"Oh, no need to apologise! I consider that when a dependent does her duty as well as you have done yours, she has a sort of claim upon her employer for any little assistance he can conveniently render her; indeed I have already, through my future mother-in-law, heard of a place that I think will suit: it is to undertake the education of the five daughters of Mrs. Dionysius O'Gall of Bitternutt Lodge, Connaught, Ireland. You'll like Ireland, I think: they're such warm-hearted people there, they say."

     "It is a long way off, sir."

     "No matter--a girl of your sense will not object to the voyage or the distance."

     "Not the voyage, but the distance: and then the sea is a barrier--"

     "From what, Jane?"

     "From England and from Thornfield: and--"

     "Well?"

     "From you, sir."