But the privations, or rather the hardships, of Lowood lessened.

Spring drew on: she was indeed already come; the frosts of winter

had ceased; its snows were melted, its cutting winds ameliorated.

My wretched feet, flayed and swollen to lameness by the sharp air of

January, began to heal and subside under the gentler breathings of

April; the nights and mornings no longer by their Canadian

temperature froze the very blood in our veins; we could now endure

the play-hour passed in the garden: sometimes on a sunny day it

began even to be pleasant and genial, and a greenness grew over

those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought

that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter

traces of her steps. Flowers peeped out amongst the leaves; snow-

drops, crocuses, purple auriculas, and golden-eyed pansies. On

Thursday afternoons (half-holidays) we now took walks, and found

still sweeter flowers opening by the wayside, under the hedges.

I discovered, too, that a great pleasure, an enjoyment which the

horizon only bounded, lay all outside the high and spike-guarded

walls of our garden: this pleasure consisted in prospect of noble

summits girdling a great hill-hollow, rich in verdure and shadow; in

a bright beck, full of dark stones and sparkling eddies. How

different had this scene looked when I viewed it laid out beneath

the iron sky of winter, stiffened in frost, shrouded with snow!--

when mists as chill as death wandered to the impulse of east winds

along those purple peaks, and rolled down "ing" and holm till they

blended with the frozen fog of the beck! That beck itself was then

a torrent, turbid and curbless: it tore asunder the wood, and sent

a raving sound through the air, often thickened with wild rain or

whirling sleet; and for the forest on its banks, THAT showed only

ranks of skeletons.

April advanced to May: a bright serene May it was; days of blue

sky, placid sunshine, and soft western or southern gales filled up

its duration. And now vegetation matured with vigour; Lowood shook

loose its tresses; it became all green, all flowery; its great elm,

ash, and oak skeletons were restored to majestic life; woodland

plants sprang up profusely in its recesses; unnumbered varieties of

moss filled its hollows, and it made a strange ground-sunshine out

of the wealth of its wild primrose plants: I have seen their pale

gold gleam in overshadowed spots like scatterings of the sweetest

lustre. All this I enjoyed often and fully, free, unwatched, and

almost alone: for this unwonted liberty and pleasure there was a

cause, to which it now becomes my task to advert.




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