Volume 3, Chapter 7 / 33

Synopsis of Volume 3, Chapter 7 / 33

St John visits again the next day and tells Jane that since her disappearance Mr Rochester has been looking for her. Letters have been sent to local clergymen but St John did not recognise the name Jane Eyre. He reveals that what he saw on the piece of paper on the previous evening was Jane's true signature. Jane is eager for news of Mr Rochester, but there is none; all correspondence has been with Mrs Fairfax.

St John then reveals that Jane is also being sought because her uncle, John Eyre of Madeira, has died and left her his fortune of twenty thousand pounds; and, furthermore, that John Eyre was also uncle to him and his sisters – so the Rivers are Jane's first cousins. The sudden acquisition of relatives gives Jane more pleasure than the money, which she insists on sharing with St John, Diana and Mary.

Commentary on Volume 3, Chapter 7 / 33

‘Day set on Norham's castle steep' The opening line of Walter Scott's poem Marmion, mentioned in the previous chapter as a new publication.

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