"Great heavens!" he cried, in his first surprise, "this is too awful. What a vengeance8! What a vengeance! And Anne in it, too. Yet," he continued, "she could scarcely have taken a more effective way of ridding herself of the man. The schooner9 will be captured beyond all doubt by Thurot, or Boisrose, or some of those French sailors, half corsairs and half naval10 officers. And then--well! then--at best it will be months, nay11, perhaps years, of detention12 in a French fortress13."
"And at worst?" asked Ariadne.
"At worst! Why--this," and he pointed14 downwards15 to the deck. "That, with perhaps a broadside into them."
"I pity the others," said Ariadne; "him I cannot pity. Oh! he was willing to undertake such a fiendish scheme to smuggle16 Anne and me into that loathsome17 ship, and would have succeeded had not Mr. Granger, who hoodwinked him into believing that he would help him, found means to catch him in a trap instead."
Whereon, in answer to Geoffrey's desire to be told all, his wife related everything that Anne had divulged18 on her return.
Extreme as Geoffrey's anger was--and in that anger he felt almost inclined to go ashore19 and punish Granger in some way for having dared use his wife's name as a means whereby to lure20 Bufton to his doom--surprise once more took possession of him when he heard Ariadne say--
"Poor Mr. Granger! What a sad fate has been his. Oh! Geoffrey, why did not you tell me before that, Lady Glastonbury was--was----"
"Tell you, child! Why, how could I tell you anything I did not know? 'Lady Glastonbury!' What was she to him that you speak thus?"
"Sophy Jervis was my dearest friend once at Gosport, and--as you know--she married Lord Glastonbury."
"Well! Ariadne."
"And Sophy Jervis was loved by, and herself loved madly, Lewis Granger."
"My God! And sacrificed herself to save him. Is that it?"
"It is, as I know now. Though not until to-night, when Anne told me all and enabled me to put one thing with another. And to-morrow," she continued, "I will show you her letters to me. Short of saying what the name of the man whom she loved was, she has told me all."
In the morning she did as she had said she would, and put in her husband's hands a small packet of letters which he read later, not without a man's compassion21 for the wrecked22 love of the unhappy pair, and with, too, much, doubt upon his part as to whether these letters from one woman to another should not have been sacred from any man's eyes. Yet, also, ere he had concluded the perusal23, he understood that it was well that Ariadne had shown them to him.
For in these letters the whole story was narrated24, as Granger had briefly25 told it to Anne overnight in the "Red Rover"; the story of the girl's mad love for the handsome young lieutenant26 and of his for her; of the delirious27 bliss28 of the earliest days of that love; days full of softest wishes and tenderest fears and hopes of happy years to come. Of happy years with him who, so cold to and disdainful of all others, was to her a slave--a slave, but a loving one! Then, while Geoffrey read on--knowing that, as he did so, the tears were in his eyes--the tale was told of how the blow had fallen; of how the man she loved was ruined and disgraced; and that he had committed a crime which would drive him forth29 from the society of all honest men, and out of the service he belonged to--nay! worse, might bring him to the gallows30. Yet she saved him, saved him at last, at the cost of her own happiness in this world; by the perdition of her own soul. The man he had robbed, or attempted to rob, was, by Fortune's favour, one who had wooed her long and unsuccessfully; now he would spare him upon one condition. The condition that she resigned the man she loved, and wedded31 the man who loved her.
"And then," the last letter went on, "oh! my God, then, Ariadne, when I had been Lord Glastonbury's wife for six months, we learnt that the man I had loved was innocent, and that he was the tool of a designing villain32. We learnt it through a letter written to my husband by a woman who had been the friend of that villain and was cognizant of the robbery he was meditating33; by a woman who, discarded and cast off, had found means to communicate with Glastonbury, she imagining that the theft had succeeded. And, darling," the unhappy writer concluded, "my husband, though dissolute, is an honourable34 man; if he could find my unhappy lover he would tell him all, he would send him that woman's letter. It might yet go far to restore him to his proper place in the world. Meanwhile, he intends to write to the Lords of the Admiralty."
Geoffrey called Ariadne to him when he had finished the perusal of the letters, and told her that he had done so; then he said quietly--
"It was a pity Lady Glastonbury never mentioned her lover's name to you. By chance (since I have spoken of him so much of late) we should have been able to help him. Now, it is too late."
"Geoffrey!" she exclaimed, after a moment's meditation35, "let me see him. Perhaps--perhaps--if I let him hear those letters read it might do much to reclaim36 him, low as he has fallen, and horrible as is the calling he follows."
"Yet the calling which I profit by," her husband made answer. "Therefore is he little worse, if any, than we who employ him. But," he continued, "what use in seeing him, Ariadne? What can you do?"
"If I told him all that Sophy has written; if I should plead with him to lead a better life--now that he has exacted so horrible a vengeance on the man who destroyed him--might I not prevail?"
"Prevail! What is there for him to do?"
"God knows! Yet something better than that which he does now. Surely! surely!"
For a moment Geoffrey stood reflecting. He was profoundly impressed by all that he had learnt, as it was most natural he should be. Had not he himself sat upon the very court-martial which condemned37 Lewis Granger to ignominy; had not all upon that awful tribunal regarded him as a common knave38; had not all refused to listen to his protestations of innocence39? Yet now--now!--he was innocent. Everything proved it. Not only the letters of his lost love, but surely, also, the terrible retribution he had exacted from him who had so ruined him. If--if by a pure, good woman's pleading he could be induced to lead a better and more honourable calling, should he stand in the way of helping40 him to do so, even though that woman was his own wife?
