Because when she failed, I saw how she might have succeeded. Arrows that continually glanced off from Mr. Rochester’s breast and fell harmless at his feet, might, I knew, if shot by a surer hand, have quivered keen in his proud heart – have called love into his stern eye, and softness into his sardonic face, or better still, without weapons a silent conquest might have been won.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 18. Jane uses the metaphor of arrows being shot to the breast to describe Blanche Ingram’s attempts to flirt with Mr. Rochester. A jealous Jane is relieved that Blanche’s efforts don’t work and her “arrows” simply bounce off Rochester and fall harmlessly away. Rochester obviously doesn’t love Blanche, she observes.