I was sent out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for me. My father said nothing about her money; but he told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty: and this was no lie. I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic. Her family wished to secure me because I was of a good race; and so did she. They showed her to me in parties, splendidly dressed. I seldom saw her alone, and had very little private conversation with her. She flattered me, and lavishly displayed for my pleasure her charms and accomplishments. All the men in her circle seemed to admire her and envy me. I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her.

– Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, Chapter 27. Rochester tells Jane the story of his wife Bertha, a woman of Creole descent. He was shipped to Jamaica to wed her in a marriage arranged by his “avaricious, grasping” father. His father had left his estate to Rochester’s older brother, so the father arranged for Rochester to marry a wealthy woman. Bertha was supposted to receive a fortune of thirty thousand pounds from her father. Bertha was a beautiful woman and Rochester was dazzled by her and thought he loved her.