Later that day, as Geoffrey inspected some men who had been brought off from the shore--they having been taken by a press-gang overnight after a hard fight--a boat came away from the stairs with, seated in it, Lewis Granger. He had come in answer to a summons from Geoffrey, in which the latter simply said that he wished to speak to him in connection with something in his past life in which they had both played a part. But he had added at the foot another line: "I wish to make you acquainted with Lady Barry."
And now the unhappy man was close at hand, his mind filled with wonder at the strange summons.
"To make me acquainted with his wife," he had whispered to himself a dozen times--nay! a hundred times, since receiving the message. "I! the exposed forger--the man driven out of the Navy for an ignoble41 crime--the crimp of to-day. And this in connection with something in my past, of which her husband knows as well as I! What does it mean?"
Yet, soon, he was himself to know. At once! The boat had reached the side of the ship, the man-ropes were in his hands; above stood Sir Geoffrey Barry, watching him coming on board, with, upon his face, a pleasant glance.
"My God!" Lewis Granger thought to himself, "he looks as once he might have looked at a comrade across the mess-cabin table; as he has never looked yet at me before. And--and--I am to be made acquainted with his wife!"
Geoffrey held out his hand to Granger when he reached the deck, noting as he did that the man had come as a gentleman to visit a lady. He was clad now in a quiet but good black costume; he was also clean-shaven and neat, which he had not been before. His wig42 was new and freshly powdered, and his lace was faultless. A different person this from the one who sat day by day in Jamaica Court, consigning43 drunkards and kidnapped men to their fate.
"Granger, I sent for you to tell you some news that has come to me. Through my wife, who has heard it from a lady--from----"
"Sophy!" the other whispered, divining all--or, perhaps it was not a whisper, his lips alone forming the word, though uttering no sound. While as they did so, he turned white as death.
"Yes. She has heard--her husband has heard--strange news. Nay, Granger, be steady," he said, breaking off as he saw the other put out his hand and touch a gun-carriage as though he feared to fall.
"What has--she--heard?" the latter asked a moment later, his voice almost inaudible.
"That--that--we who sat in judgment44 on you--that--that--all were wrong. I think it can be proved."
"It is too late," Granger said. "Too late. I have fallen too low. Do you know that since it all happened I--God help me!--have been drinking myself to death? That, now I have avenged45 myself on the man who ruined me, I shall do so even more furiously? To end all."
"No! No! Think! Think still on what may be. If--if their Lordships are but satisfied that you were misjudged--I do not know--but--perhaps--it might be possible in these times of war to reinstate you. I do not know, I repeat. But it may be."
"Could that restore to me the woman I loved--the woman whom, Heaven help me, I love madly still? Can anything do that?"
"No," Geoffrey answered, his tone low yet full of sympathy. "No. Nothing can do that. But it might make her happy, might ease some of her pain. If she could know that you were righted in the world's eyes, if she knew that the shame which has covered you was swept away for ever--could not that make her happy?"
"It would perhaps make our lot easier to bear," Granger answered. Then in a clearer voice, he said, "I knew that Lady Barry and Sophy--had been friends from girlhood. That was one, though but one reason why I helped Anne to ensnare that scheming scoundrel."
"For that at least I thank you--for punishing him for his vile46 and wicked insolence47. Now, tell me, did he in truth design to put her--great heavens! to think of it--on board the Nederland?"
"He swallowed the bait I held out to him; jumped at it. He was so eager to see the plan carried out that, thus, he fell into my power. Yes, even at the last, and meditating further a double treachery, he fell into my power. You have heard that?"
"Yes. I have heard all. But--how can I pity him? Now come and see my wife," and Geoffrey made a step towards the cabin aft.
"Not yet. Not yet. Give me one moment to recover myself. To meet her--Sophy's friend--will be an ordeal48 to me. Let me collect myself."
Geoffrey busied himself about the deck, giving orders for the bestowal49 of raffle50 and other things until he thought Granger might feel sufficiently51 calm to meet Ariadne, then, turning to where the latter still stood with his eyes fixed52 on the river, he said again--
"Come. She desires so much to see you."
"Go on. Lead me to her."
Whereon, conducting Granger past the sentry53 and through the outer cabin, or office, he tapped gently on the door of the saloon, and opening it, said--
"Ariadne, Mr. Granger is here," while, motioning the other to enter, he closed the door, not going in himself.
"'Tis best that they should be alone," he thought, his mind delicate and manly54 as ever. "Far better. It is indeed an ordeal for him."
And Granger, entering that saloon--while thinking how long it was since he had been admitted as a visitor to such a place--how long since he had stood face to face and on terms of equality with a gentle, refined woman!--knew that before him, and gazing pityingly at him, was Ariadne Barry, the dearest friend of the woman whom he had loved and lost.
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1
exasperation
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| n.愤慨 | |
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frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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5
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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smuggle
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| vt.私运；vi.走私 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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18
divulged
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| v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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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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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
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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33
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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36
reclaim
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| v.要求归还，收回；开垦 | |
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37
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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38
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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40
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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41
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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42
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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43
consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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44
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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45
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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46
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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47
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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48
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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49
bestowal
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| 赠与，给与； 贮存 | |
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50
raffle
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| n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售 | |
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51
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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52
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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53
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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54
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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