Jane is taken in by the Rivers family

After fleeing Thornfield Hall in the dead of night, Jane Eyre wandered for two days across the moors, penniless and without shelter. She slept on the damp ground, ate only a handful of bilberries and a morsel of bread, and was reduced to begging for cold porridge at a cottage door. By the evening of the second day, utterly exhausted and soaked by rain, she collapsed on the doorstep of a house called Marsh End, certain she would die there if turned away.

Rescue by the Rivers Family

The door was opened by Hannah, the elderly housekeeper, who initially refused her entry, suspecting her of being a vagrant or a beggar. Jane pleaded desperately, but Hannah was about to shut her out when St. John Rivers, the master of the house, arrived. He had overheard the exchange and, overruling his housekeeper, ordered Jane to be brought inside. "I think this is a peculiar case—I must at least examine into it," he said, and led her into the warm kitchen. There, his sisters Diana and Mary Rivers immediately took charge of her. Diana broke bread, dipped it in milk, and put it to Jane's lips, while Mary gently removed her sodden bonnet and lifted her head. They gave her small amounts of food at first, restraining her from eating too much too quickly, and then helped her upstairs, where her wet clothes were removed and she was put into a warm, dry bed. Jane, overwhelmed with gratitude, slept deeply.

Recovery and Convalescence

For the next three days, Jane lay in a state of lethargy, barely able to move or speak. Hannah, though initially prejudiced against her, became her most frequent visitor. Diana and Mary came once or twice a day, whispering at her bedside that it was very well they had taken her in, and noting that her accent was pure and her clothes, though worn, were fine. St. John examined her once, pronouncing that her state was the result of extreme fatigue and that no doctor was needed; nature would heal itself. He remarked that her physiognomy was "rather an unusual physiognomy; certainly, not indicative of vulgarity or degradation." On the fourth day, Jane was strong enough to rise, dress herself in her own cleaned and dried clothes, and come downstairs. She found Hannah baking in the kitchen and, after a frank conversation in which Jane insisted she was no beggar but a former teacher, the two became friends. Hannah, impressed by Jane's book-learning and her eight years at a boarding school, admitted she had been mistaken about her.

Life at Marsh End and Discovery of Kinship

Jane quickly formed a deep bond with Diana and Mary Rivers, who were accomplished, well-read, and kind. They shared their books, taught her German, and delighted in her skill at drawing. St. John, however, remained more reserved, though he secured for her the position of schoolmistress at the village school in Morton. Jane accepted gratefully and moved into a small cottage. A month later, St. John revealed to her that her uncle, John Eyre of Madeira, had died and left her a fortune of twenty thousand pounds. He also showed her a slip of paper on which she had absentmindedly written her real name, "Jane Eyre," proving her identity. In the same conversation, he disclosed that his mother was also an Eyre, making him and his sisters her cousins. Overjoyed, Jane insisted on dividing the inheritance equally among the four of them, and after some resistance, St. John, Diana, and Mary agreed. Jane closed the Morton school, moved back to Marsh End, and prepared the house for her cousins' return, finding at last the family and home she had always longed for.