Rochester proposed marriage, and Jane accepted with radiant joy. He spoke of his spiritual awakening in suffering and recounted the night he had cried out her name and heard a mysterious voice reply, “I am coming: wait for me.” Jane recognised the coincidence with her own experience but kept it hidden, fearing to deepen his gloom with the supernatural.
The narrative closes with a transition into the novel’s conclusion. Jane and Rochester married quietly, with only the parson and clerk present. Jane wrote to the Rivers sisters, who approved warmly, though St. John never answered her letter about the marriage, later corresponding with calm, though serious, kindness. Jane brought Adèle home from the harsh school Rochester had chosen, eventually placing her in a gentler establishment nearby.
Ten years of married happiness followed. Rochester remained blind for two years before recovering partial sight in one eye, sufficient to see his firstborn son, who inherited his own once-brilliant black eyes. Diana married a naval captain, and Mary married a clergyman, a college friend of St. John’s. St. John himself pursued his missionary path in India with unwavering zeal, never marrying, living entirely for his work, and anticipating his heavenly reward with the words: “My Master has forewarned me. Daily He announces more distinctly, ‘Surely I come quickly!’ and hourly I more eagerly respond, ‘Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!’”
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