Florian rose, a little abashed3?—?though, to be sure, it took a good deal to abash2 Florian. He stood by the desk, hesitating, with his unfinished letter dangling4 idly in his hand, while he debated inwardly what plausible5 lie he could invent on the spur of the moment and palm off to excuse himself. But before he could make up his mind to a suitable story, Linnet?—?that impulsive6 southern Linnet?—?had rushed forward, all eager, with her own version of the episode. “O Will,” she cried, spoiling all by her frank avowal7, “I’m so glad you’ve come at last! I couldn’t bear to wait here in doubt any longer; and Florian’s so kind: he was just going to take me off for the night to his sister’s!”
Will turned from her and gazed at Florian for a brief space in blank surprise. Then, as by degrees it dawned upon him what this treachery really meant, his face changed little by little to one of shocked and horrified8 incredulity. “Florian,” he said, in a very serious voice, “come out here into the passage. This thing must be explained. I want to speak with you.”
Florian followed him on to the landing, hardly knowing what he did. Will’s eye was cold and stern. “Now, look here,” he said, frigidly9, fixing his man with his icy gaze, “it’s no use lying to me. I know as well as you do, you’ve got no sister.”
Florian smiled imperturbable10. “Well, no,” he said, blandly11; “but?—?I thought I might improvise12 one.”
Will took him in at a glance. He pointed13 with one hand to the stairs, impressively, “Go! without another word,” he said. “You’ve behaved like a cad. Instead of trying to save and help this poor girl, you’ve concocted14 a vile15 plan in my absence to ruin her.”
Florian turned to him, cynically16. “You were looking out for a house to take her to yourself,” he answered. “I don’t suppose you meant to return her to her husband. If you may do it, why not I as well? Two can play at that game, you know. It’s quits between us. You needn’t pretend to such high morality at the very moment when you’re engaged in enticing17 another man’s wife away from her husband.”
Will didn’t deign18 any further to bandy words with the fellow. “Go!” he said, once more, pointing sternly to the doorway19. Florian turned on his heel, and slunk down the stairs, as jauntily20 as he could, but looking for all that just a trifle disconcerted. Will leant over the banisters, as he went, with a sudden afterthought. “And if ever you dare to say anything to anyone on earth about having seen Linnet here, at my rooms, to-night,” he called out, very pointedly21, “I shall think you, if possible, even a greater cad than I think you now, and not hesitate to say so.”
He returned to Linnet in his sitting-room22. He wouldn’t speak before her to Florian because he couldn’t bear she should even suspect how bad an opinion the man had had of her, and what plot he had laid for her.
“You shall go round to Mrs Palmer’s, Linnet,” he said, taking her hand in his. “The place Florian spoke23 of isn’t at all the right place for a girl like you. But Rue24 will receive you like a sister till we can arrange some other plan for you. At her house, you’ll be safe from every whisper of scandal.”
“You’ll take me there, won’t you?” Linnet inquired, gazing wistfully at him.
On that point, however, Will was firm as a rock. “No, dearest,” he answered, laying one hand on her full round arm, persuasively25. “You must go there alone, with only your maid. It’s better so. Rue has a friend or two coming in to dine with her to-night. They’ll see you arrive at her door by yourself; and if any talk comes of it, they’ll know how to answer it.”
Linnet flung herself upon him once more, in a last clinging embrace. She was wildly in love with him. Will pressed her hard to his heart; then he gently disengaged himself, and led her to the door. A cab was in waiting?—?the cab that brought him there. Linnet got into it at once, and drove off with Ellen. In twenty minutes more, she was in Rue’s pretty drawing-room.
That night, when all the rest were gone, she and Rue sat up long and late, talking together earnestly. Their talk was of Will. Linnet didn’t try to conceal27 from her new friend how much she loved him. Rue listened sympathetically, suppressing her own heart, so that Linnet ceased even to remember to herself how she had thought once of the grand lady as her most dangerous rival.
But all the time, Rue preached to her one line of action alone: “You must get a divorce, of course, dear, and marry Will Deverill.” And all the time, Linnet shook her head, and answered through her tears, “A divorce to me is a mockery and a delusion28. I’d rather stop with him openly, and defy the world and the Church together, than affront29 my God by pretending to marry him, when I know in my heart Andreas Hausberger is and must always be my one real husband.”
At last they went to bed. Neither slept much that evening. Linnet thought about Will; Rue thought about Linnet. As things now stood, Rue would give much to help them. Since Will loved this woman far more than he loved her, she wished indeed Linnet might be freed at last from that hateful man, and they two might somehow be happy together. Only the Church stood in the way?—?that implacable Church, with its horrible dogma of indissoluble marriage.
Next day, Linnet spent very quietly at Rue’s. Will never came near the house; but he wrote round a long and earnest letter to Linnet, urging her with all the force and persuasiveness30 he knew to go down that night as usual to the theatre. It was best, he said, in order to avoid a scandal, that she should appear to have left her unworthy husband on grounds of his own misconduct alone, and be anxious to fulfil in every other way all her ordinary engagements.
