Wherefore poor Ariadne, tearful and woebegone, was now superintending the preparations necessary for quitting the Mignonne, while Geoffrey was intent on comforting her in every way in his power.
"Yet, cheer up, dear heart," he said again and again to her. "Remember, 'tis not for long at present. Once I have delivered these men into the ships requiring them (and some are no farther off than the Nore), then back I come to seek for more. We shall not fight Conflans yet; he advances not in spite of all his threats to invade us. So, heart up, mine own; in a week the Mignonne will be anchored here once more, and thou on board with thy fond husband."
"But a week, Geoff--a week! Alas8! to me it seems an eternity9. And then to think of what is to follow. And they say that that corsair, Thurot, is at the mouth of the river. If that should be so!"
"I hope it may. If I could but seize him now, what a feather in my cap 'twould be. He is a brave sea-dog, although he is a Frenchman."
"I shall be distracted during thy absence. I know not what to do. Oh, Geoff, what is to become of me!"
"You are to stay in the lodgings10, my dear one," her husband said, "which we have chosen over there;" and he nodded his head towards the shore. "They are sweet and clean, and you can observe our anchorage. Therefore, you will see the Mignonne sail. Also," he added, with a happy thought, "you will see her return. Think on that."
Ariadne did think on it in the hours after he had left her, her husband going on board at midnight in preparation for his departure at dawn. Think on it--ay! indeed she did--as also on his last kiss pressed to her lips before he left, and of many, many others he had given her as the hours flew by and evening turned into night. She thought on it each time she crept from her bed to the window of the lodgings he had taken for her, to see if yet the daybreak was at hand (though she knew well enough that it could not come for still some hours); if yet the ship that held her husband, her lover, was making ready to depart. And always by her side stood Anne, who had been bidden to come and sleep with Ariadne on this the first night of her desolation since she had been married; Anne, who had long since determined11 never to part from her mistress again.
She had done it once when--in the exuberance12 of her youthful spirits, and proud of the possession of a good voice, which she knew how to manage in the bravura13 style, as well as a considerable facility for dancing in a manner fitted to obtain popular applause--she had left her home at Fanshawe Manor14 to earn her own living in London as a public performer. But, alas! what had been the result? Her little sister who had gone with her as companion, after both had pleaded long and frequently to her mistress and their mother for permission to do so, had encountered ruin at the hands of a scoundrel, and death as the result of her shame; while, for herself, what had happened? What! A life destroyed through her impetuous determination to exact a terrible atonement from the villain15 who had done her sister to death; an existence destroyed and rendered barren, loveless, and blank, through her tempestuous16 desire for vengeance17.
She had left her mistress once; now she vowed18 often that never would she do it again. Never again.
"I have indeed made myself an Iphigenia, as Sir Geoffrey calls me," she would say to Ariadne during the passage of those eight months, "by wandering from your and mother's side; but, no more. Henceforth I stay with you, if you will let me."
And the two girls, who had never been parted since they were children, except for that year of a wild life on Anne's part in London: the two girls, of whom one had now become a happy wife, and the other a wife loathing20 and despising the man whom she had trepanned into marrying her--the man on whom, if chance came in her way, she would exercise still further vengeance--had kissed and embraced each other, and vowed that they would always remain together. For, although Anne called Ariadne her mistress, and was spoken of as the latter's maid and servant, they had from infancy21 been always more like sisters than aught else, and had grown up together loving each other fondly, while Anne's three extra years of age had made her like the elder and graver sister.
Now, together and alone--since Mrs. Pottle had departed some day or two before to Fanshawe Manor, to which they were to follow later, when the Mignonne would have sailed on her final cruise to join the fleet and take part in fighting France--they watched for the dawn to come; watched knowing that, with it, the lights on the frigate's masts would be put out, the sails be bent22, and then--then--Ariadne would be desolate23.
