One afternoon (I had then been three weeks at Lowood), as I was sitting with a slate in my hand, puzzling over a sum in long division, my eyes, raised in abstraction to the window, caught sight of a figure just passing: I recognised almost instinctively that gaunt outline; and when, two minutes after, all the school, teachers included, rose _en masse_, it was not necessary for me to look up in order to ascertain whose entrance they thus greeted.
Un pomeriggio, mentre ero seduta con la lavagna sulle ginocchia e mi arrabattavo per fare un'addizione lunga, alzai gli occhi per guardare verso la finestra e vidi passare una figura, che riconobbi istintivamente. Due minuti dopo, tutta la scuola si alzava in massa e non ebbi bisogno di guardare per capire chi era salutato a quel modo.