Jane Eyre
Grace Poole
The silent servant
A tight-lipped servant at Thornfield who is blamed for the strange noises and fires.
Grace Poole works at Thornfield and is described to Jane as a seamstress. She is blunt, stolid and silent, and she is fond of strong drink. She lives near the third floor, where the mystery of Thornfield is kept.
She is trusted by Rochester to guard something he does not explain. To Jane she is an unreadable person, calm in the morning after a fire in the night. Rochester blames her for the fire and the laugh, and for a while Jane believes it.
“Good morning, Miss. A candle must have caught the curtains last night. Master was very lucky.”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
When Jane hears the strange laugh, Mrs. Fairfax says it is Grace Poole. After the fire in Rochester's bed, Rochester asks Jane to say nothing and says it was Grace's doing. Jane is shocked the next morning to see Grace sewing as if nothing has happened.
Later, when Jane's veil is torn, Rochester again says it was Grace Poole. In truth, Grace is the guard of Bertha Mason, and the wedding day exposes why.
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