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首页 » 英文短篇小说 » Nelly Channell » CHAPTER XIV. EVE HAZLEBURN, POET AND FRIEND.
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CHAPTER XIV. EVE HAZLEBURN, POET AND FRIEND.
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A very humble1 home it was; but his love had stinted2 self to obtain comforts for them. The light of the February day was fading when he entered the little house, and found his father eagerly watching for him.

“You are a good son,—a good son,” said the old man, in a broken voice. “She is no worse; and Miss Hazleburn is with her.”

Hazleburn! The name had a familiar sound; but Morgan was too weary and agitated3 to remember where he had heard it before. He took his way at once to his mother’s chamber4.

As he went in, a small, slight figure rose from a chair by the bedside, and quietly glided5 away. He scarcely looked at it in the gathering7 dusk; moreover he had no thoughts, just[133] then, for anybody but the mother who lay there yearning8 for a sight of him.

His coming seemed to do Mrs. Foster good, and give her a new hold upon life. It was a low nervous fever that had seized upon her, taking away her strength by slow degrees, until she had grown almost as helpless as an infant. But God had sent her a friend in Eve Hazleburn. And before he slept that night, Morgan had heard from his father’s lips the story of Miss Hazleburn’s unselfish kindness.

Eve was one of those friendless beings who are thrown entirely9 on their own resources, and often get on better than the more favoured children of fortune. She had an easy post as governess in the family of Mr. Gold, a rich Warwickshire merchant;—too easy, as she sometimes said. For the little Golds had holiday two or three times a week, and were not on any account to be burdened with long study hours. The house was in a perpetual bustle10; visitors constantly coming and going. But if her employers were unjust to themselves,[134] they were far from ungenerous to Eve. They would fain have had her share in all their feastings and merry-makings, and laughed and wondered at her liking11 for retirement12 and peace.

There had been sickness in their household. Soon after Christmas the whole family had gone away to a sheltered watering-place, leaving Miss Hazleburn in charge of the house, and of the two servants who remained in it.

She had not made many friends in the city of C——. Her Sundays were her own, and her services in the Sunday-school had won gratitude13 and approval from the vicar of the parish. She went occasionally, but not often, to the vicarage.

The acquaintance between Morgan’s parents and herself was nearly a year old. Their quiet street ran along at the back of the merchant’s great house, and Eve had watched the pair sometimes from her chamber window. Then there was a chance meeting, a slight service rendered, and the governess became their friend and frequent visitor.

[135]

The absence of the Golds left her at liberty to nurse Mrs. Foster in her illness. The servants, being sober and trustworthy, required little watching, and Eve’s time was her own. None ever knew what it cost her to give up all her leisure to the sick woman; none guessed that a cherished plan was quietly laid aside for Mrs. Foster’s sake. The manuscript which Eve had hoped to complete in these holidays of hers was put by. An inner voice told her that God meant her to use her leisure in another way; and Eve’s life was so still, so free from turmoil14 and passion, that she could always hear the voices that spoke15 to her soul.

Days went and came. The old rector of Huntsdean wrote kindly16 to his curate, bidding him stay in Warwickshire as long as his mother needed him. Nelly wrote too; such simple loving letters that every word went like a stab to Morgan’s heart. She also begged him not to hasten his return for her sake. It was good for her, her father told her, to have this slight dash of bitterness in a cup that had been[136] over-sweet. And poor Nelly made so great a show of heroism17 over this little trial of hers, that those of her own household smiled.

Meanwhile Eve and Morgan met every day; and he talked to her about her poem, which was the only production of hers that had as yet found its way into print. The poem was the starting-point from whence they travelled on into each other’s experiences. Ah, how easily and quickly people glide6 into familiar intercourse18 when there is a spiritual kinship between them! Poor Morgan’s heart opened to Eve as naturally as a flower uncloses to the sun. Yet he never suspected that this was the beginning of love.

The curate had not told his parents of his engagement. He had been morbidly19 afraid that it would put a sense of distance between the old people and himself. Therefore he had said nothing about it in his letters, but had waited till he should see them face to face. But now that the time had come, he feared to make the disclosure. His mother[137] was in no condition to bear any startling news. And as to Miss Hazleburn—of what consequence could his affairs be to her? So the intimacy20 went on. He was too blind to see the injustice21 that he was doing Nelly and Eve herself.

“We are really not very new friends,” he said to the governess one day. “I knew you through your poem. We met in the spirit before we met in the flesh.”

“Nobody need be solitary22 nowadays,” answered Eve, brightly. “I have many such spiritual friends, whom I shall probably never see with my bodily eyes. Don’t you think that one of the joys of eternity23 will be in finding out what we have done for each other unconsciously? I am often unspeakably grateful for the printed words that have helped me on.”

“Do you find many companions in Mr. Gold’s house?” he asked.

“No,” she said, frankly24. [138]“You know what it is to like people, and yet have no affinity25 with them. The Golds’ life is a perpetual pleasure-hunt. Parents and children join in the chase from morning till night; there is little rest or stillness in the house. I should be scarcely sorry to leave it.”

“Are you thinking of leaving it?” Morgan inquired.

“Not yet. Indeed, I have no other home,” she answered. “I had a hope, last year, that one might be provided for me; but that is over now.”

