06-01-简·爱 [55]
you married Bertha Mason in the West Indies fifteen years ago．'
'That may prove I've been married，but it doesn't prove that she's still alive．'
'I can produce a witness，'said the lawyer，'who has seen her alive recently．'
'Produce him—or go to hell！'said Mr Rochester．
'Here he is．Mr Mason！'called the lawyer．And the second stranger slowly spproached from the shadows，his pale face looking frightened．Mr Rochester，staring furiously at him，raised his strong right arm to knock him down．
'No！'cried Mason，trembling．Mr Rochester dropped his arm，and turned away in disgust．
'Sir，'said the priest，frowning，'don't forget we are in the house of God．Mr Mason，please tell us if this gentleman's wife is still alive．'
'She's at Thornfield Hall，'replied Mason in a weak voice．'I'm her brother and I've seen her there．'
'Thornfield Hall！'crled the priest．'I've lived here for years，and I've never heard of a Mrs Rochester！'
'I was careful to keep her a secret，'murmured Mr Rochester，frowning After a few minutes'thought，he announced，'I must reveal the truth，I suppose．There will be no wedding today．No doubt God will punish me for this．What this lawyer says is true．I've been married，and my wife still lives！I was tricked into marrying her when I was young，in the West Indies Madness runs in her family，but they didn't tell me that．Now she's more of an anlmal than a woman．I keep her locked away，guarded by my old servant Grace Poole．I invite you all to come to my house to see her，and to judge whether I had the right to ask this innocent young girl to marry me．Follow me！'
Still holding me firmly，he left the church，followed by the others．At the door of Thornfield Hall，Mrs Faurfax，Adele and the servants rushed forward，smiling，to congratulate us．
'Too late！'cried the master，waving them away．'Your congratulations are fifteen years too late！'We all went up to the top floor，and entered the room where Mason had been attacked．Mr Rochester lifted the curtain，opened the secret door and showed us the little room．Grace Poole was making soup over a fire，and behind her a shape crawled on the floor．It was hard to say whether it was animal or human．It growled like a wild animal，but it wore clothes，and had long，thick，dark hair．
'How are you，Mrs Poole？'asked the master．'And how is your patient today？'
'Not bad，sir，'answered Grace，'but be careful．She'll try and bite you if she sees you，sir．'Just then the shape turned and with a fierce cry attacked Mr Rochester violently．I recognized her dark，ugly face．They struggled for a moment，and then he held her down and，with Mrs Poole's help，tied her to a chair．He turned to the others with a bitter smile．
'You see，gentlemen，this is my wife．This is the partner I have to live with for ever．And instead I wished to have this'（laying his hand on my shoulder）'…this young girl．Can you honestly blame me？Compare the two，and then judge me！'
We all left the room silently．As we went downstairs the lawyer said to me，'I know you weren't aware of this，Miss Eyre．Nobody will blame you，and Mr Mason will tell your uncle so，when he goes back to Madeira．'
'My uncle！Do you know him？'I asked，surprised． 'I'm his lawyer．Mr Mason and he have often done business together．On his way back to the West Indies，Mr Mason stopped in Madeira and stayed with Mr Eyre，who mentioned that his niece was going to marry a Mr Rochester．'
'Yes，I wrote to tell him I was getting married，'I said．
'Well，when Mr Mason explained that Mr Rochester was already married，your uncle sent him straight back to England to prevent you from marrying and making a terrible mistake． I'm afraid your uncle is very ill and will probably die soon，so I think you had better stay in England， until you receive further news of him
'That may prove I've been married，but it doesn't prove that she's still alive．'
'I can produce a witness，'said the lawyer，'who has seen her alive recently．'
'Produce him—or go to hell！'said Mr Rochester．
'Here he is．Mr Mason！'called the lawyer．And the second stranger slowly spproached from the shadows，his pale face looking frightened．Mr Rochester，staring furiously at him，raised his strong right arm to knock him down．
'No！'cried Mason，trembling．Mr Rochester dropped his arm，and turned away in disgust．
'Sir，'said the priest，frowning，'don't forget we are in the house of God．Mr Mason，please tell us if this gentleman's wife is still alive．'
'She's at Thornfield Hall，'replied Mason in a weak voice．'I'm her brother and I've seen her there．'
'Thornfield Hall！'crled the priest．'I've lived here for years，and I've never heard of a Mrs Rochester！'
'I was careful to keep her a secret，'murmured Mr Rochester，frowning After a few minutes'thought，he announced，'I must reveal the truth，I suppose．There will be no wedding today．No doubt God will punish me for this．What this lawyer says is true．I've been married，and my wife still lives！I was tricked into marrying her when I was young，in the West Indies Madness runs in her family，but they didn't tell me that．Now she's more of an anlmal than a woman．I keep her locked away，guarded by my old servant Grace Poole．I invite you all to come to my house to see her，and to judge whether I had the right to ask this innocent young girl to marry me．Follow me！'
Still holding me firmly，he left the church，followed by the others．At the door of Thornfield Hall，Mrs Faurfax，Adele and the servants rushed forward，smiling，to congratulate us．
'Too late！'cried the master，waving them away．'Your congratulations are fifteen years too late！'We all went up to the top floor，and entered the room where Mason had been attacked．Mr Rochester lifted the curtain，opened the secret door and showed us the little room．Grace Poole was making soup over a fire，and behind her a shape crawled on the floor．It was hard to say whether it was animal or human．It growled like a wild animal，but it wore clothes，and had long，thick，dark hair．
'How are you，Mrs Poole？'asked the master．'And how is your patient today？'
'Not bad，sir，'answered Grace，'but be careful．She'll try and bite you if she sees you，sir．'Just then the shape turned and with a fierce cry attacked Mr Rochester violently．I recognized her dark，ugly face．They struggled for a moment，and then he held her down and，with Mrs Poole's help，tied her to a chair．He turned to the others with a bitter smile．
'You see，gentlemen，this is my wife．This is the partner I have to live with for ever．And instead I wished to have this'（laying his hand on my shoulder）'…this young girl．Can you honestly blame me？Compare the two，and then judge me！'
We all left the room silently．As we went downstairs the lawyer said to me，'I know you weren't aware of this，Miss Eyre．Nobody will blame you，and Mr Mason will tell your uncle so，when he goes back to Madeira．'
'My uncle！Do you know him？'I asked，surprised． 'I'm his lawyer．Mr Mason and he have often done business together．On his way back to the West Indies，Mr Mason stopped in Madeira and stayed with Mr Eyre，who mentioned that his niece was going to marry a Mr Rochester．'
'Yes，I wrote to tell him I was getting married，'I said．
'Well，when Mr Mason explained that Mr Rochester was already married，your uncle sent him straight back to England to prevent you from marrying and making a terrible mistake． I'm afraid your uncle is very ill and will probably die soon，so I think you had better stay in England， until you receive further news of him