But though nothing in the vale could be seen from higher ground, notes of differing kinds gave pretty clear indications that bustling3 life was going on there. This audible presence and visual absence of an active scene had a peculiar4 effect above the fog level. Nature had laid a white hand over the creatures ensconced within the vale, as a hand might be laid over a nest of chirping5 birds.
The noises that ascended6 through the pallid7 coverlid were perturbed8 lowings, mingled9 with human voices in sharps and flats, and the bark of a dog. These, followed by the slamming of a gate, explained as well as eyesight could have done, to any inhabitant of the district, that Dairyman Tucker’s under-milker was driving the cows from the meads into the stalls. When a rougher accent joined in the vociferations of man and beast, it would have been realized that the dairy-farmer himself had come out to meet the cows, pail in hand, and white pinafore on; and when, moreover, some women’s voices joined in the chorus, that the cows were stalled and proceedings10 about to commence.
A hush11 followed, the atmosphere being so stagnant12 that the milk could be heard buzzing into the pails, together with occasional words of the milkmaids and men.
‘Don’t ye bide13 about long upon the road, Margery. You can be back again by skimming-time.’
The rough voice of Dairyman Tucker was the vehicle of this remark. The barton-gate slammed again, and in two or three minutes a something became visible, rising out of the fog in that quarter.
The shape revealed itself as that of a woman having a young and agile14 gait. The colours and other details of her dress were then disclosed — a bright pink cotton frock (because winter was over); a small woollen shawl of shepherd’s plaid (because summer was not come); a white handkerchief tied over her head-gear, because it was so foggy, so damp, and so early; and a straw bonnet15 and ribbons peeping from under the handkerchief, because it was likely to be a sunny May day.
Her face was of the hereditary16 type among families down in these parts: sweet in expression, perfect in hue17, and somewhat irregular in feature. Her eyes were of a liquid brown. On her arm she carried a withy basket, in which lay several butter-rolls in a nest of wet cabbage-leaves. She was the ‘Margery’ who had been told not to ‘bide about long upon the road.’
She went on her way across the fields, sometimes above the fog, sometimes below it, not much perplexed18 by its presence except when the track was so indefinite that it ceased to be a guide to the next stile. The dampness was such that innumerable earthworms lay in couples across the path till, startled even by her light tread, they withdrew suddenly into their holes. She kept clear of all trees. Why was that? There was no danger of lightning on such a morning as this. But though the roads were dry the fog had gathered in the boughs19, causing them to set up such a dripping as would go clean through the protecting handkerchief like bullets, and spoil the ribbons beneath. The beech20 and ash were particularly shunned21, for they dripped more maliciously22 than any. It was an instance of woman’s keen appreciativeness of nature’s moods and peculiarities23: a man crossing those fields might hardly have perceived that the trees dripped at all.
In less than an hour she had traversed a distance of four miles, and arrived at a latticed cottage in a secluded24 spot. An elderly woman, scarce awake, answered her knocking. Margery delivered up the butter, and said, ‘How is granny this morning? I can’t stay to go up to her, but tell her I have returned what we owed her.’
Her grandmother was no worse than usual: and receiving back the empty basket the girl proceeded to carry out some intention which had not been included in her orders. Instead of returning to the light labours of skimming-time, she hastened on, her direction being towards a little neighbouring town. Before, however, Margery had proceeded far, she met the postman, laden25 to the neck with letter-bags, of which he had not yet deposited one.
‘Are the shops open yet, Samuel?’ she said.
‘O no,’ replied that stooping pedestrian, not waiting to stand upright. ‘They won’t be open yet this hour, except the saddler and ironmonger and little tacker-haired machine-man for the farm folk. They downs their shutters26 at half-past six, then the baker’s at half-past seven, then the draper’s at eight.’
‘O, the draper’s at eight.’ It was plain that Margery had wanted the draper’s.
The postman turned up a side-path, and the young girl, as though deciding within herself that if she could not go shopping at once she might as well get back for the skimming, retraced27 her steps.
The public road home from this point was easy but devious28. By far the nearest way was by getting over a fence, and crossing the private grounds of a picturesque29 old country-house, whose chimneys were just visible through the trees. As the house had been shut up for many months, the girl decided30 to take the straight cut. She pushed her way through the laurel bushes, sheltering her bonnet with the shawl as an additional safeguard, scrambled31 over an inner boundary, went along through more shrubberies, and stood ready to emerge upon the open lawn. Before doing so she looked around in the wary32 manner of a poacher. It was not the first time that she had broken fence in her life; but somehow, and all of a sudden, she had felt herself too near womanhood to indulge in such practices with freedom. However, she moved forth33, and the house-front stared her in the face, at this higher level unobscured by fog.
It was a building of the medium size, and unpretending, the facade34 being of stone; and of the Italian elevation35 made familiar by Inigo Jones and his school. There was a doorway36 to the lawn, standing37 at the head of a flight of steps. The shutters of the house were closed, and the blinds of the bedrooms drawn38 down. Her perception of the fact that no crusty caretaker could see her from the windows led her at once to slacken her pace, and stroll through the flower-beds coolly. A house unblinded is a possible spy, and must be treated accordingly; a house with the shutters together is an insensate heap of stone and mortar39, to be faced with indifference40.
On the other side of the house the greensward rose to an eminence41, whereon stood one of those curious summer shelters sometimes erected42 on exposed points of view, called an all-the-year-round. In the present case it consisted of four walls radiating from a centre like the arms of a turnstile, with seats in each angle, so that whencesoever the wind came, it was always possible to find a screened corner from which to observe the landscape.
The milkmaid’s trackless course led her up the hill and past this erection. At ease as to being watched and scolded as an intruder, her mind flew to other matters; till, at the moment when she was not a yard from the shelter, she heard a foot or feet scraping on the gravel43 behind it. Some one was in the all-the-year-round, apparently44 occupying the seat on the other side; as was proved when, on turning, she saw an elbow, a man’s elbow, projecting over the edge.
Now the young woman did not much like the idea of going down the hill under the eyes of this person, which she would have to do if she went on, for as an intruder she was liable to be called back and questioned upon her business there. Accordingly she crept softly up and sat in the seat behind, intending to remain there until her companion should leave.
This he by no means seemed in a hurry to do. What could possibly have brought him there, what could detain him there, at six o’clock on a morning of mist when there was nothing to be seen or enjoyed of the vale beneath, puzzled her not a little. But he remained quite still, and Margery grew impatient. She discerned the track of his feet in the dewy grass, forming a line from the house steps, which announced that he was an inhabitant and not a chance passer-by. At last she peeped round.
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1
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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2
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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3
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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5
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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6
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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8
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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10
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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11
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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12
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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13
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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14
agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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15
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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16
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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17
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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18
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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19
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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20
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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21
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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23
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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24
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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25
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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26
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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27
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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28
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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29
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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30
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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31
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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32
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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33
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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34
facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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35
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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36
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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37
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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38
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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39
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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40
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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41
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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42
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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43
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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44
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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