Jane Eyre 149-171

In this section of the book, Rochester explains to Jane about his and Adele's pasts. He had a long affair with Adele's mother. She was a French singer and dancer named Celine Varens. He found out Celine had a relationship with another man. Rochester then ended the relationship. He also always denied that Adele was his daughter. However after Celine decided to abandon her daughter, Rochester brought Adele to England so that she could be taken care of. Jane is lying in her room and thinking about all this new information she has learned. She then suddenly hears a laugh and scratching sounds. She sees smoke from Mr. Rochester's room and finds that the curtains are ablaze. She puts out the fire but Mr. Rochester only goes to the third floor. He returns and says that he has figured it all out. He asks Jane if she has ever heard the laughter before, and she replies yes. He is thankful for Jane saving his life but asks her not to mention this to anyone else in the house. Jane wakes up the next morning and is surprised when no one knows about what had happened last night. The servants were told that Rochester had fallen asleep with a candle which ignited the curtains. We also realize that Jane is beginning to have feelings for Rochester. She finds out that he will be away for a few days she is sad. He left to go to a party with Blanche Ingram, a beautiful lady. Jane hates herself for being disappointed at the news and continues to think she will not stand a chance against Blanche.

In this section of the story many strange events had happened. We find out even more about Rochester's past and everything else that has happened. He seems to be quite a troubled man. Also the incident with his curtains on fire are quite interesting. The issue has not been resolved yet as to who or what actually started it. It was really crazy when we found out that Mr. Rochester wanted to keep this all a secret. We also learned that Jane has feelings for Mr. Rochester, which was bound to happen. The new woman, Balanche, should cause an interesting rivalry between herself and Jane.