Hefretted，pished，andpshawed。“Verygood，”Ithought;“youmayfumeandfidgetasyouplease:butthisisthebestplantopursuewithyou，Iamcertain。IlikeyoumorethanIcansay;butI’llnotsinkintoabathosofsentiment:andwiththisneedleofreparteeI’llkeepyoufromtheedgeofthegulftoo;and，moreover，maintainbyitspungentaidthatdistancebetweenyouandmyselfmostconducivetoourrealmutualadvantage。”
Fromlesstomore，Iworkedhimuptoconsiderableirritation;then，afterhehadretired，indudgeon，quitetotheotherendoftheroom，Igotup，andsaying，“Iwishyougood—night，sir，”inmynaturalandwontedrespectfulmanner，Islippedoutbytheside—doorandgotaway。
Thesystemthusenteredon，Ipursuedduringthewholeseasonofprobation;andwiththebestsuccess。Hewaskept，tobesure，rathercrossandcrusty;butonthewholeIcouldseehewasexcellentlyentertained，andthatalamb—likesubmissionandturtle—dovesensibility，whilefosteringhisdespotismmore，wouldhavepleasedhisjudgment，satisfiedhiscommon—sense，andevensuitedhistasteless。
Inotherpeople’spresenceIwas，asformerly，deferentialandquiet;anyotherlineofconductbeinguncalledfor:itwasonlyintheeveningconferencesIthusthwartedandafflictedhim。Hecontinuedtosendformepunctuallythemomenttheclockstruckseven;thoughwhenIappearedbeforehimnow，hehadnosuchhoneyedtermsas“love”and“darling”onhislips:thebestwordsatmyservicewere“provokingpuppet，”“maliciouself，”“sprite，”“changeling，”&c。Forcaresses，too，Inowgotgrimaces;forapressureofthehand，apinchonthearm;forakissonthecheek，aseveretweakoftheear。Itwasallright:atpresentIdecidedlypreferredthesefiercefavourstoanythingmoretender。Mrs。Fairfax，Isaw，approvedme:heranxietyonmyaccountvanished;thereforeIwascertainIdidwell。Meantime，Mr。RochesteraffirmedIwaswearinghimtoskinandbone，andthreatenedawfulvengeanceformypresentconductatsomeperiodfastcoming。Ilaughedinmysleeveathismenaces。“Icankeepyouinreasonablechecknow，”Ireflected;“andIdon’tdoubttobeabletodoithereafter:ifoneexpedientlosesitsvirtue，anothermustbedevised。”
Yetafterallmytaskwasnotaneasyone;oftenIwouldratherhavepleasedthanteasedhim。Myfuturehusbandwasbecomingtomemywholeworld;andmorethantheworld:almostmyhopeofheaven。Hestoodbetweenmeandeverythoughtofreligion，asaneclipseintervenesbetweenmanandthebroadsun。Icouldnot，inthosedays，seeGodforHiscreature:ofwhomIhadmadeanidol。