What love have I for Miss Ingram? None: and that you know. What love has she for me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused a rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to see the result; it was coldness both from her and her mother. I would not – I could not – marry Miss Ingram.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 23. Rochester reveals to Jane that there is no love between him and Miss Ingram. He tells her that Miss Ingram simply wanted to marry him for his money. When she learned that he wasn’t as wealthy as she thought, she turned cold.