Burgo Brabazon had many pleasant recollections associated in his mind with his uncle's house in Great Mornington Street. He had nearly always spent his holidays there when a lad, and very jolly times they had generally been. But, on the present occasion, when once the front door was shut behind him, he found himself in an unknown country. Everything was changed. The sober, substantial, thoroughly1 English-looking furniture, which seemed to match so well with the dingy2 Georgian mansion3, had all been swept away and the art upholsterer, with his latest fads4, had had full scope given him to work his own bizarre will.
Burgo was ushered5 into the back drawing-room--a pleasant, home-like room it had been in the old days, where he and his uncle had played many a game of backgammon; but now it was transmogrified out of all recognition, and a chill came over the young fellow's spirits as he looked around. It had been more like home to him than any other place in the world, and now he knew it no longer.
Presently the door opened and a tall, dark, handsome woman, whose age might be anything between thirty and forty, came slowly forward.
"Mr. Brabazon, I presume."
"At your service, Lady Clinton," answered Burgo, as for a moment he bent6 over the rather large, but beautifully shaped hand which was extended for his acceptance.
"I have heard much of you, and am glad to see you. Pray be seated." Her tones were clear and incisive8, like those of a person in the habit of giving orders and of having them obeyed.
When he had sat down, Burgo was enabled to observe her more at his leisure.
Notwithstanding that the bloom and freshness of youth had left her for ever, she was still a very handsome and presentable woman, and had nothing of the typical adventuress in her appearance, as Burgo was fain at once to concede.
Her complexion9 was dark--a clear, dark olive--without being in the least degree sallow. (Burgo called to mind that Cusden had said something about her being of semi-Italian parentage, and he could well believe it) She had a plentiful10 mass of jet black silky hair, and rather thick but finely-curved eyebrows11. But the eyes themselves, which in colour matched her hair, Burgo did not like. They seemed to him cold, watchful12, almost cruel. Her mouth was rather large and her lips were ripe and full--a little too ripe and full some people deemed them, while there were others who counted them as one of the most attractive features of a more than ordinarily attractive physiognomy. For so do opinions differ.
She looked best when she smiled and displayed her splendid teeth, and she was quite aware of the fact.
There was a little pause after they had seated themselves, which Burgo was the first to break.
"I trust that my uncle is quite well, Lady Clinton?" he said.
"I am sorry to say that dear Sir Everard is far from well. We had a rough passage across, and it seems to have upset him considerably13."
"When may I hope to have the pleasure of paying my respects to him?"
"That is more than I can say, in the present state of his health."
"But surely----" began Burgo, and then he stopped. He had been about to say, "But surely he will see me, even although he may not be able to see any one else," when he suddenly remembered that between himself and his uncle there now interposed a barrier which all his wishes might perchance prove powerless to overpass14.
"It will, I trust, Mr. Brabazon, be sufficient if I state that at the present time my husband is not in a condition to see any one--any one at all." She laid a marked emphasis on the words "my husband."
The young man bent his head gravely. "I am sorry to hear you say that, madam--very sorry indeed. I trust, however, that you will not fail to convey my love and dutiful respects to my uncle, who has, indeed, been both father and uncle to me for the last eighteen years." In Burgo's voice there was an unwonted tremor15.
"I will not fail to give your message to Sir Everard," said Lady Clinton, with a half-smile which just showed the pearly line of her teeth.
Burgo, watching her, said to himself, "This woman is my enemy."
He was at a loss to know whether he was now expected to rise and take his leave. Had he been summoned to Great Mornington Street simply to be told that his uncle was ill and declined to receive him?
But Lady Clinton did not leave him long in doubt.
"Pardon me, Mr. Brabazon," she went on after a momentary16 pause, "but did you really come here to-day with the expectation that your uncle would receive you with the same degree of cordiality and affection which he has accorded you on so many previous occasions?"
"I certainly did, and I fail to see in what way such an expectation was unreasonable17."
"Excuse me again; but for the moment you seem to have forgotten the sacrifice--for I can call it by no other term--which, only a few weeks ago, Sir Everard was called upon to make for you."
"I presume your ladyship refers to the payment of my debts?"
