Darkness and terror came over the spirit of Sybil; a sense of confounding and confusing woe8, with which it was in vain to cope. The conviction of her helplessness prostrated9 her. She sate10 her down upon the steps before the door of that dreary11 house, within the railings of that gloomy court, and buried her face in her hands: a wild vision of the past and the future, without thought or feeling, coherence12 or consequence: sunset gleams of vanished bliss13, and stormy gusts14 of impending15 doom16.
The clock of St John’s struck seven.
It was the only thing that spoke17 in that still and dreary square; it was the only voice that there seemed ever to sound; but it was a voice from heaven; it was the voice of St John.
Sybil looked up: she looked up at the holy building. Sybil listened: she listened to the holy sounds. St John told her that the danger of her father was yet so much advanced. Oh! why are there saints in heaven if they cannot aid the saintly! The oath that Morley would have enforced came whispering in the ear of Sybil—“Swear by the holy Virgin18 and by all the saints.”
And shall she not pray to the holy Virgin and all the saints? Sybil prayed: she prayed to the holy Virgin and all the saints; and especially to the beloved St John: most favoured among Hebrew men, on whose breast reposed19 the divine Friend.
Brightness and courage returned to the spirit of Sybil: a sense of animating20 and exalting21 faith that could move mountains, and combat without fear a thousand perils22. The conviction of celestial23 aid inspired her. She rose from her sad resting-place and re-entered the house: only, however, to provide herself with her walking attire24, and then alone and without a guide, the shades of evening already descending25, this child of innocence27 and divine thoughts, born in a cottage and bred in a cloister28, she went forth29, on a great enterprise of duty and devotion, into the busiest and the wildest haunts of the greatest of modern cities.
Sybil knew well her way to Palace Yard. This point was soon reached: she desired the cabman to drive her to a Street in the Strand30 in which was a coffee-house, where during the last weeks of their stay in London the scanty31 remnants of the National Convention had held their sittings. It was by a mere32 accident that Sybil had learnt this circumstance, for when she had attended the meetings of the Convention in order to hear her father’s speeches, it was in the prime of their gathering33 and when their numbers were great, and when they met in audacious rivalry34 opposite that St Stephen’s which they wished to supersede35. This accidental recollection however was her only clue in the urgent adventure on which she had embarked37.
She cast an anxious glance at the clock of St Martin’s as she passed that church: the hand was approaching the half hour of seven. She urged on the driver; they were in the Strand; there was an agitating38 stoppage; she was about to descend26 when the obstacle was removed; and in a few minutes they turned down the street which she sought.
“What number. Ma’am?” asked the cabman.
“‘Tis a coffee-house; I know not the number nor the name of him who keeps it. ‘Tis a coffee-house. Can you see one? Look, look, I pray you! I am much pressed.”
372
“How good you are! Yes; I will get out. You will wait for me, I am sure?”
“All right,” said the cabman, as Sybil entered the illumined door. “Poor young thing! she’s wery anxious about summut.”
Sybil at once stepped into a rather capacious room, fitted up in the old-fashioned style of coffee-rooms, with mahogany boxes, in several of which were men drinking coffee and reading newspapers by a painful glare of gas. There was a waiter in the middle of the room who was throwing some fresh sand upon the floor, but who stared immensely when looking up he beheld40 Sybil.
“Now, Ma’am, if you please,” said the waiter inquiringly.
“Is Mr Gerard here?” said Sybil.
“No. Ma’am; Mr Gerard has not been here to-day, nor yesterday neither”—and he went on throwing the sand.
“Should you, Ma’am?” said the waiter, but he gave no indication of assisting her in the fulfilment of her wish.
Sybil repeated that wish, and this time the waiter said nothing. This vulgar and insolent42 neglect to which she was so little accustomed depressed43 her spirit. She could have encountered tyranny and oppression, and she would have tried to struggle with them; but this insolence44 of the insignificant45 made her feel her insignificance46; and the absorption all this time of the guests in their newspapers aggravated47 her nervous sense of her utter helplessness. All her feminine reserve and modesty48 came over her; alone in this room among men, she felt overpowered, and she was about to make a precipitate49 retreat when the clock of the coffee-room sounded the half hour. In a paroxysm of nervous excitement she exclaimed, “Is there not one among you who will assist me?”
All the newspaper readers put down their journals and stared.
“Hoity-toity,” said the waiter, and he left off throwing the sand.
“Well, what’s the matter now?” said one of the guests.
“I wish to see the master of the house on business of urgency,” said Sybil, “to himself and to one of his friends, and his servant here will not even reply to my inquiries50.”
“I say, Saul, why don’t you answer the young lady?” said another guest.
“So I did,” said Saul. “Did you call for coffee, Ma’am?”
“Here’s Mr Tanner, if you want him, my dear.” said the first guest, as a lean black-looking individual, with grizzled hair and a red nose, entered the coffee-room from the interior. “Tanner, here’s a lady wants you.”
“And a very pretty girl too,” whispered one to another.
“I wish to speak to you alone,” said Sybil: and advancing towards him she said in a low voice, “‘Tis about Walter Gerard I would speak to you.”
