"You saw Mr. Scadgers?" he demanded of his servant.
"Yes, sir; he will be at your office at one o'clock."
"Good; now go over at once to Austin Friars to Mr. Townshend's office. Tell the head-clerk," said he, taking a telegraphic despatch17 from his pocket, "that his master will arrive at London Bridge at half-past one, and that he must send some one to meet him. Say that I shall be with Mr. Townshend at three sharp. You understand?" The valet answered in the affirmative and left the room, returning in a few minutes and ushering18 in Mr. Beresford. That gentleman looked any thing but happy; his face was of a dull leaden hue20, his eyes were dull and red-rimmed, and the tell-tale muscles of his mouth were working visibly. He flung himself into, a chair, and as soon as the door closed, said: "Here's a devil of a go!"
"What's the matter, man?" asked Simnel. "Look here--you're all out of sorts--lips going and hands shaking--just steady yourself before you speak. Here!" and he unlocked a sideboard and placed a liqueur-stand before his friend.
"That's better!" said Beresford, draining a wine-glass of brandy. "I am all wrong, and enough to make me! Thought I'd catch you here before you went down to work. I've no end to tell you--"
"Tell on!" said Mr. Simnel; and, so encouraged, Beresford narrated21 every thing that had occurred between him and Barbara the preceding day, respecting the anonymous22 letter and the conversation that had ensued thereanent, word for word.
As Mr. Simnel listened his heart sunk within him, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he prevented himself from displaying his emotion. He succeeded, however, so admirably, that though the colour of his face might have gone a shade or two paler, not a muscle of it moved, and when Beresford stopped, he said, without a tremor23 in his voice, "What do you intend to do?"
"To do!" screamed Beresford--"well, upon my soul, Simnel, you are a wonderful man! I tell you this tremendous story, which, for heartless villany, beats any thing I ever heard--and done by a woman too!--and all you ask is, what I intend to do! Do!--I intend to punish that she-devil, cost what it may! to--"
"Steady, sir! you're using strong language--"
"Oh! what! Kate Mellon, I mean; not Mrs. Schr?der--my mind's made up with regard to her! I shall--"
"Look here, Beresford; did you come here to rave24 and storm before me, or to ask my advice?--which?"
"I don't know what the deuce you mean by raving25 and storming! You'd do the same if you'd been treated in this way by a--there, never mind, I'll take your advice if--"
"If it agrees with your own plans! generous creature! Now look here; you're in a horrible state of rage and fever, in which you can do no good. My advice to you is, to go away straight at once. Go out of town somewhere for a fortnight, and then come back and see how the land lies."
"And so lose every chance I've got! No, thank ye. You know all that business yesterday was Mrs. Churchill, not Mrs. Schr?der. I don't believe the widow knows a word about that cursed letter; and there may be a chance of getting over her yet, though that Churchill woman is as deep as the Whissendine. She and I always hated each other, I think, and I don't intend to let her beat me now; no! I've sent a line to Mrs. Schr?der marked private, without any flummery of former days, or any thing of that sort,--simply begging her to meet me in the Row this afternoon and give me five minutes' talk. If she does that, I think I can put matters square; and if not--"
"And if not?"
"Well, if not, by George, Simnel, up goes the sponge, and no mistake. There are three writs26 out against me, and I fancy some of Sloman's people are on. There have been some fellows hanging about my door in South Audley Street; and I fancy, from what Stephens says, they were any thing but the right sort. What are you thinking about?"
"I was thinking," said Mr. Simnel slowly, "that if this Schr?der business does not come off,--and I don't think it will,--you'd better send in a certificate from Prater27 or some one, and get away to the Continent for six months."
"Well, we'll wait and see what to-day brings forth28, at all events. If it don't do, I'll very likely take your advice."
After Mr. Beresford had gone, Mr. Simnel sat with his feet on the fender, slowly rubbing his knee. "It must be hurried through at once," he said to himself. "I'll square the settlement to-day; and if Beresford fails with Mrs. Schr?der, he must be got out of town and abroad. Vengeance29, eh? no, not quite that, my fine fellow. Long before you come back, there'll be somebody with a right to interfere30, if any thing like vengeance is threatened."