At last, the dayspring was at hand. Towards the east, beneath the dark blue and windswept heavens, they saw the primrose24 hue25 coming; soon they knew that there would appear a brighter, more vivid yellow, and then the sun, and with that sun, departure. Already poor Ariadne could see, even without the perspective glass which Geoffrey had left behind for her use, that all was excitement and bustle26 aboard the ship. For by now the pipes were sounding, they could hear the hawsers27 coming on board, and the men singing too; and then Ariadne, her hand clutching Anne's arm, saw the outer jib loosed to the light south-westerly breeze which was blowing from where London lay.
"Oh, Anne!" she whispered, "it is the first time he has left me since we were wed19. The first time, and now he is going. Look at those hateful sails, and--oh! how can they sing?"
"Be brave," said Anne, whose husband was not going away to sea; Anne, who, had he been doing so, would certainly have felt no regret; "heart up, you are a sailor's wife."
But that did not comfort the girl, who watched now, without understanding, everything taking place; for--although she knew not the meaning of fore7 and main top-gallant sails and spankers, nor anything of mainsails, nor mainroyals and mizzen top-gallants, nor staysails and jibs--she could see that the Mignonne was moving, going down the river towards where the sea was, with on it, perhaps, the great French fleet and also the dreaded29 Thurot who was reported to be lurking30 near.
"He sees me!" she cried; "he sees me! Oh, God! he waves a handkerchief from--what is it?--the waist! He sees me--ah! Anne--Anne--look--oh!" she cried, "the ship is passing round that point. Oh! Anne, she is gone."
"Heart up," again said Anne, comforting, yet still resolute31. "'Tis but for a week. He will come back, my dear."
Then she led the girl to her bed, and, getting into it herself, took her in her arms and caressed32 and soothed33 her.
* * * * * * *
Meanwhile, not more than a mile off from where the two women were, Lewis Granger was himself preparing to begin a new day. It was necessary that here, he who in London had rarely left his bed until the morning was almost gone, should rise early, for he had much business to attend to besides that of trafficking in what he termed his "cattle" business, such as supplying all kinds of vessels34 with flour and meat and provisions of every sort. He was not actually the owner of this concern which he conducted, but, instead, only the superintendent35 or manager of it for a very wealthy man whom he had known when he was himself a gentleman--a wealthy man who, having lost his former superintendent and meeting Granger by accident about the time of Bufton's marriage, suggested that, as the latter said his circumstances were low, he should take the position.
"You have been a sailor yourself, you know; you are also an Essex man," this person remarked, as they sat in a coffee-house; "therefore you understand something about the requisites36 of the sea. And you may make some money. There is, of course, a good percentage, and, in absolute fact, you can grow well-to-do." After which he explained to Granger what his occupation would be.
Whereon he, knowing that, henceforth, even the beggarly keeping which he had received from the man who had once ruined him was certain to come to an end after the latter had been tricked into marrying Anne Pottle, took the position. It would at least be food, he told himself.
And now he was indeed growing well-to-do; in those eight months which had gone by since the day he had parted from Bufton he had been making money fast, both for himself and his master; making money by ways which once he would have scorned and have reviled37 himself for--by crimping and kidnapping, by hocus-pocussing men and making them drunk, by inducing simpletons to believe they were going to freedom and wealth in Delaware and Virginia and Massachusetts, or in Jamaica or Barbadoes, when in truth they were going to slavery, and as often as not to death. But also helping38 to fit out ships which, calling on the West African coast, should purchase from one successful tribe of negroes the prisoners they had taken from another they had defeated, and, transporting those who lived--the dead, as well as the sickly ones, being flung over to the sharks--should sell them also into slavery.
He was growing well-to-do, was putting by money, even while he stifled39 his conscience as to the way in which it was acquired; almost he had begun to forget that he, a gentleman, a King's sailor, with no worse faults originally than those of dissipation and a love for gambling40, had been ruined, degraded, disgraced by a scheming scoundrel. And, also, almost was he forgetting that he had sworn to have an awful vengeance on this scoundrel, this man who had deprived him of the woman he loved and had caused her to cast him off. He came nigh to forgetting that his mother died of a broken heart--a heart broken by his ruin and disgrace.
