Noggs was right. Ralph Nickleby had never ceased to persecute1 Kate and her mother. In fact, when he had invited Kate to the dinner at which she had been insulted, it was for his own evil purpose. He had done so, hoping she might impress the foolish young Lord Verisopht, whose money he was hoping to get, and whom he wished to attract to his house.
The young nobleman, as Ralph had intended, fell in love with Kate's sweet face at once, and found out from her uncle where she lived.
She had lost her first position at the dressmaker's[Pg 172] (for Mr. Mantalini had thrown away his wife's money on race-horses until the sheriff had seized the business), and she was acting2 now as companion to a Mrs. Wititterly, a pale, languid lady who considered herself a very fashionable person indeed, and was always suffering from imaginary ailments3. Lord Frederick and Sir Mulberry Hawk4 came often to the house, pretending to flatter Mrs. Wititterly, but really to see Kate, who heartily5 disliked them both.
Mrs. Wititterly at last came to realize that the two men at whose attentions she had felt so flattered really cared only for her young companion, and, being vain and jealous, she tormented6 and scolded Kate till the poor girl's life was a burden.
At length, feeling that she could endure it no longer, Kate went to Ralph and begged him with tears to help her find another situation, but the money-lender refused to aid her. Noggs, the clerk, was sorry for her, but could do nothing except write to Nicholas, and this was the reason for the letter that had brought Nicholas post-haste back to London.
Just what kind of persecution7 Kate had had to bear he learned by accident almost as soon as he got there.
As he sat in a coffee-house he suddenly heard the words, "little Kate Nickleby," spoken by a man behind him. He turned and listened.
Four men whom he had never seen were drinking[Pg 173] toasts to her, and Nicholas grew hot with rage at the coarse words they used. Sitting there, scarcely able to contain himself, he heard the whole story of his Uncle Ralph's plot, he heard his sister's sufferings derided8, her goodness jeered9 at, her beauty made the subject of insolent10 jests. One of the four men, of course, was Lord Frederick Verisopht, and the coarsest and the most vulgar of them all, as may be guessed, was Sir Mulberry Hawk.
White with anger, Nicholas confronted the party and, throwing down his card on the table, declared that the lady in question was his sister, and demanded of Hawk his name. Hawk refused to answer. Nicholas called him a liar11 and a coward, and seating himself, swore the other should not leave his sight before he knew who he was.
When Hawk attempted to enter his carriage Nicholas sprang on to the step. The other, in a fury, struck him with the whip, and Nicholas, wrenching12 it from him, with one blow laid open Hawk's cheek. The horse, frightened at the struggle, started off at a terrific speed, and Nicholas felt himself hurled13 to the ground.
As he rose, he saw the runaway14 horse, whirling across the pavement, upset the carriage with a crash of breaking glass. Nicholas had no doubt that the man it held had been frightfully hurt if not killed. He felt faint from his own fall, and it was with difficulty that he reached Noggs's garret, whither,[Pg 174] before the adventure in the coffee-room, he had sent Smike to announce his coming.
His first step now was to write a letter to Ralph, telling him he at last knew what a villain15 he was, and that he and his mother and sister cast him off for ever, with shame that they had ever asked his aid. The next day Nicholas took Kate from the Wititterly house and his mother from her poor lodging16, and rented them rooms in another part of the city. Then he started out to find some employment for himself.
For a long time he was unsuccessful, but one day (and a very lucky day Nicholas thought it ever afterward) he met on the street a round-faced, jolly-looking old gentleman, with whom he fell into conversation, and before long, almost without knowing it, he had told him all his troubles.
This old gentleman was named Cheeryble, and the firm to which he belonged was Cheeryble Brothers. He and his twin brother had come to London, barefoot, when they were boys, and though they had grown very rich, they had never forgotten what it was to be poor and wretched. The old gentleman asked Nicholas to come with him to his office and there they met the other Mr. Cheeryble.
Nicholas could scarcely tell the two brothers apart, for they were like as two peas. They were precisely17 the same size, wore clothes just alike and laughed in the same key. Each had even lost exactly the same number of teeth. They were loved[Pg 175] by everybody, for they went through life doing good wherever they could. They both liked Nicholas at once, and the upshot was that they gave him a position in their counting-room and rented a pleasant cottage near by for his mother and Kate.
So there Nicholas took up work and they were all happy and comfortable—very different from Ralph Nickleby, the money-lender, in his fine house, with only the memory of his own wickedness for company.
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1
persecute
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| vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰 | |
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2
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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3
ailments
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| 疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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4
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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6
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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8
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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12
wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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13
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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14
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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15
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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16
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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