Her ladyship gravely inclined her head.
"My uncle was not called upon by me to make any such sacrifice, as you term it. I was asked to supply a list of my debts, and I did so."
"May I ask whether you were in a position to have paid them yourself?"
For the life of him, Burgo could not help colouring up to the very roots of his hair. "That I certainly was not," he replied unhesitatingly.
"Then it was perhaps as well that your uncle should pay them for you, were it only to save the family credit."
"Confound this woman! I begin to hate her as much as she hates me," muttered poor Burgo under his breath.
"This is not the first occasion, I believe, on which Sir Everard has had to relieve you from the burden of your extravagances."
Burgo writhed18 helplessly on his chair.
"Twice previously19 my uncle has had the melancholy20 satisfaction of discharging my liabilities."
"Just so. And yet you come here to-day, and tell me coolly that you expected to be received on precisely21 the same terms as if nothing had happened!"
"Oh, madam!" cried the young man, a fine flame of indignation burning in his eyes; "I have known my uncle all my life, and I judge him by a different--a very different--standard from that which you seem to judge him by. That he would have grumbled22, that he would have scolded me a little, as most fathers and uncles have a way of doing under such circumstances, I was quite prepared to expect; but that he would refuse to see me I would never have believed--never!" His voice broke a little as he finished, and he turned away his head for a moment, ashamed to think that he should have been so moved.
Lady Clinton sat regarding him with her coldly-critical half-smile.
She was one of those people who seem to derive23 a sort of semi-sensuous enjoyment24 from witnessing the mental tortures and anguished25 heart-throbs of their more susceptible26 fellow mortals. Such people have keen powers for analysing in others a certain class of emotions of the existence of which in themselves they have no cognisance.
Lady Clinton gave Burgo a few moments to recover himself, and then she said in her clear, incisive tones: "May I ask, Mr. Brabazon, what your plans for the future are?"
"My plans for the future!" he echoed, looking at her with unmitigated astonishment27. "Upon my word, madam, I am not aware that I have any."
"That is rather sad, is it not? And rather singular, too, if I may venture to say so--considering your age."
"I fail to understand why your ladyship should see anything either sad or singular in such a state of things. I have always left my fortunes, both present and to come, in the hands of my uncle--as it has been his invariable wish that I should do."
"Such being the case, may I assume that any wishes or desires your uncle may choose to give expression to will be regarded as obligatory28 by you?"
Burgo paused before answering. Then he said: "If my uncle himself had put such a question to me three months ago, I should have answered 'Yes' unhesitatingly; but, seeing that it is your ladyship who puts the question to me to-day, I am somewhat at a loss what to reply."
Burgo's barb29 pricked30 her. Her eyes dilated31 a little; two red-hot spots flamed out for a moment on her cheeks and then vanished.
"If I have taken upon myself, Mr. Brabazon, to question you with regard to your plans for the future, I have done so at your uncle's special request. He presumes that, at your age, your future career cannot be altogether a matter of indifference32 to you, and he is desirous of knowing what views and wishes you may have formed with regard to it."
"It seems somewhat strange, madam, that my uncle should all at once profess33 to be so anxious about my future. On more than one occasion, some four or five years ago, I acquainted him with my wishes in the matter, but he chose quietly to set them aside as of no moment, and since that time I have never troubled myself in the affair?"
"Even granting that such may have been the case at the period you speak of," said her ladyship, "you can readily understand, Mr. Brabazon, that certain circumstances which have happened since then may have modified Sir Everard's views in many matters, and in the particular one under consideration among the rest."
"Oh yes, I can quite understand that," answered Burgo, not without a spice of bitterness.
"While fully7 aware that, in all probability, such would be the case, you have not, to quote your own words, troubled yourself further in the affair?"
"I have not--as I said before. When I left college, as I did not fail to impress upon my uncle at the time, I was desirous of entering the army, but it is too late to think of that now. Then it was that my uncle took the responsibility of my future into his own hands, and in his hands it still remains34."
Lady Clinton did not at once reply, but sat gazing through the window like one deep in thought.
Presently Burgo spoke35 again.