And how fared it with Kate Mellon all this while? what had happened to the pivot31 on which so many schemes of love and hate, of worship and revenge, were turning? In a bad way was Kate Mellon mentally and thence physically32. The news of Mr. Schr?der's death, which she had read accidentally in an "odds and ends" column of a cheap sporting-paper, had come upon her with a terrific shock. She had compared dates, and found that it had happened on the day after the despatch of her letter; and though there was nothing to create any connexion between the circumstances, she felt a kind of horrible impression that by her act she had hastened his end. This preyed33 upon her mind; and as she had no one in whom to confide--(had Simnel come up in the interval34, it is probable that she would have told him all, for the sake of getting a scrap35 of consolation36, of advice--of mere37 talk--so weightily did the retention38 of the secret lie on her),--she fretted39 and worried herself, and each day grew more feverish40, more unsettled, more discontented. One horrible thought she had, which swallowed up all the rest--might not she unconsciously have helped her rival to her happiness! If this fair-haired woman cared for Charley, as had been stated (and as she had seen with her own eyes), she could not have cared for her husband. He was now removed, and there was nothing to prevent a marriage between them. Here was a phantom41 which nothing could lay; a spectre which would haunt her day and night, ever mocking and gibing42 at her; and she tossed in ceaseless torture, and grew paler and thinner, and took less interest in her business every day.
On the day on which Mr. Beresford and Mr. Simnel had the conversation just narrated, Kate Mellon lay on the sofa in her little drawing-room, listless and drowsy43, as was her wont44 nowadays, and with her head buried in her hands. She roused herself at a loud knock at the door, and bade the person enter. It was old Freeman, the stud-groom45.
"Here's Hockley, miss, just coom down from town sta?bles. Black harse from Ireland, 'raived last neet."
"What horse, Freeman?"
"Wa?t harse, eh? Mai bairn, thee'rt gangin' daft wi' soommut; ai heeard not wa?t! Wa?t harse? why, black harse we bought of Markis Clonmel--black hoonter which Johnson wrote aboot last week."
"Hockley says he's tearer! groom as browt him to steamer said as nowt could hold him! I'se warrant we teach him manners!"
"Yes; I'll do that myself, and at once too! I want a little rousing. Put a pair into the wagonette, Freeman, and drive me down to Down Street. I'll give this horse a turn at once!"
Besides her establishment at The Den19, Kate Mellon had a set of stables near Piccadilly, which were mainly devoted47 to the reception of new arrivals from the country, and as temporary resting-places for the horses required for Rotten-Row pupils. These stables were equally perfectly48 appointed with The Den; and when the wagonette containing Kate and her head-groom drove in, she found a portion of her staff ready to receive her.
"What's this new Irish horse like, Tanner?" said she to her town manager.
"A bad 'un, miss; a rank bad 'un as ever stepped! Good 'oss, fine-made 'oss jump any think; good slopin' shoulders, and henormous quarters; but the temper of--savin' your presence--the devil! He pinned one of the men when he was a-dressin' him this morning, and his hi rolls fearful;" and Mr. Tanner, who, though a thorough horseman, was an undeniable Cockney, led the way towards the loose box where the new arrival was standing49. "They calls 'im Balthazar," said he; "and if that means a out-an'-out bad 'un, they're right."
They found him in a loose box at the end of the yard, a big brown-black horse, sixteen and a half, six off, with a long lean head, deep neck, round barrel, deep chest, low back, short forehand, big broad foot. As the door of the box opened he turned his eye round, showing an inflamed50 white, put back his ears, and lashed51 out savagely52.
"Hold on, mon!" said old Freeman; "steady, boy; let's look at thee;" and the old man went fearlessly up to the horse's head, and placing his hand in the head-collar, commenced turning him about.
"Send one of your men for my saddle, Tanner, and put No. 3 bridle53 on him. Is No. 3 the one with the deep port? Yes, that's it," said she, touching54 it with her whip. "I'll just see what he's made of in the Row."
"Miss," said old Freeman, coming up close to her, and whispering, "better wait till t'see wa?t's made of oop in tan-ride at whoom--na?sty brute55, I'm thinkin' 't 'ill prove."
"Ah, never mind, Freeman; there's room in the Row to give him a very good bucketing. Bring him out."
