William Carus Wilson on Carus Wilson. Brocklehurst is presented as a hypocrite: In the year of "Jane Eyre"'s publication Carus Wilson reportedly took legal advice with a view to suing for defamation, but desisted on receiving a letter of explanation and apology from the author. However, the novel was published as the work of the pseudonymous Currer Bell, and it is not clear how many of its first readers of the book would have been in a position to make the connection between Lowood and Carus Wilson's foundation. In a letter to her publisher W.S. Williams, Charlotte describes overhearing an elderly clergyman talk
Jane Eyre with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof. The sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to just under $1.7 million in 2018). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and