Jane Eyre 2nd Half Book Summary

In chapter twenty, starting off the second half of the book, Jane is startled awake by a piercing cry for help. Upon leaving her room to investigate she finds Mr. Rochester ushering the guests back into their rooms and reassuring them that the disturbance was caused by a servant who was frightened by a nightmare. Shortly after returning to her room, suspicion in her mind, Mr. Rochester knocks on her door requesting her aid. After climbing to the third story of the house, she discovers an injured Mr. Mason. It appears that he has been stabbed and bitten. Mr. Rochester asks Jane to take care of the wounds and then orders the two not to speak to one another while he leaves to fetch a doctor. Once the doctor has tended to Mason’s wounds, Jane and Mr. Rochester take a walk in the orchards where he tells her a “hypothetical” story about a man who has made a mistake and has to deal with the consequences. He then teases her about fixing his troubles by marrying Ms. Blanche and quickly retreats before she can reply. The next morning, before any of the guests can figure out what has occurred, Mr. Rochester sneaks Mason out of the house.
Soon after, Jane receives news about her horrible former family, the Reed’s. She finds out that John has committed suicide and that Mrs. Reed has suffered a stroke and is on her deathbed. Jane asks Mr. Rochester for permission to visit her ill aunt and soon departs from Thornfield. When she arrives back to her childhood home she reunites with the occupants of the house. One day, while taking care of her sick and dying aunt, Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter written to her by her father’s brother John Eyre. The letter states that he has always longed to meet her and even wishes to adopt her and give her his fortune. Mrs. Reed admits that she intentionally withheld the letter out of spite but even so, Jane forgives her; she soon dies.
Jane stays at Gateshead for a month in order to look after her two cousins, who after a dispute are