Linnet went, sick at heart. She hardly knew how she was to get through Carmen. But when she saw Will’s face in a box at the side, watching her with eager anxiety, she plucked up heart, and, fired by her own excitement, sang her part in that stirring romance as she had never before sung it. She rushed at her Toreador as she would have rushed at Will Deverill. At times, too, as in the cigar factory scene, she was defiant31 with a wonderful and life-like defiance32; for she marked another face in the stalls before her?—?Andreas Hausberger’s hard face, gazing up at his flown bird with intense determination. Rue had come to see her through. At the end of the performance, Rue waited at the door for her. Will passed by, and spoke casually33 just a few simple words of friendly congratulation on her splendid performance; then she drove away, flushed, to Hans Place, in Rue’s carriage.
It didn’t escape her notice, however, that, as she stepped in, Andreas Hausberger stood behind, with his hand on the door of their own hired brougham. As Linnet drove off, he leaned forward to the coachman. “Follow the green livery,” he called out in so loud a voice that Linnet overheard it. When they drew up at Rue’s door, he was close behind them. But he noted34 the number, that was all; he had been there before, indeed, to Rue’s Sunday afternoons, and only wished to make sure of the house, and that Linnet was stopping there. “Drive on home,” he called to the man; and disappeared in the distance. Linnet looked after him and shuddered35. She knew what that meant; and she trembled at the thought. He would come back to fetch her.
She was a Catholic still. If he came and bid her follow him?—?her lawful36 husband?—?how could she dare refuse him?
All that night long, she lay awake and prayed, torturing her pure soul with many doubts and terrors. In the lone26 hours of early morning, ghastly fears beset37 her. The anger of Heaven seemed to thunder in her ears; the flames of Hell rose up to take hold of her. She would give her very life to go back again to Will; and the nether38 abyss yawned wide its fiery39 mouth to receive her as she thought it. She would go back to Will, let what would, come;?—?but she knew it was wrong; she knew it was wicked; she knew it was the deadly, unspeakable sin; she knew she must answer before the throne of God for it.
Oh, how could she confess it, even to her own parish priest! How ask for penance40, absolution, blessing41, when she meant in her heart to live, if she could, every day of her life in unholy desire or unholy union! O God, God, God, how could she face his anger!
She rose next morning, very pale and haggard. Rue tried to console her. But no Protestant consolation42 could touch those inner chords of her ingrained nature. Strange to say, all those she loved and trusted most were of the alien creed43; and in these her deepest doubts and fears and troubles they could give her no comfort. About eleven o’clock came a knock at the door. Linnet sat in the breakfast-room; she heard a sound of feet on the staircase hard by?—?two men being shown up, as she guessed, into the drawing-room.
The servant brought down two cards. Linnet looked at them with a sinking heart. One was Andreas Hausberger’s; the other bore the name of her London confessor, a German-speaking priest of the pro-Cathedral at Kensington.
She passed them to Rue with a sigh. “I may go up with you?” Rue cried, for she longed to protect her.
But Linnet shrank back. “Oh no, dear,” she answered, shaking her head very solemnly. “How I wish you could come! You could sit and hold my hand. It would do me so much good. But this is a visit of religion. My priest wouldn’t like it.”
She went upstairs with a bold step, but with a throbbing44 heart. Rue followed her anxiously, and took a chair on the landing. What happened next inside, she couldn’t hear in full, but undertones of it came wafted45 to her through the door indistinctly. There was a blur46 of sounds, among which Rue could distinguish Andreas Hausberger’s cold tone, not angry, indeed, but rather low and conciliatory; the priest’s sharp German voice, now inquiring, now chiding47, now hortative48, now minatory49; and Linnet’s trembling speech, at first defiant, then penitently50 apologetic, at last awestruck and terrified. Rue leant forward to listen. She could just distinguish the note, but not the words. Linnet was speaking now very earnestly and solemnly. Then came a pause, and the priest spoke next?—?exhorting51, threatening, denouncing, in fierce German gutturals. His voice was like the voice of the angry Church, reproving the sins of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the lusts52 of the body. Linnet bowed her head, Rue felt sure, before that fierce denunciation. There was a noise of deep sobs54, the low wail55 of a broken heart. Rue drew back, aghast. The Church was having its way. They had terrified Linnet.
For the first time in her life, the gentle-hearted American felt herself on the side of the sinners. She would have given anything just that moment to get Linnet away from those two dreadful men, and set her down unawares in Will’s chambers56 in Duke Street. She tried hard to open the door, but the key was turned. “Linnet, Linnet!” she cried, knocking loud, and calling the poor girl by her accustomed pet name, “let me in! I want to speak to you!”
“No, dear; I can’t!” Linnet answered through the door, gulping57 down a great sob53. “I must fight it out by myself. My sin; my punishment.”
