"What," said the professor, at the end of his second visit, "is it ten o'clock? I assure you it is usually much later than this when it strikes ten."
"Thank you," said Arbuthnot. "I never heard that civility accomplished1 so dexterously2 before. It is perfectly3 easy to explain the preternatural adroitness4 of speech on which Mrs. Amory prides herself. But don't be too kind to me, professor, and weaken my resolution not to present myself unless I have just appropriated an idea from somewhere. If I should appear some day au naturel, not having taken the precaution to attire5 myself in the mature reflections of my acquaintance, I shouldn't pay you for the wear and tear of seeing me, I'll confess beforehand."
"I once told you," said the professor to Tredennis, after the fourth visit, "that I was not fond of him, but there had been times when I had been threatened with it. This is one of the times. Ah!" with a sigh of fatigue6, "I understand the attraction—I understand it."
The following week Tredennis arrived at the house one evening to find it in some confusion. The coup7é of a prominent medical man stood before the pavement, and the servant who opened the door looked agitated8.
"The professor, sir," he said, "has had a fall. We hope he aint much hurt, and Mr. Arbuthnot and the doctor are with him."
"Ask if I may go upstairs," said Tredennis; and, as he asked it, Arbuthnot appeared on the landing above, and, seeing who was below, came down at once.
"There is no real cause for alarm," he said, "though[Pg 172] he has had a shock. He had been out, and the heat must have been too much for him. As he was coming up the steps he felt giddy and lost his footing, and fell. Doctor Malcolm is with him, and says he needs nothing but entire quiet. I am glad you have come. Did you receive my message?"
"No," answered Tredennis. "I have not been to my room."
"Come into the library," said Arbuthnot. "I have something to say to you."
He led the way into the room, and Tredennis followed him, wondering. When they got inside Arbuthnot turned and closed the door.
"I suppose," he said, "you know no more certainly than I do where Mr. Amory is to be found." And as he spoke9 he took a telegram from his pocket.
"What is the matter?" demanded Tredennis. "What has"—
"This came almost immediately after the professor's accident," said Arbuthnot. "It is from Mrs. Amory, asking him to come to her. Janey is very ill."
"What!" exclaimed Tredennis. "And she alone, and probably without any physician she relies on!"
"Some one must go to her," said Arbuthnot, "and the professor must know nothing of it. If we knew of any woman friend of hers we might appeal to her; but everybody is out of town."
He paused a second, his eyes fixed10 on Tredennis's changing face.
"If you will remain with the professor," he said, "I will go myself, and take Doctor Wentworth with me."
"You!" said Tredennis.
"I shall be better than nothing," replied Arbuthnot, quietly. "I can do what I am told to do, and she mustn't be left alone. If her mother had been alive, she would have gone; if her father had been well, he would have gone; if her husband had been here"—
"But he is not here," said Tredennis, with a [Pg 173]bitterness not strictly11 just. "Heaven only knows where he is."
"It would be rather hazardous12 to trust to a telegram reaching him at Merrittsville," said Arbuthnot. "We are not going to leave her alone even until we have tried Merrittsville. What must be done must be done now. I will go and see Doctor Wentworth at once, and we can leave in an hour if I find him. You can tell the professor I was called away."
He made a step toward the door, and as he did so Tredennis turned suddenly.
"Wait a moment," he said.
Arbuthnot came back.
"What is it?" he asked.
There was a curious pause, which, though it lasted scarcely longer than a second, was still a pause.
"If I go," said Tredennis, "it will be easier to explain my absence to the professor." And then there was a pause again, and each man looked at the other, and each was a trifle pale.
It was Arbuthnot who spoke first.
"I think," he said, without moving a muscle, "that you had better let me go."
"Why?" said Tredennis, and the unnatural13 quality of his voice startled himself.
"Because," said Arbuthnot, as calmly as before, "you will be conferring a favor on me, if you do. I want an excuse for getting out of town, and—I want an opportunity to be of some slight service to Mrs. Amory."
Before the dignity of the stalwart figure towering above his slighter proportions he knew he appeared to no advantage as he said the words; but to have made the best of himself he must have relinquished14 his point at the outset, and this he had no intention of doing, though he was not enjoying himself. A certain cold-blooded pertinacity15 which he had acquired after many battles with himself was very useful to him at the moment.
