Ext. A midsummer dawn. Thornfield the grounds

INT. NIGHT. THORNFIELD - THE HALL / STAIRCASE.

Mrs Fairfax is carrying a lamp across the great hall; the

only light. Jane can perceive grandeur looming out of the

darkness; Jacobean fireplace, coat of arms, head of a stag.

Very gloomy, eerie. Her breath is vaporising in the cold.

MRS FAIRFAX

We shall have a cheerful house

this winter...

As Jane follows Mrs Fairfax up the stairs, light is thrown

on portraits of dour, craggy, long dead ancestors.

MRS FAIRFAX (CONT'D)

With Miss Varens here - and with

you - we'll have quite a merry

time of it.

INT. NIGHT. THORNFIELD - A LONG GALLERY.

Dark heavy drapes, another striking portrait. A dark,

voluptuous woman in an 18th Century gown, ruby lipped, one

full breast exposed. Jane glances away, taken aback by the

woman's bold expression and her nakedness.

MRS FAIRFAX

I'm sure that last winter - and

what a severe one - if it didn't

rain it snowed and if it didn't

snow it blew a gale - last winter

I declare that not a soul came to

the house from November to

February.

Mrs Fairfax leads Jane through the wood-panelled darkness.