Und zuweilen gaben diese alle, wie auf Verabredung, ihr Zwischenspiel auf, um den Hauptträgern der Handlung zuzuhören und sie zu beobachten; denn trotz allem waren Mr. Rochester, und Miß Ingram – diese nur, weil sie ihm so nahe stand – die Seele und das Leben der Gesellschaft.
Sometimes all, as with one consent, suspended their by-play to observe and listen to the principal actors: for, after all, Mr. Rochester and--because closely connected with him--Miss Ingram were the life and soul of the party. If he was absent from the room an hour, a perceptible dulness seemed to steal over the spirits of his guests; and his re-entrance was sure to give a fresh impulse to the vivacity of conversation.