Miss Catherine Morland, of "Northanger Abbey," gives her account of
a visit to Mr. Rochester, and of his governess's peculiar
behaviour. Mrs. Rochester (nee Eyre) has no mention of this in her
Memoirs.


Thornfield, Midnight

At length, my dear Eleanor, the terrors on which you have so often
rallied me are become REALITIES, and your Catherine is in the midst
of those circumstances to which we may, without exaggeration, give
the epithet "horrible." I write, as I firmly believe, from the
mansion of a maniac! On a visit to my Aunt Ingram, and carried by
her to Thornfield, the seat of her wealthy neighbour, Mr.
Rochester, how shall your Catherine's trembling pen unfold the
mysteries by which she finds herself surrounded! No sooner had I
entered this battlemented mansion than a cold chill struck through
me, as with a sense of some brooding terror. All, indeed, was
elegance, all splendour! The arches were hung with Tyrian-dyed
curtains. The ornaments on the pale Parian mantelpiece were of red
Bohemian glass. Everywhere were crimson couches and sofas. The
housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax, pointed out to my notice some vases of
fine purple spar, and on all sides were Turkey carpets and large
mirrors. Elegance of taste and fastidious research of ornament
could do no more; but what is luxury to the mind ill at ease? or
can a restless conscience be stilled by red Bohemian glass or pale
Parian mantelpieces?