One of the servants addressed him as he was leaving the schoolroom. The landlady’s boy was waiting in the hall, with a message from his lodgings7.
“Now then! what is it?” he asked, irritably8.
“The lady wants you, sir.” With this mysterious answer, the boy presented a visiting card. The name inscribed9 on it was—“Miss Jethro.”
She had arrived by the train, and she was then waiting at Alban’s lodgings. “Say I will be with her directly.” Having given the message, he stood for a while, with his hat in his hand—literally lost in astonishment10. It was simply impossible to guess at Miss Jethro’s object: and yet, with the usual perversity11 of human nature, he was still wondering what she could possibly want with him, up to the final moment when he opened the door of his sitting-room12.
She rose and bowed with the same grace of movement, and the same well-bred composure of manner, which Doctor Allday had noticed when she entered his consulting-room. Her dark melancholy13 eyes rested on Alban with a look of gentle interest. A faint flush of color animated14 for a moment the faded beauty of her face—passed away again—and left it paler than before.
“I cannot conceal15 from myself,” she began, “that I am intruding16 on you under embarrassing circumstances.”
“May I ask, Miss Jethro, to what circumstances you allude17?”
“You forget, Mr. Morris, that I left Miss Ladd’s school, in a manner which justified18 doubt of me in the minds of strangers.”
“Speaking as one of those strangers,” Alban replied, “I cannot feel that I had any right to form an opinion, on a matter which only concerned Miss Ladd and yourself.”
Miss Jethro bowed gravely. “You encourage me to hope,” she said. “I think you will place a favorable construction on my visit when I mention my motive19. I ask you to receive me, in the interests of Miss Emily Brown.”
Stating her purpose in calling on him in those plain terms, she added to the amazement20 which Alban already felt, by handing to him—as if she was presenting an introduction—a letter marked, “Private,” addressed to her by Doctor Allday.
“I may tell you,” she premised, “that I had no idea of troubling you, until Doctor Allday suggested it. I wrote to him in the first instance; and there is his reply. Pray read it.”
The letter was dated, “Penzance”; and the doctor wrote, as he spoke21, without ceremony.
“MADAM—Your letter has been forwarded to me. I am spending my autumn holiday in the far West of Cornwall. However, if I had been at home, it would have made no difference. I should have begged leave to decline holding any further conversation with you, on the subject of Miss Emily Brown, for the following reasons:
“In the first place, though I cannot doubt your sincere interest in the young lady’s welfare, I don’t like your mysterious way of showing it. In the second place, when I called at your address in London, after you had left my house, I found that you had taken to flight. I place my own interpretation22 on this circumstance; but as it is not founded on any knowledge of facts, I merely allude to it, and say no more.”
Arrived at that point, Alban offered to return the letter. “Do you really mean me to go on reading it?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
Alban returned to the letter.
“In the third place, I have good reason to believe that you entered Miss Ladd’s school as a teacher, under false pretenses23. After that discovery, I tell you plainly I hesitate to attach credit to any statement that you may wish to make. At the same time, I must not permit my prejudices (as you will probably call them) to stand in the way of Miss Emily’s interests—supposing them to be really depending on any interference of yours. Miss Ladd’s drawing-master, Mr. Alban Morris, is even more devoted24 to Miss Emily’s service than I am. Whatever you might have said to me, you can say to him—with this possible advantage, that he may believe you.”
There the letter ended. Alban handed it back in silence.
Miss Jethro pointed25 to the words, “Mr. Alban Morris is even more devoted to Miss Emily’s service than I am.”
“Is that true?” she asked.
“Quite true.”
“I don’t complain, Mr. Morris, of the hard things said of me in that letter; you are at liberty to suppose, if you like, that I deserve them. Attribute it to pride, or attribute it to reluctance26 to make needless demands on your time—I shall not attempt to defend myself. I leave you to decide whether the woman who has shown you that letter—having something important to say to you—is a person who is mean enough to say it under false pretenses.”
“Tell me what I can do for you, Miss Jethro: and be assured, beforehand, that I don’t doubt your sincerity27.”
“My purpose in coming here,” she answered, “is to induce you to use your influence over Miss Emily Brown—”
“With what object?” Alban asked, interrupting her.
“My object is her own good. Some years since, I happened to become acquainted with a person who has attained28 some celebrity29 as a preacher. You have perhaps heard of Mr. Miles Mirabel?”
“I have heard of him.”
“I have been in correspondence with him,” Miss Jethro proceeded. “He tells me he has been introduced to a young lady, who was formerly30 one of Miss Ladd’s pupils, and who is the daughter of Mr. Wyvil, of Monksmoor Park. He has called on Mr. Wyvil; and he has since received an invitation to stay at Mr. Wyvil’s house. The day fixed31 for the visit is Monday, the fifth of next month.”
Alban listened—at a loss to know what interest he was supposed to have in being made acquainted with Mr. Mirabel’s engagements. Miss Jethro’s next words enlightened him.
“You are perhaps aware,” she resumed, “that Miss Emily Brown is Miss Wyvil’s intimate friend. She will be one of the guests at Monksmoor Park. If there are any obstacles which you can place in her way—if there is any influence which you can exert, without exciting suspicion of your motive—prevent her, I entreat32 you, from accepting Miss Wyvil’s invitation, until Mr. Mirabel’s visit has come to an end.”
“Is there anything against Mr. Mirabel?” he asked.
“I say nothing against him.”
“Is Miss Emily acquainted with him?”
“No.”
“Is he a person with whom it would be disagreeable to her to associate?”
“Quite the contrary.”
“And yet you expect me to prevent them from meeting! Be reasonable, Miss Jethro.”
“I can only be in earnest, Mr. Morris—more truly, more deeply in earnest than you can suppose. I declare to you that I am speaking in Miss Emily’s interests. Do you still refuse to exert yourself for her sake?”
“I am spared the pain of refusal,” Alban answered. “The time for interference has gone by. She is, at this moment, on her way to Monksmoor Park.”
Miss Jethro attempted to rise—and dropped back into her chair. “Water!” she said faintly. After drinking from the glass to the last drop, she began to revive. Her little traveling-bag was on the floor at her side. She took out a railway guide, and tried to consult it. Her fingers trembled incessantly33; she was unable to find the page to which she wished to refer. “Help me,” she said, “I must leave this place—by the first train that passes.”
“To see Emily?” Alban asked.
“Quite useless! You have said it yourself—the time for interference has gone by. Look at the guide.”
“What place shall I look for?”
“Look for Vale Regis.”
Alban found the place. The train was due in ten minutes. “Surely you are not fit to travel so soon?” he suggested.
“Fit or not, I must see Mr. Mirabel—I must make the effort to keep them apart by appealing to him.”
“With any hope of success?”
“With no hope—and with no interest in the man himself. Still I must try.”
“Out of anxiety for Emily’s welfare?”
“Out of anxiety for more than that.”
“For what?”
“If you can’t guess, I daren’t tell you.”
That strange reply startled Alban. Before he could ask what it meant, Miss Jethro had left him.
In the emergencies of life, a person readier of resource than Alban Morris it would not have been easy to discover. The extraordinary interview that had now come to an end had found its limits. Bewildered and helpless, he stood at the window of his room, and asked himself (as if he had been the weakest man living), “What shall I do?”
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1
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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2
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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7
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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9
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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10
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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12
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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13
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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14
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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16
intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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17
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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18
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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19
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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20
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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21
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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22
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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pretenses
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| n.借口（pretense的复数形式） | |
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24
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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28
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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29
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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30
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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31
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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32
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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