"Have you seen much society?"

"None but the pupils and teachers of Lowood，and now the inmates of Thornfield."

"Have you read much?"

"Only such books as came in my way; and they have not been numerous or very learned."

"You have lived the life of a nun: no doubt you are well drilled in religious forms;- Brocklehurst，who I understand directs Lowood，is a parson，is he not?"

"Yes，sir."

"And you girls probably worshipped him，as a convent full of religieuses would worship their director."

"Oh，no."

"You are very cool! No! What! a novice not worship her priest! That sounds blasphemous."

"I disliked Mr. Brocklehurst; and I was not alone in the feeling.

He is a harsh man; at once pompous and meddling; he cut off our hair; and for economy"s sake bought us bad needles and thread，with which we could hardly sew."

"That was very false economy," remarked Mrs. Fairfax，who now again caught the drift of the dialogue.

"And was that the head and front of his offending?" demanded Mr. Rochester.

"He starved us when he had the sole superintendence of the provision department，before the mittee was appointed; and he bored us with long lectures once a week，and with evening readings from books of his own inditing，about sudden deaths and judgments，which made us afraid to go to bed."

"What age were you when you went to Lowood?"

"About ten."

"And you stayed there eight years: you are now，then，eighteen?" I assented.

"Arithmetic，you see，is useful; without its aid，I should hardly have been able to guess your age. It is a point difficult to fix where the features and countenance are so much at variance as in your case. And now what did you learn at Lowood? Can you play?"