For Miriam and me, however, there was much of sorrow. She had greatly misjudged me, and the recollection of it stung her to the heart. But I had still greater sins upon my soul. I had done much wrong, albeit5 I had intended to do right. Through craft and deceit I had driven the patroon to bay, and I took upon myself the blame for his last great crimes. My remorse6 was a heavy burden and I prayed through many a weary night to be forgiven. At last, after many resolutions and much perusal7 of my Bible, this, too, passed away, and I knew myself a better and a worthier8 man.
358So, with the midsummer brightness came joyful9 times at last. We were all together one afternoon in the assembly hall at the fort. It was a room filled with memories to me. There the Earl had tasted salt when I visited him on my first day in New York; there I had seen the patroon baited to his fall, which he had withstood with quiet dignity; I had seen it full of light and of the sound of merry music on the night when I brought the dreadful news of Sir Evelin’s escape and of the danger which threatened to fall upon the city from the sea. But now all was changed and well in keeping with the brightness of the day without.
Sir Evelin and I were in one corner of the room listening with considerable amusement to a debate which was going on in the center by the great carved table. Lady Marmaduke and the Earl were striving with as much heat as good nature would allow; and Miriam, the cause of their dispute, stood beside them.
“I tell you,” cried Lady Marmaduke hotly, “I tell you it is all nonsense. She shall be married at Marmaduke Hall.”
Miriam looked at me and smiled as the Earl replied: “Nay10, nay, I have a greater claim. She shall be married in the fort, with all the pomp of martial11 music, and my guard drawn12 up in line, and all that.”
“Bah, what is your claim?” cried Lady Marmaduke, stamping her foot upon the floor. “I will not 359have it. She shall be married in my house or I’ll never stir from this spot. What claim have you that she should be married here?”
“If it comes to that,” replied the Earl, with a smile, “I shall make a claim straightway.”
With that he took from the table a legal looking document and handed it to Miriam.
“Unfold, my child, and read what has been set down therein.”
“What, what is this?” cried Miriam, as she cast her eye down the ponderous13 instrument. “This is the title to the estate of Hanging Rock. What have I to do with that? You told me that my father had resigned it into your hands as an act of justice.”
“So he did. Read on, my dear.”
Suddenly the bright spots came out upon her cheeks.
“Can I believe my eyes? It is new engrossed14 and in my name. Do you mean that the manor15-house and park belong to me?”
“Ay; to you and to your heirs forever.”
“Oh, Sir Richard! How can I thank you!”
“Now does the King’s fort deserve the honor of your wedding?”
“Miriam, you will choose Marmaduke Hall.”
“Choose the fort,” said the Earl.
“Let me speak to Vincent.”
She came across the room and whispered to me for a moment. But her mind was already made up, and she soon returned.
360“I thank you both,” she said. “I thank you kindly16. But since I hold this title in my hand, I think—yes, I am sure that Vincent and I shall be married in my own manor at the Hanging Rock.”
And so our trials ended. Many years have gone by since then and the Red Band is forgotten. My noble patron has weathered safely the storm that Captain Kidd’s treachery brought down upon his head; he has long since been gathered to his fathers, honored and lamented17 by all in the whole province of New York. My stern mistress and her husband are dead, too, after a ripe old age, their estate going at last to enrich the poor of the city.
This ends my story, and all words are said save one. My wife and I have spent many happy years since that turbulent fall of 1699—and she has remained a Catholic, and I still cling to the faith of my Huguenot parents. Yet I see the old quarrel in a new light now, and our life together has proved that if the people of our faiths would but cherish the good that is in them instead of quarreling over the bad; if they would recognize, as I did once long ago, that the cross at least is common to us both—if they would do this, peace would come unto the world, as it has come into Miriam’s life and into mine.
THE END
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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worthier
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| 应得某事物( worthy的比较级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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