Fanny Brocklebank, as she passed the library, had thought it worth while to look in upon Straker with the news.
Straker could not help suspecting his hostess of an iniquitous1 desire to see how he would take it. Or perhaps she may have meant, in her exquisite2 benevolence3, to prepare him. Balanced on the arm of the opposite chair, the humor of her candid4 eyes chastened by what he took to be a remorseful5 pity, she had the air of preparing him for something.
Yes. She had arrived. She was upstairs, over his very head—resting.
Straker screwed up his eyes. Only by a prodigious6 effort could he see Miss Tarrant resting. He had always thought of her as an unwinking, untiring splendor7, an imperishable fascination8; he had shrunk from inquiring by what mortal process she renewed her formidable flame.
By a gesture of shoulders and of eyebrows9 Fanny conveyed that, whatever he thought of Philippa Tarrant, she was more so than ever. She—she was simply stupendous. It was Fanny's word. He would see. She would appear at teatime. If he was on the terrace by five he would see something worth seeing. It was now a quarter to. [Pg 98]
He gathered that Fanny had only looked in to tell him that he mustn't miss it.
Not for worlds would he have missed it. But the clock had struck five, and Straker was still lingering in the library over the correspondence that will pursue a rising barrister in his flight to the country. He wasn't in a hurry. He knew that Miss Tarrant would wait for her moment, and he waited too.
A smile of acclamation greeted his dilatory10 entrance on the terrace. He was assured that, though late, he was still in time. He knew it. She would not appear until the last guest had settled peaceably into his place, until the scene was clear for her stunning11, her invincible12 effect. Then, in some moment of pause, of expectancy——
Odd that Straker, who was so used to it, who knew so well how she would do it, should feel so fresh an interest in seeing her do it again. It was almost as if he trembled for her and waited, wondering whether, this time, she would fail of her effect, whether he would ever live to see her disconcerted.
Disconcerting things had happened before now at the Brocklebanks', things incongruous with the ancient peace, the dignity, the grand style of Amberley. It was owing to the outrageous13 carelessness with which Fanny Brocklebank mixed her house parties. She delighted in daring combinations and startling contrasts. Straker was not at all sure that he himself had not been chosen as an element in a daring combination. Fanny could hardly have forgotten that, two years ago, he had been an adorer (not altogether prostrate) of Miss Tarrant, and he had given her no grounds for supposing that he had changed his attitude. In the absence of authentic14 information Fanny could only suppose that he had been dished, regularly dished, first by [Pg 99] young Reggy Lawson and then by Mr. Higginson. It was for Mr. Higginson that Philippa was coming to Amberley—this year; last year it had been for Reggy Lawson; the year before that it had been for him, Straker. And Fanny did not scruple15 to ask them all three to meet one another. That was her way. Some day she would carry it too far. Straker, making his dilatory entrance, became aware of the distance to which his hostess had carried it already. It had time to grow on him, from wonder to the extreme of certainty, in his passage down the terrace to the southwest corner. There, on the outskirts16 of the group, brilliantly and conspicuously17 disposed, in postures18 of intimate communion, were young Laurence Furnival and Mrs. Viveash. Straker knew and Fanny knew, nobody indeed knew better than Fanny, that those two ought never to have been asked together. In strict propriety19 they ought not to have been at Amberley at all. Nobody but Fanny would have dreamed of asking them, still less of combining them with old Lady Paignton, who was propriety itself. And there was Miss Probyn. Why Miss Probyn? What on earth did dear Fanny imagine that she could do with Mary Probyn—or for her, if it came to that? In Straker's experience of Fanny it generally did come to that—to her doing things for people. He was aware, most acutely aware at this moment, of what, two years ago, she would have done for him. He had an idea that even now, at this hour, she was giving him his chance with Philippa. There would no doubt be competition; there always had been, always would be competition; but her charming eyes seemed to assure him that he should have his chance.
They called him to her side, where, with a movement of protection that was not lost on him, she had [Pg 100] made a place for him apart. She begged him just to look at young Reggy Lawson, who sat in agony, sustaining a ponderous20 topic with Miss Probyn. He remembered Reggy? Her half-remorseful smile implied that he had good cause to remember him. He did. He was sorry for young Reggy, and hoped that he found consolation21 in the thought that Mr. Higginson was no longer young.
He remarked that Reggy was looking uncommonly22 fit. "So," he added irrelevantly23, "is Mrs. Viveash. Don't you think?"