They were sitting together in the Fosters’ little parlour while this talk went on. It was Sunday afternoon; Mrs. Foster, now steadily26 making progress towards recovery, was asleep upstairs, and her husband had ventured out to church. The sun was getting low; a yellow light came stealing over the roofs of the opposite houses, and shone full upon Eve’s face. Her last words had been spoken in a sad tone; her eyes looked dreamily out into the narrow street.

She was very far from realizing the interpretation[139] that Morgan had put upon her remark. Nor did she dream of the sudden turmoil that was working within him, as he sat watching her face.

She was not a pretty woman. She had the charms that belong to symmetry of form, and grace of manner and movement. But few of those who were struck at once by Nelly Channell’s beauty would have noticed Eve. They would have failed to see the noble shape of that small head, and the play of light and shade on the careworn27 young face. Yet as Morgan sat watching her, he was stung by the sharpness of jealous agony. Had some man wooed this girl, and been an accepted lover?

He could not endure the idea that those chance words of hers had conjured28 up. The grand passion of his life was revealed to him in a moment. He knew what he felt towards Eve, and knew, too, that this was what he ought to have felt towards another. This was love. It was but a poor counterfeit29 thereof that he had given to Nelly.

[140]

“Some people think nothing of breaking a promise,” she continued, still looking out into the street. “Years ago, when I was a child, and my father was a prosperous man, his friend Mr. Myrtle came to him in sore need of money. My father lent him three thousand pounds. The sum was lent without security, and it was never repaid.”

Morgan breathed more freely; but he thought of Nelly’s legacy30.

“When my father felt himself to be dying,” Eve went on, “he wrote to Mr. Myrtle, reminding him once more of the debt. It was for my sake that he did this, knowing that I should be left quite friendless, and almost penniless. And Mr. Myrtle promised to leave me three thousand pounds in his will. He died last year, Mr. Foster, but there was no legacy for me.”

Morgan’s words of sympathy sounded flat and commonplace. He was too much overcome with shame to be conscious of what he was saying. It was almost a relief when his[141] old father returned from church and broke up the tête-à-tête.

When Mrs. Foster was well enough to move from her bed to a couch, the curate bethought him of returning to Huntsdean. He did not dare to think much of all that awaited him there. He had lived a lifetime in the space of a few weeks, and the village and its associations looked unreal and far away. At this time shame was his dominant31 feeling. He forgot to pity himself for the blunder that he had made—he thought only of his involuntary treachery.

He did not dream of making any confession32 to Nelly; she should be no sufferer through this dreadful mistake of his. And he wrote her as lover-like a letter as he could frame, telling her that he was coming home in a few days.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 humble ddjzU     
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
参考例句:
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
2 stinted 3194dab02629af8c171df281829fe4cb     
v.限制,节省(stint的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Penny-pinching landlords stinted their tenants on heat and hot water. 小气的房东在房客的取暖和热水供应上进行克扣。 来自互联网
  • She stinted herself of food in order to let the children have enough. 她自己省着吃,好让孩子们吃饱。 来自互联网
3 agitated dzgzc2     
adj.被鼓动的,不安的
参考例句:
  • His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定,回答全乱了。
  • She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时,她十分焦虑。
4 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
5 glided dc24e51e27cfc17f7f45752acf858ed1     
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔
参考例句:
  • The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
  • They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 glide 2gExT     
n./v.溜,滑行;(时间)消逝
参考例句:
  • We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着,眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
  • So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞,宛如滑翔。
7 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
8 yearning hezzPJ     
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的
参考例句:
  • a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
  • He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。
9 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
10 bustle esazC     
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹
参考例句:
  • The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深,喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
  • There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。
11 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
12 retirement TWoxH     
n.退休,退职
参考例句:
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
13 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
14 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
15 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
16 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
17 heroism 5dyx0     
n.大无畏精神,英勇
参考例句:
  • He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
  • Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。
18 intercourse NbMzU     
n.性交;交流,交往,交际
参考例句:
  • The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
  • There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。
19 morbidly 0a1798ce947f18fc75a423bf03dcbdba     
adv.病态地
参考例句:
  • As a result, the mice became morbidly obese and diabetic. 结果,老鼠呈现为病态肥胖和糖尿病。 来自互联网
  • He was morbidly fascinated by dead bodies. 他对尸体着魔到近乎病态的程度。 来自互联网
20 intimacy z4Vxx     
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行
参考例句:
  • His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切,这有点言过其实。
  • I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。
21 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
22 solitary 7FUyx     
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士
参考例句:
  • I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
  • The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际,显得十分壮美。
23 eternity Aiwz7     
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷
参考例句:
  • The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
  • Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞,永世相随。
24 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
25 affinity affinity     
n.亲和力,密切关系
参考例句:
  • I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
  • It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。
26 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
27 careworn YTUyF     
adj.疲倦的,饱经忧患的
参考例句:
  • It's sad to see the careworn face of the mother of a large poor family.看到那贫穷的一大家子的母亲忧劳憔悴的脸庞心里真是难受。
  • The old woman had a careworn look on her face.老妇脸上露出忧心忡忡的神色。
28 conjured 227df76f2d66816f8360ea2fef0349b5     
用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 ); 祈求,恳求; 变戏法; (变魔术般地) 使…出现
参考例句:
  • He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
  • His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话,使得我的怒气顿消。
29 counterfeit 1oEz8     
vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的
参考例句:
  • It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
  • The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远,实际是最近的一幅赝品。
30 legacy 59YzD     
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
  • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。
31 dominant usAxG     
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因
参考例句:
  • The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
  • She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。
32 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。


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