"The devil is in it if you cannot answer distinctly. I again demand，what have you to say?"

"Sir- sir," interrupted the clergyman，"do not forget you are in a sacred place." Then addressing Mason，he inquired gently，"Are you aware，sir，whether or not this gentleman"s wife is still living?"

"Courage," urged the lawyer,- "speak out."

"She is now living at Thornfield Hall," said Mason，in more articulate tones: "I saw her there last April. I am her brother."

"At Thornfield Hall!" ejaculated the clergyman. "Impossible! I am an old resident in this neighbourhood，sir，and I never heard of a Mrs. Rochester at Thornfield Hall."

I saw a grim smile contort Mr. Rochester"s lips，and he muttered-

"No，by God! I took care that none should hear of it- or of her under that name." He mused- for ten minutes he held counsel with himself: he formed his resolve，and announced it-

"Enough! all shall bolt out at once，like the bullet from the barrel. Wood，close your book and take off your surplice; John Green (to the clerk)，leave the church: there will be no wedding to-day." The man obeyed.

Mr. Rochester continued，hardily and recklessly: "Bigamy is an ugly word!- I meant，however，to be a bigamist; but fate has out-manoeuvred me，or providence has checked me,- perhaps the last. I am little better than a devil at this moment; and，as my pastor there would tell me，deserve no doubt the sternest judgments of God，even to the quenchless fire and deathless worm. Gentlemen，my plan is broken up:- what this lawyer and his client say is true: I have been married，and the woman to whom I was married lives! You say you never heard of a Mrs. Rochester at the house up yonder，Wood; but I daresay you have many a time inclined your ear to gossip about the mysterious lunatic kept there under watch and ward. Some have whispered to you that she is my bastard half-sister: some，my cast-off mistress. I now inform you that she is my wife，whom I married fifteen years ago,-

Bertha Mason by name; sister of this resolute personage，who is now，with his quivering limbs and white cheeks，showing you what a stout heart men may bear. Cheer up，Dick!- never fear me!- I"d almost as soon strike a woman as you. Bertha Mason is mad; and she came of a mad family; idiots and maniacs through three generations! Her mother，the Creole，was both a mad-woman and a drunkard!- as I foun/d out after I had wed the daughter: for they were silent on family secrets before.