"Your ladyship will pardon me, but, from what you have already said, I can only presume that when you asked me to come here to-day, it was because you were in a position to impart to me some information, or to put before me some definite proposition on my uncle's part with respect to my future. If such be the case, I shall be glad to listen to whatever message you may be charged with, with as little further preface as may be."
It was an audacious speech, and her ladyship felt it to be such; indeed, to her it seemed nothing less than a piece of consummate36 impertinence. She stared at him for a moment in icy surprise, but he met her gaze unflinchingly. Evidently there was more in this young man than she had given him credit for.
"When you were requested to call here to-day, Mr. Brabazon, it was not in order to obtain your assent38 to some proposition which I had been commissioned to lay before you (that would have been too ridiculous), but to inform you of the decision which your uncle has come to in respect of matters between yourself and him."
"That is the point, madam, about which I am anxious to be enlightened."
"Very well. Here is Sir Everard's decision in a nutshell. The allowance which his lawyer has been in the habit of paying you quarterly will cease from to-day, and in lieu thereof, and further, as a quittance in full of any imaginary claim which you may have assumed yourself to have on your uncle's pecuniary39 resources, he requests your acceptance of this cheque for one thousand guineas."
As her ladyship ceased speaking, she opened her porte-monnaie, which she had held clasped in one hand all this time, and extracted therefrom a narrow folded slip of paper, and rising, laid it on the table close by where Burgo was sitting. Then she resumed her seat.
It is not too much to say that Burgo was literally40 stunned41. He repeated her ladyship's words automatically to himself before he could feel sure that he had heard aright. For a moment or two he saw everything through a haze42, as one sees things in a half-dream, and when the film had cleared away it was to leave him conscious that Lady Clinton's eyes were fixed43 on him with a cynical44 and, as he fancied, somewhat contemptuous smile. The sight acted on him like an ice-cold douche, and brought him at once to himself.
"So," he said, speaking not without an effort, "the statement I have just heard from your ladyship's lips embodied45 my uncle's ultimatum46, so far as I am concerned?"
"It is Sir Everard's ultimatum--the word is your own, Mr. Brabazon."
"And it is you, madam, whom I have to thank for it."
Lady Clinton set her lips tight, but did not reply.
Burgo rose, and taking up the cheque opened it, and let his eyes rest for a moment or two on the familiar signature.
"This is my answer to the offer of which you are the bearer," he said, looking her straight in the face; and with that he deliberately47 tore the cheque in four, and dropped the pieces on the table. "Never will I touch another shilling of my uncle's money as long as I live."
He turned and took up his hat. "I need not detain you further, Lady Clinton," he said. "But I cannot go without complimenting you on the thoroughly businesslike way in which you have carried out the task you set yourself to do. Madam, I have the honour to wish you a very good day."
He swept her a low bow, and as he did so his eyes crossed fire with hers. There was no flinching37 on either side. They both felt that henceforth it was a duel48 à outrance between them. But already Lady Clinton had drawn49 "first blood."
She rose as the door closed behind Burgo, and drew a deep breath. "So far the day is mine," she said, "but I shall be greatly surprised if I have seen the last of Mr. Burgo Brabazon. If I ever read mischief50 in anybody's eyes, I read it in his. I would give something to know what step he meditates51 first. In any case, it will be nothing dastardly, nothing underhand. Any one not a gentleman would have taken that cheque and have remained my enemy just the same. I am glad I have seen him; under other circumstances I feel that I could both like and admire him--and yet I must brush him from my path. He is the one great obstacle I have to contend against, and he must be sacrificed. If only he would have contented52 himself with the thousand guineas, and have given no further trouble! And now to give Sir Everard my own version of the interview," she added, as she took up the portions of the cheque and tore them into still smaller fragments.
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1
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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9
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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10
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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11
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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13
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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14
overpass
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| n.天桥，立交桥 | |
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15
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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16
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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17
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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18
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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24
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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28
obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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29
barb
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| n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺 | |
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30
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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31
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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35
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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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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37
flinching
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 ) | |
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38
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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39
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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40
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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41
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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42
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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43
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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44
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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45
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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46
ultimatum
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| n.最后通牒 | |
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47
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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48
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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49
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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50
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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51
meditates
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的第三人称单数 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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52
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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