Isabel lay buried in the blue easy-chair, her face, encircled by one arm, hidden against its back. The great braids of her yellow hair were dishevelled and loosened, without being in graceful3 disorder4. Her whole form trembled with the force of her hysterical5 sobbing6.
At Annie’s touch upon her shoulder she raised her face quickly. It was tear-stained, haggard, and looked soft with that flabbiness of outline which trouble may give to the fairest woman’s beauty when it is not built upon youth; over this face passed a quick look of disappointment at recognition of Annie.
“Oh, it is you!”
The almost petulant7 words escaped before Isabel could collect herself. She sat up now, wiping her eyes, and striving with all her might for control of her thoughts and tongue.
“Yes, Isabel. I was going up to Sabrina’s room, but I heard you sobbing here, and I felt that I must come to you. It is all so terrible—and I do so feel for you!”
“Terrible—yes, it is terrible! It was kind of you to come—very kind. I—I scarcely realize it all, yet. It was such a shock!”
“I know, poor dear.” Annie laid her hand caressingly8 on the other’s brow. She had not come with over-tenderness in her heart, but this unexpected depth of suffering, so palpably real, touched her keenly. “I know. Don’t try to talk to me—don’t feel that it is necessary. Only let me be of use to you. It will be a dreadful time for you all—and perhaps I can spare you some. I shan’t go to the school to-day. Oughtn’t you to go up to your room now, Isabel, and lie down, and leave me here to—to arrange things?”
“No, not yet! Perhaps soon I will. My impulse is to stay down, to spare myself nothing, to force myself to suffer everything that there is to be suffered. I’ll see; perhaps that may not be best. But not now! not now! No—don’t go! Stay with me. I dread9 to be left alone; my own thoughts murder me!” She rose to her feet, and began pacing to and from the piano. “Let me walk—and you talk to me—anything, it doesn’t matter what—it will help occupy my mind. Oh, yes—were you at Crump’s last night? I heard them come by, late, singing.”
“Oh, Isabel, how can we talk of such trivial things? Yes, I was there; I was in the singing party, too. It makes me shudder10 to think that at that very minute, perhaps——” The girl paused for a moment, with parted lips and troubled face, as if pondering some sudden thought; then exclaimed, “Oh-h! the horse! Could it have been!”
“Could what have been!” Isabel stopped in her caged-panther-like pacing, and looked deep inquiry11.
“But no, of course not! What connection could there have been! You see, after I left the wagon12, to cut across by the path at the end of the poplars, a horse came galloping13 like the wind up the road, with some figure lying low on its back. We were too far away to see distinctly, though the night was so light”—she had insensibly drifted into the use of the plural14 pronoun—“but the thing went by so like a flash that it seemed an apparition15. And come to think of it, there was an effort to avoid noise. I know I wondered at there being such a muffled16 sound, and Seth explained——”
She stopped short, conscious of having said more than she intended.
“Seth was with you, then?”
“Yes—he met me, quite unexpectedly, by the thorns. He had been out walking, he said; the night was too fine to sleep.”
“Yes, I heard him go out, an hour and a half at least before the singers came by. Did he say anything to you about what had happened, here in the house, during the evening?” Isabel’s azure17 eyes took on their darkest hue18 now, in the intentness of her gaze into her companion’s face.
“Only that he had had words with Albert—poor boy! how like a knife the memory of them must be to him now!”
“Did he tell you what the words were about?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything else to you?”
Annie grew restive19 under this persistent20 interrogation. The habit of deference21 to the older, wiser, more beautiful woman was very strong with her, but this did seem like an undue22 strain upon it.
“Why yes, no doubt he did. We talked of a number of things.”
“What were they? What did he say?”
“Well, really, Isabel, I——”
The elder woman gave a little click with her teeth and, after a searching glance into the other’s face, resumed her walk up and down, her hands clenched23 rather than clasped before her, and her movement more feline24 than ever. “Well, really you—what?” she said with the faintest suggestion of a mocking snarl25 in the intonation26.
The girl drew herself up. It was not in human nature to keep her tone from chilling. “Really, I think I would better go up to Sabrina. I fancied I might be of some service to you.”
“Annie! Are you going to speak like that to me?—now of all times!” The tone was outwardly appealing. Annie’s sense was not skilled enough to detect the vibration27 of menace in it.
“No, Isabel, not at all. But you make it hard for me. Can you wonder? I think to comfort a desolate28, stricken woman in her hour of sorrow, and she responds by peremptory29 cross-examination as to what a young man may have said to me, in the moonlight. Is it strange that I am puzzled?”
“Strange! Is not everything strange around and about me! That I should have married as I did; that I, loathing30 farm life, should have come here to live; that I should be waiting here now for them to bring my husband’s corpse31 home to me—is it not all strange, unreal? The conversation ought to be to match, oughtn’t it?”—she spoke32 with an unnatural33, tremulous vivacity34 which pained and frightened the girl—“and so, while we wait, I talk to you about young men, and the moonlight, and all that. Can’t you see that my mind is tearing itself to pieces, like a machine in motion with some big rod or other loose, pounding, crushing, right and left like a flail35! We must talk! Tell me what he said, anything—everything.”
“Why, that isn’t so easy,” Annie replied dubiously36, much mistrusting the sanity37 of all this conversation, but pushed along with it in spite of herself. “He said something about a misunderstanding with his poor brother, and then—then something that I didn’t at all understand about a temptation, a great temptation leading him to the gates of hell he called it—but you know how Seth is given to exaggerate everything—and then——”
“He told you all this, did he. How confiding38! How sweet! Go on—what else did he say to you—in the moonlight.”
