into the work: redecorating their rooms, polishing every surface, prepping for a festive Christmas, determined to give them the warm, perfect welcome they deserve. St. John, meanwhile, urges her not to get too comfortable in domestic joy, warning her she has a higher, God-given purpose to fulfill beyond household comforts. The sisters arrive to a joyful Christmas celebration, and soon after, they learn Rosamond Oliver is engaged to Mr. Granby, a match St. John receives with calm, unreadable serenity, though Jane can see the quiet blow it is to his suppressed longing.
In the weeks that follow, St. John’s quiet influence over Jane grows. He insists she learn Hindostanee with him to aid his mission studies, praises her only when she meets his exacting standards, and dismisses any complaints of fatigue or cold, valuing only her fortitude and diligence. Jane finds herself shrinking under his gaze, suppressing her natural vivacity to win his approval, though she resents the way he treats her less as a beloved cousin and more as a tool for his future work. All the while, her grief for Rochester festeres: her letters to Mrs. Fairfax and Mr. Briggs go unanswered for months, and her hope of learning what became of him after Thornfield burned fades to quiet despair.
One fine May day, after breaking down over a disappointing letter from Mr. Briggs, Jane is ordered to walk with St. John to the wild, remote Marsh Glen. There, he tells her his departure for India is set for June, and makes his formal proposal: he wants her to join him as his fellow missionary, and his wife. He catalogs her virtues with clinical precision—her steady work at the school, her refusal to hoard her inheritance, her tireless work on her Hindostanee studies—insisting she is perfectly suited to the work, and that God has called her to it. Jane asks for a quarter of an hour to think, and wrestles with the offer: she knows she can do the work, but she has no calling to be a missionary’s wife, no love for St. John, and the thought of marrying a man who sees her only as a useful instrument for his cause, who would offer her only cold duty in place of affection, makes her shudder. She resolves she will go to India with him only as his sister and fellow laborer, not his wife.
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