[Pg 174]
"The worst thing that could happen to her just now," he had said to himself, ten minutes before, "would be that he should go to her in her trouble." And upon this conviction he took his stand.
In placing himself in the breach16 he knew that he had no means of defence whatever; that any reasons for his course he might offer must appear, by their flimsiness, to betray in him entire inadequacy17 to the situation in which he seemed to stand, and that he must present himself in the character of a victim to his own bold but shallow devices, and simply brazen18 the matter out; and when one reflects upon human weakness it is certainly not to his discredit19 that he had calmly resigned himself to this before entering the room. There was no triviality in Tredennis's mood, and he made no pretence20 of any. The half darkness of the room, which had been shaded from the sun during the day, added to the significance of every line in his face. As he stood, with folded arms, the shadows seemed to make him look larger, to mark his pallor, and deepen the intensity21 of his expression.
"Give me a better reason," he said.
Arbuthnot paused. What he saw in the man moved him strongly. In the light of that past of his, which was a mystery to his friends, he often saw with terrible clearness much he was not suspected of seeing at all, and here he recognized what awakened22 in him both pity and respect.
"I have no better one," he answered. "I tell you I miss the exhilaration of Mrs. Amory's society and want to see her, and hope she will not be sorry to see me." And, having said it, he paused again before making his coup d'état. Then he spoke deliberately23, looking Tredennis in the eyes. "That you should think anything detrimental24 to Mrs. Amory, even in the most shadowy way, is out of the question," he said. "Think of me what you please."
"I shall think nothing that is detrimental to any man[Pg 175] who is her friend," said Tredennis, and there was passion in the words, though he had tried to repress it.
"Her friendship would be a good defence for a man against any wrong that was in him," said Arbuthnot, and this time the sudden stir of feeling in him was not altogether concealed25. "Let me have my way," he ended. "It will do no harm."
"It will do no good," said Tredennis.
"No," answered Arbuthnot, recovering his impervious26 air, "it will do no good, but one has to be sanguine27 to expect good. Perhaps I need pity," he added. "Suppose you are generous and show it me."
He could not help seeing the dramatic side of the situation, and with half-conscious irony28 abandoning himself to it. All at once he seemed to have deserted29 the well-regulated and decently arranged commonplaces of his ordinary life, and to be taking part in a theatrical30 performance of rather fine and subtle quality, and he waited with intense interest to see what Tredennis would do.
What he did was characteristic of him. He had unconsciously taken two or three hurried steps across the room, and he turned and stood still.
"It is I who must go," he said.
"You are sure of that?" said Arbuthnot.
"We have never found it easy to understand each other," Tredennis answered, "though perhaps you have understood me better than I have understood you. You are quicker and more subtle than I am. I only seem able to see one thing at a time, and do one thing. I only see one thing now. It is better that I should go."
"You mean," said Arbuthnot, "better for me?"
Tredennis looked down at the floor.
"Yes," he answered.
A second or so of silence followed, in which Arbuthnot simply stood and looked at him. The utter uselessness of the effort he had made was borne in upon him in a manner which overpowered him.
[Pg 176]
"Then," he remarked at length, "if you are considering me, there seems nothing more to be said. Will you go and tell the professor that you are called away, or shall I?"
"I will go myself," replied Tredennis.
He turned to leave the room, and Arbuthnot walked slowly toward the window. The next moment Tredennis turned from the door and followed him.
"If I have ever done you injustice," he said, "the time is past for it, and I ask your pardon."
"Perhaps it is not justice I need," said Arbuthnot, "but mercy—and I don't think you have ever been unjust to me. It wouldn't have been easy."
"In my place," said Tredennis, with a visible effort, "you would find it easier than I do to say what you wished. I"—
"You mean that you pity me," Arbuthnot interposed. "As I said before, perhaps I need pity. Sometimes I think I do;" and the slight touch of dreariness31 in his tone echoed in Tredennis's ear long after he had left him and gone on his way.
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1
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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adroitness
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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6
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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9
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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10
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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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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14
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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15
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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16
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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17
inadequacy
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| n.无法胜任，信心不足 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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21
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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detrimental
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| adj.损害的，造成伤害的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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29
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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30
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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31
dreariness
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| 沉寂，可怕，凄凉 | |
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