“Nephew!” he called; and, turning, I saw him in the arbour, lounging indolently on an old garden seat of marble, yellow with age and stains; his arms outstretched along its back; he seemed bloodless, ivory-white, in the green shade.
“Nephew!” he called again, and beckoned3 to me. Much as I feared and hated him I obeyed him. He smiled benignly4 on me; observing my colour and the disorder5 of my dress, he asked, “Why, nephew, nephew, into what mischief6 have you been straying? You’re too old for boyish pranks7, and I assume too young for philandering8.”
I answered, “I’ve been walking in the wood.”
“The wood!” he repeated. “You’re gaining p. 214confidence in us, John. A week or two since and you’d not have had the courage to stir from the house. And yet the wood is none too safe, nephew.”
I answered boldly, “I agree with you, sir. For example, I chanced upon two rogues9, Blunt and Martin Baynes.”
Maybe my tones confirmed the suspicions he had formed when I came scrambling11 over the wall. He said drily, “You mean more than your words, John. The encounter should warn you not to walk in the wood, or yet ride down to the coast with my son. Mayhap, Oliver is no more than a decoy”—his lips curling.
“I do not think it of my cousin,” I said.
“Oh, I’m happy to have your assurance, John. You look to find a friend in Oliver. And yet I should not think it, John. My lad’s well enough, but rough, uncouth12; I fear he does me poor credit. How he passes his days I know not. He’s dissolute; you’ve observed him with the bottle.”
He broke off, as wearying of the theme; he looked languidly over the sunlit garden to the ivied walls, “Here’s the very wreck13 and ruin of a great house, John!” he sighed. “I have a notion—nay14, since your coming I have it not—of shaping order out of chaos15. Here in this garden, p. 215with a book on such a sunlit afternoon; but here, with delightful16 arbours, trim walks and plots of flowers,—a fountain playing silver! Mark that old fountain, John—the form of it, the seamaids who support the sea-green shells; the fountain’s dry; the lovely shapes of bronze corroded17. Or the designs on this pale marble: see where the moss18 grows green in these delicate designs of Italy. The sun-dial where the sparrows chirp—why, here’s an enchanted19 garden, John, where time stands still, as in the old wives’ tale. Ay, see the hedge of thorns grows all about the castle! Time stands still! Nay, ah nay! I’d picture, John, the garden in the days when the second Charles was King of England. Why, I have looked from my window of a summer night, and I have seen the ghosts walk in the garden, as it was, and I have known the beauty and the colour and the laughter of this garden and this house, as once they were. I have thought of the beauty of Craike House restored, the greatness of our race—ah me! Here am I, penniless son of—Mr. Edward Craike; penniless parent of—Oliver! I’d tell my hope to you, John Craike, that, if you win, you yet may care to carry out my own ambition.”
He had spoken earnestly; while his fine, melancholy20 voice sounded, I did believe him,—p. 216knowing him for a rogue10. His mood did not endure. He laughed, and eyeing me, he said, “So you’ve progressed, my friend, in the favour of your grandfather. So you’re a master in the house, and his retainers take their orders from you as from himself!”
“He did no more than insure me against insolence,” I answered uneasily. “You’re well served, my uncle!”
“Oh, I am!” he conceded. “To be sure, the woman Barwise came raging to me that morning. They’re servile to you, nephew, are they not? Thinking my father not yet in his dotage21! And yet he is so near to breaking.” His eyes held mine; he said quietly, “Nephew, I’ve a proposal to you, more than truce—alliance. Liking you!”
“As you’ve surely proved, sir!”
“Yet hear me out,” he said. “You stand in favour with your grandfather. But you’re no fool; what should you say would happen, were the old man’s wits to go wandering, or were he to die, suddenly, as old men die, if they be fortunate? How should you fare at the hands of all these rogues, John?”
“Or at your hands?” I muttered.
“Or at my hands! I compliment you, nephew, on your wit. Or at the hands of Blunt, p. 217or Barwise? This old man so near to dying or to dotage, nephew! I put this to you.”
“Why, I’d suffer no more,” said I, “than Mr. Bradbury would speedily call you to account for.”
“A lonely house,” he muttered, “so near the coast. And none save old Sir Gavin within miles of us. Should we not work our will with you, and set our fingers on what’s hid in the house, and be away—in France, or whither in the world we would—ere Bradbury might lift a finger.”
“What’s hid in the house!” I repeated.
With sudden impatience22 he cried out, “Ay, what’s hid in the house! Why not be frank with me, nephew? You know this—Bradbury knows, as I—there’s in this house more than a moiety23 of all my father ever took on his voyages. There’s treasure in this house, about this house; and one man knows where it is hidden. And one man knows, and this one man may die, or his mind grow dark, and he forget, and it never be known. You know of the existence of this treasure, nephew, this secret hoard24 of his—and yet you lie to me!”
Unguardedly I answered, “I’ve heard no more than a talk of the treasure.”
“When? From whom?” he took me up p. 218instantly, and his face was livid, and his eyes were two evil gems25. “This morn! Surely you heard this morn. Talk near the wall there. Or do you know from him?”
I said coolly, “I’ll tell you nothing.”
He mastered himself; he lay back on the seat; his lips sneered26 at me. “I would have made alliance with you, nephew,” he said. “I would have shared with you—as kinsman27. I would have offered you security. Ay, I offer it now.”
I answered deliberately28, “I’ll have no dealings with you. None!”
“Nephew,” he said, with mock severity, “I abhor29 duplicity. I confess myself mistaken in you. Pray go! You stand between me and the sunshine!”
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1
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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2
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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3
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
benignly
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| adv.仁慈地，亲切地 | |
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5
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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6
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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7
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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8
philandering
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| v.调戏，玩弄女性( philander的现在分词 ) | |
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9
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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10
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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11
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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12
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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13
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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14
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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15
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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16
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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17
corroded
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| 已被腐蚀的 | |
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18
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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19
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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20
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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21
dotage
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| n.年老体衰；年老昏聩 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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23
moiety
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| n.一半；部分 | |
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24
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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25
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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26
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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28
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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29
abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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30
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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