“Well, you can step in here if you like,” said Tanner very discourteously52; “there’s only my wife:” and he led the way to the inner room, a small close parlour adorned53 with portraits of Tom Paine, Cobbett, Thistlewood, and General Jackson; with a fire, though it was a hot July, and a very fat woman affording still more heat, and who was drinking shrub54 and water and reading the police reports. She stared rudely at Sybil as she entered following Tanner, who himself when the door was closed said, “Well, now what have you got to say?”
“I wish to see Walter Gerard.”
“Do you indeed!”
“And,” continued Sybil notwithstanding his sneering55 remark, “I come here that you may tell me where I may find him.”
“I believe he lives somewhere in Westminster,” said Tanner, “that’s all I know about him; and if this be all you had to say it might have been said in the coffee-room.”
“It is not all that I have to say,” said Sybil; “and I beseech56 you, sir, listen to me. I know where Gerard lives: I am his daughter, and the same roof covers our heads. But I wish to know where they meet to-night—you understand me;” and she looked at his wife, who had resumed her police reports; “‘tis urgent.
“I don’t know nothing about Gerard,” said Tanner, “except that he comes here and goes away again.”
“The matter on which I would see him,” said Sybil, “is as urgent as the imagination can conceive, and it concerns you as well as himself; but if you know not where I can find him”—and she moved as if about to retire—“‘tis of no use.”
“Stop.” said Tanner, “you can tell it to me.”
“Why so? You know not where he is; you cannot tell it to him.”
“I don’t know that,” said Tanner. “Come, let’s have it out; and if it will do him any good. I’ll see if we can’t manage to find him.”
“I can impart my news to him and no one else,” said Sybil. “I am solemnly bound.”
“You can’t have a better counseller than Tanner,” urged his wife, getting curious; “you had better tell us.”
“I want no counsel; I want that which you can give me if you choose—information. My father instructed me that if certain circumstances occurred it was a matter of the last urgency that I should see him this evening and before nine o’clock, I was to call here and obtain from you the direction where to find him; the direction,” she added in a lowered tone, and looking Tanner full in the face, “where they hold their secret council to-night.”
“Hem!” said Tanner: “I see you’re on the free-list. And pray how am I to know you are Gerard’s daughter?”
“You do not doubt I am his daughter!” said Sybil proudly.
“Hem!” said Tanner: “I do not know that I do very much,” and he whispered to his wife. Sybil removed from them as far as she was able.
“And this news is very urgent,” resumed Tanner; “and concerns me you say?”
“Concerns you all,” said Sybil; “and every minute is of the last importance.”
“I should like to have gone with you myself, and then there could have been no mistake,” said Tanner; “but that can’t be; we have a meeting here at half-past eight in our great room. I don’t much like breaking rules, especially in such a business; and yet, concerning all of us, as you say, and so very urgent, I don’t see how it could do harm; and I might—I wish I was quite sure you were the party.
“How can I satisfy you?” said Sybil, distressed57.
“Perhaps the young person have got her mark on her linen,” suggested the wife. “Have you got a handkerchief Ma’am?” and she took Sybil’s handkerchief and looked at it, and examined it at every corner. It had no mark. And this unforeseen circumstance of great suspicion might have destroyed everything, had not the production of the handkerchief by Sybil also brought forth a letter addressed to her from Hatton.
“It seems to be the party,” said the wife.
“Well,” said Tanner, “you know St Martin’s Lane I suppose? Well, you go up St Martin’s Lane to a certain point, and then you will get into Seven Dials; and then you’ll go on. However it is impossible to direct you; you must find your way. Hunt Street, going out of Silver Street, No. 22. ‘Tis what you call a blind street, with no thoroughfare, and then you go down an alley58. Can you recollect36 that?”
“Fear not.”
“No. 22 Hunt Street, going out of Silver Street. Remember the alley. It’s an ugly neighbourhood; but you go of your own accord.”
“Yes, yes. Good night.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
passionate
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
outrageous
|
|
| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
labyrinth
|
|
| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
obsolete
|
|
| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
woe
|
|
| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
prostrated
|
|
| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
sate
|
|
| v.使充分满足 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
coherence
|
|
| n.紧凑；连贯；一致性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
bliss
|
|
| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
gusts
|
|
| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
impending
|
|
| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
doom
|
|
| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
virgin
|
|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
reposed
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
animating
|
|
| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
exalting
|
|
| a.令人激动的，令人喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
perils
|
|
| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
celestial
|
|
| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
descend
|
|
| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
innocence
|
|
| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
cloister
|
|
| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
scanty
|
|
| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
rivalry
|
|
| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
supersede
|
|
| v.替代；充任 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
recollect
|
|
| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
embarked
|
|
| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
agitating
|
|
| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
hoarse
|
|
| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
humbly
|
|
| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
insolent
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
depressed
|
|
| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
insignificance
|
|
| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
aggravated
|
|
| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
modesty
|
|
| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
precipitate
|
|
| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
inquiries
|
|
| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
discourteously
|
|
| adv.不礼貌地，粗鲁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
shrub
|
|
| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
sneering
|
|
| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
beseech
|
|
| v.祈求，恳求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
alley
|
|
| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |