She shook her head at last over the intricacies of the imperfectly stated problem. The idea of coquetting with a man had never entered Lydia's fancy. Long since, in the chill spring of her girlhood, she had understood her position in life as compared with that of other girls. She must never marry. She must never fall in love, even. The inflexible6 Puritan code of her uncle's wife had found ready acceptance in Lydia's nature. If not an active participant in her father's crime, she still felt herself in a measure responsible for it. He had determined7 to grow rich and powerful for her sake. More than once, in the empty rambling8 talk which he poured forth9 in a turgid stream during their infrequent meetings, he had told her so, with extravagant10 phrase and gesture. And so, at last, she had come to share his punishment in a hundred secret, unconfessed ways. She ate scant11 food, slept on the hardest of beds, labored12 unceasingly, with the great, impossible purpose of some day making things right: of restoring the money they—she no longer said he—had stolen; of building again the waste places desolated13 by the fire of his ambition for her. There had followed that other purpose, growing ever stronger with the years, and deepening with the deepening stream of her womanhood: her love, her vast, unavailing pity for the broken and aging man, who would some day be free. She came at length to the time when she saw clearly that he would never leave the prison alive, unless in some way she could contrive14 to keep open the clogging15 springs of hope and desire. She began deliberately16 and with purpose to call back memories of the past: the house in which he had lived, the gardens and orchards17 in which he once had taken pride, his ambitious projects for village improvement.
“You shall have it all back, father!” she promised him, with passionate18 resolve. “And it will only be a little while to wait, now.”
Thus encouraged, the prisoner's horizon widened, day by day. He appeared, indeed, to almost forget the prison, so busy was he in recalling trivial details and unimportant memories of events long since past. He babbled19 incessantly20 of his old neighbors, calling them by name, and chuckling21 feebly as he told her of their foibles and peculiarities22.
“But we must give them every cent of the money, father,” she insisted; “we must make everything right.”
“Oh, yes! Oh, yes, we'll fix it up somehow with the creditors,” he would say.
Then he would scowl23 and rub his shorn head with his tremulous old hands.
“What did they do with the house, Margaret?” he asked, over and over, a furtive24 gleam of anxiety in his eyes. “They didn't tear it down; did they?”
He waxed increasingly anxious on this point as the years of his imprisonment25 dwindled26 at last to months. And then her dream had unexpectedly come true. She had money—plenty of it—and nothing stood in the way. She could never forget the day she told him about the house. Always she had tried to quiet him with vague promises and imagined descriptions of a place she had completely forgotten.
“The house is ours, father,” she assured him, jubilantly. “And I am having it painted on the outside.”
“You are having it painted on the outside, Margaret? Was that necessary, already?”
“Yes, father.... But I am Lydia. Don't you remember? I am your little girl, grown up.”
“Yes, yes, of course. You are like your mother— And you are having the house painted? Who's doing the job?”
She told him the man's name and he laughed rather immoderately.
“He'll do you on the white lead, if you don't watch him,” he said. “I know Asa Todd. Talk about frauds— You must be sure he puts honest linseed oil in the paint. He won't, unless you watch him.”
“I'll see to it, father.”
“But whatever you do, don't let 'em into my room,” he went on, after a frowning pause.
“You mean your library, father? I'm having the ceiling whitened. It—it needed it.”
“I mean my bedroom, child. I won't have workmen pottering about in there.”
“But you won't mind if they paint the woodwork, father? It—has grown quite yellow in places.”
“Nonsense, my dear! Why, I had all the paint upstairs gone over—let me see—”
And he fell into one of his heavy moods of introspection which seemed, indeed, not far removed from torpor27.
When she had at last roused him with an animated28 description of the vegetable garden, he appeared to have forgotten his objections to having workmen enter his chamber29. And Lydia was careful not to recall it to his mind.
She was still sitting before his desk, ostensibly absorbed in the rows of incomprehensible figures Deacon Whittle30, as general contractor31, had urged upon her attention, when Martha again parted the heavy cloud of her thoughts.
“The minister, come to see you again,” she announced, with a slight but mordant32 emphasis on the ultimate word.
“Yes,” said Lydia, rousing herself, with an effort. “Mr. Elliot, you said?”
“I s'pose that's his name,” conceded Martha ungraciously. “I set him in the dining room. It's about the only place with two chairs in it; an' I shan't have no time to make more lemonade, in case you wanted it, m'm.”
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1
pigeonhole
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| n.鸽舍出入口；v.把...归类 | |
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2
obtruded
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| v.强行向前，强行，强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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4
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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5
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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6
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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7
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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8
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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9
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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10
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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11
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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12
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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13
desolated
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| adj.荒凉的，荒废的 | |
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14
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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15
clogging
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| 堵塞，闭合 | |
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16
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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17
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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18
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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19
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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20
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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21
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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24
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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25
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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26
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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28
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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29
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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30
whittle
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| v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀 | |
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31
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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32
mordant
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| adj.讽刺的；尖酸的 | |
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