Now I wept: Helen Burns was not here; nothing sustained me; left to myself I abandoned myself, and my tears watered the boards.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 8. When Jane drops her slate Brocklehurst shames her by standing her on a stool and publicly calling her a liar. At the end of her stool ordeal Jane is all alone; she steps down, sinks to the ground, face downward, and cries.