Chapter IV. A Journey Planned

 When Mr. Bradbury returned to the cottage on the following evening, my mother would not allow me to remain in the room to hear what passed.  She would have had me go to bed immediately on Mr. Bradbury’s knocking at the door; recollecting¹ then, that from my room I must inevitably² hear all that passed, she bade me wait in the garden, until her conversation with him was ended.

 

She had refused in the interval³ between his visits to answer any of my eager questions; she offered me no information.  To be sure, my head was full of notions; this much I knew: that my grandfather was wealthy; that my father and mother had assumed her name—for what reason I could not conjecture⁴, and that Mr. Bradbury, if he had his will, would surely make me known as the only son of Richard Craike, and, may be, heir to old Edward.  Ay, and that Charles, my father’s brother, was an enemy of my mother; that he and his wife had wronged her cruelly in the past; that she hated him, and that the p. 40prospect of revenge on him inclined her to accede⁵ to Mr. Bradbury’s wish.

 

Through the day my mother went about her household duties calmly, as was her wont⁶.  She insisted that I should go to my studies with Mr. Vining and Tony as on any day; only stressing that I should say nothing to my friend concerning Mr. Bradbury.  But, I promise you, I had no mind that day for Latin grammar, or for the Letters of Cicero; the event was inevitable,—Mr. Vining caning⁷ me soundly, with a display of wrath⁸ ill-fitting a clergyman, even as, I took it from Tony’s uneasiness and writhing⁹ on his chair, he had chastised¹⁰ his son for his late return the night before.  I was all eagerness for the night and the coming of Mr. Bradbury.

 

He came stealthily—wrapped in his black cloak.  As he entered, my mother bade me leave the room and wait in the garden.  I waited all impatiently.  I could scarcely refrain from sneaking¹¹ up under the window, and listening to their conversation.  An hour or more their voices sounded from within; at no time did my mother raise her tone; often I heard Mr. Bradbury dictatorial¹², occasionally persuasive¹³; I believed at last from his laughter that he had prevailed.  I lounged drearily¹⁴ about the garden, until I heard the door opening, and saw Mr. Bradbury coming p. 41out, his cloak about him and his hat bent¹⁵ down over his brows.

 

As I stepped forward to open the gate for him, he paused in his path, and eyed me smiling.  “So, Mr. John Craike,” he greeted me.  “So!”

 

“Mr. John Craike!” I repeated.

 

“From now on, Mr. John Craike.  Or from the moment of your departure from the village, Mr. John Craike.  Can you forget, sir, that you were ever John Howe?”

 

“I don’t understand, sir?”

 

“Necessarily, no, Mr. Craike.  But I am to have your company to London a week from now.  You, sir, are to honour my house, until I have communicated with my client, Mr. Edward Craike; then I trust to have the pleasure of presenting you to your grandfather.”

 

“What has happened, Mr. Bradbury?” I asked eagerly.  “What has my mother told you?”

 

“Nay, there, Mr. Craike, I must be silent.  I must leave it to your good mother to satisfy your curiosity, if she will, sir; if she will.  Till this day week, sir”—and with a polite bow he slipped past me, and was gone.

 

I hurried into the cottage.  My mother sat by the table, her hands clasped; so rapt was she that she did not hear me when I came in; she p. 42did not heed¹⁶ me till I caught her arm, crying, “What has happened, mother?  Tell me!”

 

She said then, “What has happened!  What I have prayed would never come to pass!”

 

“Dear, what is the matter?”

 

“That for all my prayers,” she went on, as if speaking to herself; “that for all my hope to keep my son from that doomed¹⁷ house,—this yet should be!  Dear God, if it be Thy purpose that out of evil shall at last come good—” but broke off and looked wildly at me.

 

I held her hands, and, wondering, asked, “Who are the Craikes, then?  What is the doomed house?  Why have we passed for all these years as Howe, and lived as village folk at Chelton, if our name be Craike?  Hiding from them—my father’s kinsfolk?”

 

“Yes, yes, hiding from them, and from their wealth—their ill-gotten wealth.”

 

“Ill-gotten,—how?”

 

“You’ll know—oh, soon enough, you’ll know.”

 

“Mr. Bradbury said a week to-day I go away with him.  And you—what of you, mother?”

 

“I stay here!”

 

“You stay here alone, and I go to London and on to my grandfather’s house?  Not I!”

 

“Yes, you go!  You go to your grandfather—to be rich—his heir.  You go to bring to nothing p. 43all your uncle’s years of plotting, all the hurt that he has ever done to mine and me.  Surely you go!  But never shall I set foot in that accursed house.”

 

“And yet you’d have me go.”

 

She answered, “I’d have you go to your own.  I’d have you go, thinking I’ve made you man—not as old Edward Craike or his son Charles.  Your father’s son.”

 

“My father, you have heard of him?  He is alive?”

 

“I have heard nothing—nothing.  I think him dead.  He does not come to me in dreams as living.  Charles Craike would have him dead; and he is surely dead.  And oh, at last to have my reckoning with Charles Craike—to have my reckoning, as surely I shall have!”

 

“Tell me more!  I do not understand.  Why do you hate the Craikes so much?  What wrong have they done you?  Tell me all!”

 

She rose up from her chair and drew her hands from mine.  “Your father, whom we loved so much,” she said, “was taken from us.  Whether he was done to death, or carried out of England by the plotting of Charles Craike, I do not know.  I think his brother guilty, knowing his hate for him and me.  Charles Craike has thought to profit by your father’s death.  I’d have you go p. 44with Mr. Bradbury to your grandfather.  I am assured by Mr. Bradbury that you shall go in safety and return in safety.  I fear Charles Craike—I fear for you, as I have feared these years that we have hidden here.  I fear the fortune of old Edward Craike, piled up by sin and cruel wrong to others, will bring no good or happiness to you or any of his house.  I fear—and yet because I hate Charles Craike, and I would punish him, and bring his sins to nothing, I’d have you go.  Believing that you will avenge¹⁸ your father, and come again to me; believing Heaven wills it so!”

1 recollecting   

v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Once wound could heal slowly, my Bo Hui was recollecting. 曾经的伤口会慢慢地愈合，我卜会甾回忆。 来自互联网
• I am afraid of recollecting the life of past in the school. 我不敢回忆我在校过去的生活。 来自互联网

2 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

3 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

4 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

5 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

6 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

7 caning   

n.鞭打

参考例句：

• Whether tried according to the law of the state or the Party discipline, he cannot escape the caning he deserves. 无论是按国法， 还是按党纪，他都逃不了挨板子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His fingers were still stinging from the caning he had had. 他的手指经过鞭打后仍旧感到刺痛。 来自辞典例句

8 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

9 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

10 chastised   

v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He chastised the team for their lack of commitment. 他指责队伍未竭尽全力。
• The Securities Commission chastised the firm but imposed no fine. 证券委员会严厉批评了那家公司，不过没有处以罚款。 来自辞典例句

11 sneaking   

a.秘密的，不公开的

参考例句：

• She had always had a sneaking affection for him. 以前她一直暗暗倾心于他。
• She ducked the interviewers by sneaking out the back door. 她从后门偷偷溜走，躲开采访者。

12 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

13 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

14 drearily   

沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地

参考例句：

• "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊，上帝！" 思嘉沮丧地想，"难就难在这里呀。
• His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调，阴沉沉的，干巴巴的，完全没有感情。

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

17 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

18 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。