Fanny Brocklebank looked at Mrs. Viveash. It was obvious that she was giving her her chance, and that Mrs. Viveash was making the very most of it. She was leaning forward now, with her face thrust out toward Furnival; and on her face and on her mouth and in her eyes there burned visibly, flagrantly, the ungovernable, inextinguishable flame. As for the young man, while his eyes covered and caressed24 her, the tilt25 of his body, of his head, of his smile, and all his features expressed the insolence26 of possession. He was sure of her; he was sure of himself; he was sure of many things. He, at any rate, would never be disconcerted. Whatever happened he was safe. But she—there were things that, if one thing happened, she would have to face; and as she sat there, wrapped in her flame, she seemed to face them, to fling herself on the front of danger. You could see she was ready to take any risks, to pay any price for the chance that Fanny was giving her.
It really was too bad of Fanny.
"Why did you ask them?" Straker had known Fanny so long that he was privileged to inquire.
"Because—they wanted to be asked."
Fanny believed, and said that she believed, in giving [Pg 101] people what they wanted. As for the consequences, there was no mortal lapse27 or aberration28 that could trouble her serenity29 or bring a blush to her enduring candor30. If you came a cropper you might be sure that Fanny's judgment31 of you would be pure from the superstition32 of morality. She herself had never swerved33 in affection or fidelity34 to Will Brocklebank. She took her excitements, lawful35 or otherwise, vicariously in the doomed36 and dedicated37 persons of her friends. Brocklebank knew it. Blond, spectacled, middle-aged38, and ponderous, he regarded his wife's performances and other people's with a leniency39 as amazing as her own. He was hovering40 about old Lady Paignton in the background, where Straker could see his benignant gaze resting on Furnival and Mrs. Viveash.
"Poor dears," said Fanny, as if in extenuation41 of her tolerance42, "they are enjoying themselves."
"So are you," said Straker.
"I like to see other people happy. Don't you?"
"Yes. If I'm not responsible for their—happiness."
"Who is responsible?" She challenged.
"I say, aren't you?"
"Me responsible? Have you seen her husband?"
"I have."
"Well——" she left it to him.
"Where is Viveash?"
"At the moment he is in Liverpool, or should be—on business."
"You didn't ask him?"
"Ask him? Is he the sort you can ask?"
"Oh, come, he's not so bad."
"He's awful. He's impossible. He—he excuses everything."
"I don't see him excusing this, or your share in it. If he knew." [Pg 102]
"If he knew what?"
"That you'd asked Furny down."
"But he doesn't know. He needn't ever know."
"He needn't. But people like Viveash have a perfect genius for the unnecessary. Besides——"
He paused before the unutterable, and she faced him with her smile of innocent interrogation.
"Well," he said, "it's so jolly risky43. These things, you know, only end one way."
Fanny's eyes said plainly that to their vision all sorts of ways were possible.
"If it were any other man but——" He stopped short at Furnival's name.
Fanny lowered her eyes almost as if she had been convicted of indiscretion.
"You see," she said, "any other man wouldn't do. He's the one and only man. There never was any other. That's the awful part of it for her."
"Then why on earth did she marry the other fellow?"
"Because Furny couldn't marry her. And he wouldn't, either. That's not his way."
"I know it's not his way. And if Viveash took steps, what then?"
"Then perhaps—he'd have to."
"Good Lord——"
"Oh, it isn't a deep-laid plan."
"I never said it was."
He didn't think it. Marriages had been made at Amberley, and divorces, too; not by any plan of Fanny's, but by the risks she took. Seeing the dangerous way she mixed things, he didn't, he couldn't suspect her of a plan, but he did suspect her of an unholy joy in the prospect44 of possible explosions. [Pg 103]
"Of course," she said, reverting45 to her vision, "of course he'd have to."
She looked at Straker with eyes where mischief46 danced a fling. It was clear that in that moment she saw Laurence Furnival the profane47, Furnival the scorner of marriage, caught and tied: punished (she scented48 in ecstasy49 the delicate irony50 of it), so beautifully punished there where he had sinned.
Straker began to have some idea of the amusement Fanny got out of her house parties.
For a moment they had no more to say. All around them there was silence, born of Mrs. Viveash and her brooding, of young Reggy's trouble with Miss Probyn, and of some queer triangular51 complication in the converse52 of Brocklebank, Lady Paignton, and Mr. Higginson. In that moment and that pause Straker thought again of Miss Tarrant. It was, he said to himself, the pause and the moment for her appearance. And (so right was he in his calculation) she appeared.
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1
iniquitous
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| adj.不公正的；邪恶的；高得出奇的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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remorseful
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| adj.悔恨的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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10
dilatory
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| adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的 | |
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stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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16
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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18
postures
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| 姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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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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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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irrelevantly
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| adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地 | |
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24
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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26
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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28
aberration
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| n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差 | |
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29
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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30
candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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31
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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33
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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35
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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38
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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39
leniency
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| n.宽大（不严厉） | |
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40
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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41
extenuation
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| n.减轻罪孽的借口；酌情减轻；细 | |
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42
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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43
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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44
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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45
reverting
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| 恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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46
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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47
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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48
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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49
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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50
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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51
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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52
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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