Jane Eyre begins on a cold November day at Gateshead with somber wind and penetrating rain (6).Jane is ten years old; she is reading Bewicks History of British Birds in the same room as her cousins John, Eliza, and Georgiana.An orphan, Jane is reminded regularly that she is not from the same station in life as her cousins, with whom she now resides.John attacks Jane in front of his sisters, but Jane's aunt blames her for the incident and has her locked in the "red-room," the place in which her uncle died. While in the red-room, Jane reflects on her life. She remembers her uncle, who brought her to his home at Gateshead after her parents died and states that he made his wife promise to care for Jane as "one of her own children (15).The servants, Bessie and Abbot, come to her rescue, but Mrs. Reed orders Jane back into the room where she falls unconscious.One evening, after hearing a demonic laugh, Jane gets out of bed and discovers that Rochester's room is on fire (151).She imagines that her Uncle Reed's ghost has entered the room because his wife did not keep the promise and she begins to scream.He leaves the room and Jane overhears Bessie and Sarah talking about her condition.He tells her that it must have been started by his drunken servant Grace Poole."You are a dependent... you have no money," she is told by her bullying cousin John (10).Jane awakes with the feeling that she's had a nightmare.Mr. Lloyd, the family doctor, is there.