"Ay," he said to himself, as now he dressed in preparation for his day's work, "ay! I had almost forgotten. Almost! And then he must needs find his way here, as full of evil as before. And the bait took--he swallowed it greedily. Anne's sister--I--my mother--the woman I worshipped, are not enough. He is a cormorant41 of cruelty, and seeks still more victims. Well--there shall be more. His craft and devilish subtlety42 shall find another. Yet how--how--how is it to be done? I must think."
It was still early, not yet seven o'clock, but because of evil habits which he had contracted of late years, and which he could not now break off, much as he endeavoured to do so, he went to a side table where, taking up a dram bottle--a thing always to his hand now--he drank from it.
"It nerves me," he muttered. "It will serve me till it kills me at the last. And it clears my mind. Others it makes drunk, but me it fortifies--at present!"
He did not drink again, however; did not pour down glass after glass--such an act as that was reserved for the nights when he stupefied himself regularly ere seeking that sleep which never came easily; instead, he put the bottle away, after standing28 regarding it fixedly43.
"Strange," he muttered, "strange. Glastonbury is drinking himself to death at Ratisbon, they say, because he possesses Sophy, but not her love; I am drinking myself to death here because she loved me--perhaps loves me now--and I have lost her. Through him, that venomous snake; that reptile44!"
An onlooker45 might almost have thought, could one have been present, that the wretched, broken man had taken his dram and was indulging in such thoughts with a view to strengthening himself in some resolve that he had made. Would have thought so could he, that observer, have seen Lewis Granger go to a cupboard next, and, plunging46 his hand in, draw forth a sword in its scabbard. A naval47 sword, the handle of which he grasped, bringing out from the sheath, as he did so, but half a blade--a blade broken short off halfway48 down. The onlooker might have thought so if he had seen the man turn up the scabbard now, and let the other half of the weapon fall out with a clang to the floor.
"I broke it," he whispered once more, and from his eyes the tears welled forth and rolled down his cheeks, "on that night, the night after I saw its point towards me when they led me back to the main cabin of the Warwick to learn my doom49. That I was condemned50! I broke it as my life was broken--my future--my all. Ruined by him."
Then he replaced the two pieces of the blade in the sheath and returned the latter to the cupboard, kissing the former ere he did so. "I loved you so," he whispered again, his lips trembling, "I hoped so much from you; that you would bring me honour and renown51; make my mother proud that she had borne me, Sophy proud to be my wife. And now. Now!"
He closed the cupboard after thrusting the weapon back, and prepared to descend52 to his room below. Yet, by this time his mood had changed again; again he was the Lewis Granger of everyday life--sullen, evil-looking. And he wept no more. But instead, there was upon his face the sardonic53 expression most usual to it.
"Barry did believe yesterday--at last--not that I was innocent, but that I might by some strange chance be so. He did, he did! I saw it in his softer look, heard it in his gentler speech. And, for reward, I am about to send his fair young wife and Bufton's own wife to worse than death. I am about to do that!"
Whereon he laughed so loud and long at this thought that the crone preparing his breakfast below shook her head ominously54 and wondered if her master was beginning a fresh day with a fresh drinking bout2.
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1
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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6
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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7
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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8
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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9
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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10
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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11
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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bravura
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| n.华美的乐曲；勇敢大胆的表现；adj.壮勇华丽的 | |
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14
manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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16
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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18
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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20
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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21
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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22
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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23
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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primrose
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| n.樱草，最佳部分， | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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hawsers
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| n.（供系船或下锚用的）缆索，锚链( hawser的名词复数 ) | |
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28
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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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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requisites
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| n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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37
reviled
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| v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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40
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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41
cormorant
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| n.鸬鹚，贪婪的人 | |
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42
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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43
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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44
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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45
onlooker
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| n.旁观者，观众 | |
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46
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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47
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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48
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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49
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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50
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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52
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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53
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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54
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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