I was for a while troubled with a haunting fear that if I handled the flower freely its bloom would fade – the sweet charm of freshness would leave it. I did not then know that it was no transitory blossom, but rather the radiant resemblance of one, cut in an indestructible gem.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 27. Rochester recalls how he began to love Jane. He compares her metaphorically to a flower, which he feared would fade if he did not handle her carefully. He did not realize then that Jane was no fragile flower, but was an indestructible gem, metaphorically speaking.