Jane participates in the charades

During the house party at Thornfield Hall, the guests propose an evening of charades, transforming the dining room into a stage. The servants are called in, the tables wheeled away, and chairs arranged in a semicircle opposite an arch. Mrs. Fairfax is summoned to provide shawls, dresses, and draperies from the house, and wardrobes on the third storey are ransacked for brocaded petticoats, satin sacques, and lace lappets. Mr. Rochester selects his party, claiming Miss Ingram as his partner, along with the two Misses Eshton and Mrs. Dent. When he asks Jane if she will play, she shakes her head, and he does not insist, allowing her to return quietly to her usual seat. The other party, headed by Colonel Dent, sits down on the crescent of chairs. Mr. Eshton observes Jane and seems to propose that she be asked to join them, but Lady Ingram instantly negatived the notion, saying, "she looks too stupid for any game of the sort."

The First Scene: A Pantomime Marriage

The curtain draws up to reveal Sir George Lynn enveloped in a white sheet, with a large open book on a table before him. Amy Eshton, draped in Mr. Rochester's cloak, stands at his side holding a book. Adele, who insisted on being part of her guardian's party, bounds forward scattering flowers from a basket. Then Miss Ingram appears, clad in white with a long veil and a wreath of roses, walking beside Mr. Rochester. They kneel, while Mrs. Dent and Louisa Eshton, also in white, take up stations behind them. A ceremony follows in dumb show, easily recognized as the pantomime of a marriage. Colonel Dent calls out "Bride!" and Mr. Rochester bows as the curtain falls.

The Second Scene: Eliezer and Rebecca

After a considerable interval, the curtain rises on a more elaborate scene. A large marble basin, usually an ornament of the conservatory, has been transported into the drawing room. Mr. Rochester, costumed in shawls with a turban on his head, sits by the basin, looking like an Eastern emir. Miss Ingram advances in oriental fashion, a crimson scarf tied sash-like around her waist, an embroidered handkerchief knotted about her temples, her bare arms upraised to support a pitcher on her head. She approaches the basin, bends as if to fill her pitcher, and lifts it again. Mr. Rochester seems to accost her and make a request; she "hasted, let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink." He produces a casket, opens it to show magnificent bracelets and earrings, and kneels to lay the treasure at her feet. The scene represents Eliezer and Rebecca, with only the camels wanting.

The Third Scene: Bridewell

The curtain rises a third time, revealing only a portion of the drawing room, the rest concealed by a screen hung with dark drapery. The marble basin is replaced by a deal table and a kitchen chair, dimly lit by a horn lantern. Amidst this sordid scene sits a man with clenched hands resting on his knees, his eyes bent on the ground. Though his face is begrimed, his dress disordered, and his hair rough and bristling, Jane recognizes Mr. Rochester. As he moves, a chain clanks, and fetters are attached to his wrists. Colonel Dent exclaims "Bridewell!" and the charade is solved.

Jane's Observation and Emotional Turmoil

Throughout the performances, Jane's attention is not on the actors but on the spectators. She watches Mr. Rochester turn to Miss Ingram, sees her incline her head till her jetty curls almost touch his shoulder, hears their mutual whisperings and interchanged glances. She recalls the feeling roused by the spectacle even at the moment of writing. She has learned to love Mr. Rochester, and she cannot unlove him now merely because she sees all his attentions appropriated by a great lady who scorns to touch her with the hem of her robes. She reads daily in Miss Ingram a proud security in his intentions, and witnesses hourly in him a style of courtship that, if careless, is yet captivating. Yet she is not jealous, for she sees that Miss Ingram is not genuine—her mind is poor, her heart barren, and she lacks sympathy and pity. Jane perceives that Mr. Rochester exercises a ceaseless surveillance over his intended, and that his obvious absence of passion towards her is the source of Jane's ever-torturing pain. She sees he is going to marry her for family or political reasons, not for love, and that Miss Ingram cannot charm him. This knowledge, rather than jealousy, is what torments Jane as she watches the charades unfold.