The voices went on again, a little lower for a while. Then sobs came thick and fast. Linnet was crying bitterly. Rue strained her ear to hear; she couldn’t catch a single syllable58. The priest seemed to be praying, as she thought,?—?praying in Latin. Then Linnet appeared to answer. For more than an hour together they wrestled59 with one another. At the end of that time, the tone of the priest’s voice changed. It was mild; it was gracious. In an agony of horror, Rue realised what that meant. She felt sure he must be pronouncing or promising60 absolution.
So Linnet must have confessed!?—?must have renounced61 her sin!?—?must have engaged to go back and live with that man Andreas!
Right or wrong, crime or shame, Rue would have given ten thousand pounds that moment?—?to take her back to Will Deverill’s.
As Rue thought that thought, the door opened at last, and the three came forth62 right before her on the landing.
Andreas and the priest wore an air of triumph. Linnet walked out in front of them, red-eyed, dejected, miserable63. The Church had won; but, O God, what a victory!
Rue sprang at her and seized her hand. “Linnet, Linnet!” she cried agonised, “don’t tell me you’ve let these two men talk you over! Don’t tell me you’re going back to that dreadful man! Don’t tell me you’re going to give up Will Deverill for such a creature!”
Linnet fell upon her neck, weeping. “Rue, Rue, dear Rue,” she sobbed64 out, heart-broken, and half beside herself with love and religious terror, “it is not to him that I yield, O lieber Gott, not to him, but to the Church’s orders.”
“But you mustn’t!” Rue cried, aghast, and undeterred by the frowning priest. “You must stop here with me, and get a divorce, and marry him!” And she flung herself upon her.
“There! what did I say?” Andreas interposed, with a demonstrative air, turning round to the man of God. “I told you I must take her away from London at once, at all costs, at all hazards?—?if you didn’t want her to fall into deadly sin, and the Church to lose its hold over her soul altogether.”
The priest looked at Rue with a most disapproving65 eye. “Madam,” he said, curtly66, in somewhat German English, “with exceeding great difficulty have I rescued this erring67 daughter from the very brink68 of mortal sin?—?happily, as yet unconsummated; and now, will you, a married woman yourself, who know what all this means, drive her back from her husband into the arms of her lover?”
“Yes, yes; I will!” Rue cried boldly?—?and, oh, how Linnet admired her for it! “I will! I will! I’ll drive her back to Will Deverill! Anything to get her away from that man whom she hates! Anything to get her back to the other whom she loves! Linnet, Linnet, come away from them! Come up with me to my bedroom!”
But Linnet drew back, trembling. “Yes, yes; I hate him!” she wailed69 out passionately70, looking across at her husband. “I hate him! Oh, I hate him! And yet, I will go with him. Not for him, but for the Church! Oh, I hate him! I hate him!”
The priest turned to Andreas. “I absolved71 her too soon, perhaps,” he said, in German. “Her penitence72 is skin-deep. She is still rebellious73. Quick, quick, hurry her off from this sinful adviser74. You’ll do well, as you say, to get her away as soon as you can?—?clear away from London. It’s no place for her, I’m sure, so long as this man . . . and his friends and allies . . . are here to tempt75 her.”
Rue clung hard to her still. “Linnet, dear,” she cried, coaxingly76, “come up to my room! You’re not going with them, are you?”
“Yes; I am, dear,” Linnet sobbed out, in a heart-broken tone. “Oh, how good you are!?—?how sweet to me! But I must go. They have conquered me.”
“Then I’ll go round this very minute,” Rue burst forth through her tears, “and tell Will what they’re doing to you. If it was me, I’d defy them and their Church to their faces. I’ll go round and tell Will?—?and Will’ll come and rescue you!”
The priest motioned Linnet hastily with one hand down the stairs. “Sie haben recht, Herr Hausberger,” he murmured low. “Apage retro, Satanas! With temptations like these besetting77 her path, we shall be justified78 in hurrying away this poor weak lamb of our flock from the very brink of a precipice79 that so threatens to fall with her.”
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1
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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2
abash
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| v.使窘迫，使局促不安 | |
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abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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frigidly
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| adv.寒冷地；冷漠地；冷淡地；呆板地 | |
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imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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improvise
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| v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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concocted
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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19
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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21
pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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23
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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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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persuasively
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| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
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26
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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30
persuasiveness
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| 说服力 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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40
penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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41
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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42
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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44
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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45
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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47
chiding
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| v.责骂，责备( chide的现在分词 ) | |
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48
hortative
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| adj.激励的 | |
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49
minatory
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| adj.威胁的；恫吓的 | |
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50
penitently
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51
exhorting
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的现在分词 ) | |
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52
lusts
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| 贪求（lust的第三人称单数形式） | |
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53
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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54
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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55
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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56
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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57
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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58
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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59
wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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60
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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61
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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62
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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63
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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64
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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65
disapproving
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| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
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66
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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erring
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| 做错事的，错误的 | |
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68
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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69
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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71
absolved
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| 宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责） | |
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72
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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73
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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75
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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76
coaxingly
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| adv. 以巧言诱哄，以甘言哄骗 | |
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77
besetting
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| adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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78
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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79
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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