Annie felt vaguely39 that the tone was cruel and hostile. As she paused in bewildered self-inquiry, Isabel glided40 forward and confronted her, with gleaming eyes and a white, drawn41 face.
“Why do you stop there?” she demanded in a swift, bitter whisper.
“There are things which—a girl doesn’t like to—have dragged from her in this——”
Even as Annie was forming this halting halfsentence, a change came over the elder woman. She dropped the hand which had been raised as if to clutch Annie’s shoulder. The flashing light passed from her eyes, and something of color, or at least of calm, came back into her face.
“I understand!” she said, simply.
“You can see, Isabel, that this is not a time I should have chosen to speak of such things to you, if you had not insisted. It seems almost barbarous to bring my joy forward, at such a time, and appear to contrast it with your affliction. You won’t think I wanted to do it, will you?”
The widow of a day was looking contemplatively at her companion; she had effaced42 from both expression and voice every trace of her recent agitation43. “Are you sure it is all joy?” she asked calmly.
“I wouldn’t admit it to him. And at first I was not altogether clear about it in my own mind. Indeed, with this other and terrible thing, I can scarcely think soberly about it, as it ought to be thought of. But still—you know, Isabel, we were little children together—and I have never so much as thought of anybody else.” Annie spoke more confidently, as she went on; the notion that there had been malevolence44 in Isabel’s tone had faded into a foolish fancy: there seemed almost encouragement, sympathy, in her present expression. “I should have lived and died an old maid if he had not come to me. And it comforts me, dear, too, to think that in your great trouble I shall have almost a sister’s right to be with you, and help you bear it.”
Isabel did not respond to this tender proffer45 of solace46. She still stood eying her companion reflectively. “You are very certain of being happy, then?” she mused47.
A sense of discordance48 touched the girl’s heart again—a something in the restrained, calm tone which seemed to sting. She looked more searchingly into the speaker’s eyes, and read in their blue depths a mystery of meaning which froze and silenced her. While Annie looked, in growing paralysis49 of thought, Isabel spoke again, slowly:
“Your married life at least won’t be deadly dull, as mine was. There must be great possibilities of excitement in living with a man who can propose marriage to a girl—in the moonlight—on his way home from having murdered his brother!”
Young Samantha Lawton, the member of the tribe who served as maid-of-all-work at the Warren homestead, had a mind at once imaginative and curious. From an upper window she had caught sight of the mournful procession from Tallman’s ravine, winding50 its way down the hill, in the distance. She stole out from the house, whose bedridden occupant could at best only yell herself hoarse51 in calling if she chanced to need anything during her absence, and walked up the path by the thorns to the main road, over which the cortege would presently pass. Inside the sharp angle of shade made at this corner, where the thorns aspiringly joined the poplars, there was an old board seat between two trees, the relic52 of some past and forgotten habit of rendezvous53, perhaps whole generations old. Samantha knew of this seat, and stood on it now; from it, she had a clear view of the road in front and, through the tangled54 thorns, of the meadow-path to the left, while there were branches enough about her to render her practically invisible. From this coign of vantage Samantha saw some things which she had not expected to witness.
Annie Fairchild came suddenly across the line of vision, from the direction of the dead man’s house, and walked straight to the stile at the edge of the thorn row. There was something so curious in the expression of her face, as she advanced, that Samantha scented55 discovery, and prepared on the instant an exculpatory56 lie. But Annie passed the one place where discovery was probable, and the hidden girl saw now that the strange look had some other explanation. She crossed the stile, and clung to the fence post, as if for support; glanced up the road, where now the black front of the nearing procession could be discerned; then with a shudder turned her face in profile toward her unsuspected observer, and looked vacantly, piteously up into the afternoon sky.
Annie’s face, with its straight, firm outlines, was not one which lent itself to the small facial play of evanescent emotions. Its regular features habitually57 expressed an intelligent, self-reliant composure, not easily responsive to shades of feeling. To see this calm countenance58 transfixed now with a helpless stare of anguish59 was to comprehend that something terrible had happened.
She stood at the stile, desperately60 clinging to the rail at first, then edging into the thorns to be more out of sight, as the ambulance and the little file of friends moved slowly by. She noted61 nothing of the peculiarities62 of the procession—that most of the silent followers63 were strange men, in city dress—but only gazed at Seth, walking along gravely behind the vehicle, beside his brother John. She saw him with eyes distended64, fixed—as of one following the unfolding of a hideous65 nightmare. So long as the party remained in sight, these set, affrighted eyes followed him. Then they closed, and the sufferer reeled as if in a swoon.
Samantha’s first and best impulse was to get down and go to the agonized66 woman’s aid; her second, and controlling, thought, was to stop where she was, and see and hear all that was going.
Annie seemed to recover her strength, if not her composure. She wrung67 her hands wildly and talked with strange incoherence aloud to herself. Once she started, as if to cross the stile again and return to the house of mourning, but drew back. At last, walking straight ahead, like one in a dream, she moved toward her home.
Samantha followed at a safe distance, marvelling68 deeply.
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收听单词发音
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1
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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11
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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13
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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14
plural
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| n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的 | |
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15
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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16
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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17
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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27
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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28
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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peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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30
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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31
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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32
spoke
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| 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 | |
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33
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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flail
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| v.用连枷打；击打；n.连枷（脱粒用的工具） | |
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36
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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38
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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39
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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40
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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41
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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42
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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43
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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44
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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45
proffer
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| v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议 | |
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46
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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47
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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48
discordance
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| n.不调和，不和，不一致性；不整合；假整合 | |
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49
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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50
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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51
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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52
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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53
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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54
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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55
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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56
exculpatory
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| adj.辩解的，辩明无罪的 | |
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57
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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58
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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59
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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60
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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61
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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63
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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64
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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66
agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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67
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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68
marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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