Chapers 29 - 38 of Jane Eyre

In chapter 29 Jane spends three days in bed. On the fourth day, she feels well again and she finds Hannah. Jane criticizes Hannah for judging her unfairly when she asked for help, and Hannah apologizes. Hannah tells the story of Mr. Rivers, her father, who lost most of the family fortune in a business deal. Diana and Mary were forced to work as governesses. Jane then tells her own story and admits that Jane Elliott is not her real name. St. John promises to find her a job.
In Chapter 30 Jane makes friends with Diana and Mary, who admire her drawings and give her books to read. St. John is still cold, although he is never unkind. After a month, Diana and Mary must return to their posts as governesses. St. John has found a position for Jane, running a charity school for girls. Jane accepts, but St. John guesses that she will soon leave the school out of restlessness. His sisters think he will soon leave England for a missionary post overseas. St. John tells his sisters that their Uncle John has died and left them nothing, because all his money went to an unknown, relative. Jane learns that it was Uncle John who led Mr. Rivers into his bad business deal.
In Chapter 31 jane is at Morton, the rich heiress Rosamond Oliver provides Jane with a cottage in which to live. Jane begins teaching but she finds the work degrading and disappointing. St. John visits jane and admits to her that he used to feel that he had made the wrong career choice, until one day he heard God’s call. Now he plans to become a missionary. Rosamond Oliver then appears, interrupting the conversation. From their interaction, Jane believes that Rosamond and St. John are in love.
In Chapter 32 Jane’s students become more familiar to her, and Jane becomes popular among them. At night she has troubling nightmares that involve Rochester. Jane continues to pay attention to the relationship between St. John and Rosamond. Rosamond asks Jane to draw her portrait, and as she is working on it one day, St. John pays her a visit. He gives her a new book and looks at the drawing. She offers to draw him a duplicate, and then says that he ought to marry Rosamond. St. John admits that he loves her and is tempted by her beauty, but he explains that he refuses to allow love to interfere with his holy duties. The flirtatious, silly, and shallow Rosamond would make an awful wife for a missionary. Suddenly, St. John notices something on the edge of Jane’s paper and tears off a tiny piece—Jane is not certain why. With a odd look on his face, he hurries from the room.
In Chapter 33 Jane is reading a book when St. John appears. Appearing troubled, he tells Jane the story of an orphan girl who became the governess at Thornfield, then disappeared after nearly marrying Edward Rochester. the runaway governess’s name is Jane Eyre. Until this point, Jane had not revealed her past and given a fake name. St. John suspects her of being the woman jane eyre but she does not immediately identify herself. He says that he has received a letter from a solicitor saying it is extremely important that Jane Eyre is found. Jane is only interested in news of Rochester, but St. John says that Rochester is not at issue, Jane Eyre must be found because her uncle, John Eyre, has died, leaving her a fortune of 20,000 pounds. Jane reveals herself to be Jane Eyre, knowing that St. John has guessed already. She asks him how he knew. He shows her the scrap of paper he tore from her drawing the previous day, it's her signature. She then asks why the solicitor would have sent him a letter about her at all. St. John explains that though he did not realize it before, he is her cousin: her Uncle John was his Uncle John, and his name is St. John Eyre Rivers. Jane is happy to have found a family at long last, and she decides to divide her inheritance between her cousins and herself evenly, so that they each will get 5,000 pounds.
In Chapter 34 Jane closes her school for Christmas and spends a happy time with her cousins at Moor House. Diana and Mary are very pleased with the improvements Jane has made at the school, but St. John seems colder and more distant than ever. He tells Jane that Rosamond is engaged to a rich man. One day, he asks Jane to learn “Hindustani” with him, the language he is learning to prepare for missionary work in India. As time goes by, St. John pressures Jane to do things more and more. This leaves Jane feeling empty and sad, but she follows his orders. He asks her to go to India with him to be a missionary and to be his wife. She agrees to go to India as a missionary but says that she will not be his wife because they are not in love. St. John harshly insists that she marry him, saying that to refuse his proposal is the same as to deny the Christian faith. He leaves the room.
In Chapter 35 St. John continues to pressure Jane to marry him. She resists as kindly as she can, but her kindness only makes him insist more and more. Diana tells Jane that she would be a fool to go to India with St. John, who only thinks of her as a tool to aid his great cause. After dinner, St. John prays for Jane, and she is overcome with awe at his powers of speech and his influence. She almost feels compelled to marry him, but at that moment she hears what she thinks is Rochester’s voice, calling her name. Jane believes that fate has occurred, and St. John’s spell over her is broken.
In Chapter 36 Jane wonders whether it was really Rochester’s voice that she heard calling to her and whether Rochester might actually be in trouble. She finds a note from St. John urging her to resist temptation, but she takes a coach to Thornfield. She travels to the manor, anxious to see Rochester and reflecting on the ways in which her life has changed since she left. Jane now has friends, family, and a fortune. She hurries to the house after her coach arrives and is shocked to find Thornfield a burnt ruin. She goes to an inn to learn what has happened. Here, she learns that Bertha set the house ablaze several months earlier. Rochester saved his servants and tried to save his wife, but she flung herself from the roof. In the fire, Rochester lost a hand and went blind. He now lives in a house called Ferndean with John and Mary, two old servants.
In Chapter 37 Jane goes to Ferndean and she sees Rochester reach a hand out of the door, testing for rain. His body looks the same, but his face is damaged. Rochester returns inside, and Jane knocks on the door and Mary answers. Inside, Jane carries a tray to Rochester, who is unable to see her. When he realizes that Jane is in the room with him, he thinks she must be a ghost. When he catches her hand, he takes her in his arms, and she promises never to leave him. The next morning they walk through the woods, and Jane tells Rochester about her experiences the previous year. She assures him that she is not in love with St. John. Rochester asks her to marry him, and she says yes. Rochester tells Jane that a few nights earlier he called out her name and thought he heard her answer. She does not wish to upset him or excite him in his condition so she does not tell him about hearing his voice.
In Chapter 38 Jane and Rochester marry. Jane writes to her cousins with the news. St. John never acknowledges what has happened, but Mary and Diana write back with good wishes. Jane visits Adele at her school, and finds her unhappy. Remembering her own childhood experience, Jane moves Adele to a better school, and Adele grows up to be a very nice young woman.
Jane writes that she is narrating her story after ten years of marriage to Rochester, which she describes as really great. They live as equals and she helps him cope with his blindness. After two years, Rochester begins to regain his vision in one eye, and when their first child is born, Rochester is able to see the baby. Jane writes that Diana and Mary have both found husbands and that St. John went to India as he had planned. She says that in his last letter, St. John claimed to have had a premonition of his own approaching death. She does not believe that she will hear from St. John again, but she is not upset for him as he has fulfilled his promise and done God’s work. She begs the God to come for him quickly.