He came out with a bound, and backed and reared and kicked when any one approached him, so that fully56 five minutes had elapsed before Kate, with all her readiness and agility57, found herself on his back. Once mounted he started off at once, pelting58 over the uneven59 stones, and slipping about in a manner that made old Freeman hold up his hands and curse the Paving Commissioners60, with even more than his usual energy.
Down one incline of Piccadilly and up the other went Balthazar, now and then trying his chance of a buck-jump, occasionally manifesting his inclination61 to rear. So through the Arch and into the Row. There Kate thought he might have his fling; there was no one within sight; and "to take it out" of a brute like this was a feat62 in which at one time she would have taken infinite pleasure; even now it promised some excitement. So quietly drawing the curb63 and simultaneously64 touching him with her heel, she felt the big brute give one tremendous plunge65 and snort, and then dart66 off like lightning. And now Kate's colour came again, and her heart leapt within her as she felt once more the ecstasy67 of tearing speed. Away he goes, easy as a chair when once he has settled into his stride, and with more real go in him than she has felt in any horse she has ridden for months. Bravo, Balthazar! Whoop68, boy! get along! and the blue habit floats behind, and the gravel69 flies round her, and she is going the real pace now, and no mistake! Who is this rider creeping out across her path from beneath the trees? Steady, boy, steady! by Jove, he's got the bit between his teeth, and there's no stopping him! Soho, soho, man! a shake--another; that's done it! the bit's free, and she pulls him up easily; and to her pulling him rides up a man, flushed, with working lips and scarlet70 face--Charles Beresford. She stares at him with starting eyes and compressed lips, through which comes the word "Charley!"
"It is you, you she-devil, is it?" said Beresford: "I thought it must be. This is fate that has sent you here to hear me curse you. I know what you've done, fast enough. You thought you could stab in secret, did you, you Jezabel? and without its being known where the blow came from! But I saw your infernal hand, and when I saw it, I cursed you as I curse you now!"
"Charley! Charley! oh, for God's sake; oh, if ever you cared for me--"
"Cared for you! I never did! I told you so--told you at least as plainly as a man could tell a woman; and then in sheer revenge--in dirty, low, mean revenge--you do this; but I'll be even with you. I'll--stand off, curse you! take your hand off, I say--"
She had laid her hand on his arm. He shook it off roughly, and in shaking it off raised his whip-hand spasmodically, and struck Balthazar sharply in the mouth. The Irish horse reared up on end straight as a dart, forced to his feet, plunged71 for an instant, and then started off in a mad gallop72. Kate sat like a rock, pulling--pulling without the slightest effect. Then looking down she saw he had his eye turned back towards her, and held the bit in a firm grip between his teeth. This time the shake was no use; he would not loose his grip, and the bit was useless. They are nearing the end of the Row, and she remembers, shudderingly73, the heavy iron gates, between which it would be impossible to steer74 him. If she could but turn him into the Drive, and so head up towards the Serpentine75 bridge! A touch with her leg and a sharp tug76 at the rein77; the Irish horse rises like a bird at the iron bars, but touches them with his fore-feet, and falls headlong into the Drive, rolling over on to his rider, who lies there crushed and motionless.
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1
dallied
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| v.随随便便地对待( dally的过去式和过去分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情 | |
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arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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aver
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| v.极力声明；断言；确证 | |
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succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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10
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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11
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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12
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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13
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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15
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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18
ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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21
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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23
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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24
rave
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| vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬 | |
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25
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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26
writs
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| n.书面命令，令状( writ的名词复数 ) | |
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prater
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| 多嘴的人，空谈者 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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30
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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31
pivot
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| v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的 | |
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32
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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33
preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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34
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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35
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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retention
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| n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力 | |
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39
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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40
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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41
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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42
gibing
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| adj.讥刺的，嘲弄的v.嘲笑，嘲弄( gibe的现在分词 ) | |
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43
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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44
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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45
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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46
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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47
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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48
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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49
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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50
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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52
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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53
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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54
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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55
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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56
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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57
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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58
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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59
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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60
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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61
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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62
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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63
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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64
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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65
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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66
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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67
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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68
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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69
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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70
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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71
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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72
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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73
shudderingly
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74
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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75
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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76
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
参考例句： |
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77
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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