This lady was in a particularly happy mood that day. Emilia, who did all kinds of fine needle-work exquisitely7, had just embroidered8 for Aunt Jane some pillow-cases. The original suggestion came from Hope, but it never cost Emilia anything to keep a secret, and she had presented the gift very sweetly, as if it were a thought of her own. Aunt Jane, who with all her penetration9 as to facts was often very guileless as to motives10, was thoroughly touched by the humility11 and the embroidery12.
“All last night,” she said, “I kept waking up, and thinking about Christian13 charity and my pillow-cases.”
It was, therefore, a very favorable day for Hope’s consultation14, though it was nearly noon before her aunt was visible, perhaps because it took so long to make up her bed with the new adornments.
Hope said frankly15 to Aunt Jane that there were some circumstances about which she should rather not be questioned, but that Emilia had come there the previous night from the ball, had been seized with one of her peculiar16 attacks, and had stayed all night. Aunt Jane kept her eyes steadily17 fixed18 on Hope’s sad face, and, when the tale was ended, drew her down and kissed her lips.
“Now tell me, dear,” she said; “what comes first?”
“The first thing is,” said Hope, “to have Emilia’s absence explained to Mrs. Meredith in some such way that she will think no more of it, and not talk about it.”
“Certainly,” said Aunt Jane. “There is but one way to do that. I will call on her myself.”
“You, auntie?” said Hope.
“Yes, I,” said her aunt. “I have owed her a call for five years. It is the only thing that will excite her so much as to put all else out of her head.”
“O auntie!” said Hope, greatly relieved, “if you only would! But ought you really to go out? It is almost raining.”
“I shall go,” said Aunt Jane, decisively, “if it rains little boys!”
“But will not Mrs. Meredith wonder—?” began Hope.
“That is one advantage,” interrupted her aunt, “of being an absurd old woman. Nobody ever wonders at anything I do, or else it is that they never stop wondering.”
She sent Ruth erelong to order the horses. Hope collected her various wrappers, and Ruth, returning, got her mistress into a state of preparation.
“If I might say one thing more,” Hope whispered.
“What a question!” said her indignant mistress. “Any kind. The common pin of North America. Now, Hope?” as the door closed.
“I think it better, auntie,” said Hope, “that Philip should not stay here longer at present. You can truly say that the house is full, and—”
“I have just had a note from him,” said Aunt Jane severely22. “He has gone to lodge23 at the hotel. What next?”
“Aunt Jane,” said Hope, looking her full in the face, “I have not the slightest idea what to do next.”
(“The next thing for me,” thought her aunt, “is to have a little plain speech with that misguided child upstairs.”)
“I can see no way out,” pursued Hope.
“Darling!” said Aunt Jane, with a voice full of womanly sweetness, “there is always a way out, or else the world would have stopped long ago. Perhaps it would have been better if it had stopped, but you see it has not. All we can do is, to live on and try our best.”
She bade Hope leave Emilia to her, and furthermore stipulated24 that Hope should go to her pupils as usual, that afternoon, as it was their last lesson. The young girl shrank from the effort, but the elder lady was inflexible25. She had her own purpose in it. Hope once out of the way, Aunt Jane could deal with Emilia.
No human being, when met face to face with Aunt Jane, had ever failed to yield up to her the whole truth she sought. Emilia was on that day no exception. She was prostrate26, languid, humble27, denied nothing, was ready to concede every point but one. Never, while she lived, would she dwell beneath John Lambert’s roof again. She had left it impulsively28, she admitted, scarce knowing what she did. But she would never return there to live. She would go once more and see that all was in order for Mr. Lambert, both in the house and on board the yacht, where they were to have taken up their abode29 for a time. There were new servants in the house, a new captain on the yacht; she would trust Mr. Lambert’s comfort to none of them; she would do her full duty. Duty! the more utterly30 she felt herself to be gliding31 away from him forever, the more pains she was ready to lavish32 in doing these nothings well. About every insignificant33 article he owned she seemed to feel the most scrupulous34 and wife-like responsibility; while she yet knew that all she had was to him nothing, compared with the possession of herself; and it was the thought of this last ownership that drove her to despair.
Sweet and plaintive35 as the child’s face was, it had a glimmer36 of wildness and a hunted look, that baffled Aunt Jane a little, and compelled her to temporize37. She consented that Emilia should go to her own house, on condition that she would not see Philip,—which was readily and even eagerly promised,—and that Hope should spend the night with Emilia, which proposal was ardently38 accepted.
It occurred to Aunt Jane that nothing better could happen than for John Lambert, on returning, to find his wife at home; and to secure this result, if possible, she telegraphed to him to come at once.
Meantime Hope gave her inevitable39 music-lesson, so absorbed in her own thoughts that it was all as mechanical as the metronome. As she came out upon the Avenue for the walk home, she saw a group of people from a gardener’s house, who had collected beside a muddy crossing, where a team of cart-horses had refused to stir. Presently they sprang forward with a great jerk, and a little Irish child was thrown beneath the wheel. Hope sprang forward to grasp the child, and the wheel struck her also; but she escaped with a dress torn and smeared40, while the cart passed over the little girl’s arm, breaking it in two places. She screamed and then grew faint, as Hope lifted her. The mother received the burden with a wail41 of anguish42; the other Irishwomen pressed around her with the dense43 and suffocating44 sympathy of their nation. Hope bade one and another run for a physician, but nobody stirred. There was no surgical45 aid within a mile or more. Hope looked round in despair, then glanced at her own disordered garments.
“As sure as you live!” shouted a well-known voice from a carriage which had stopped behind them. “If that isn’t Hope what’s-her-name, wish I may never! Here’s a lark46! Let me come there!” And the speaker pushed through the crowd.
“Miss Ingleside,” said Hope, decisively, “this child’s arm is broken. There is nobody to go for a physician. Except for the condition I am in, I would ask you to take me there at once in your carriage; but as it is—”
“As it is, I must ask you, hey?” said Blanche, finishing the sentence. “Of course. No mistake. Sans dire47. Jones, junior, this lady will join us. Don’t look so scared, man. Are you anxious about your cushions or your reputation?”
The youth simpered and disclaimed48.
“Jump in, then, Miss Maxwell. Never mind the expense. It’s only the family carriage;—surname and arms of Jones. Lucky there are no parents to the fore2. Put my shawl over you, so.”
“O Blanche!” said Hope, “what injustice—”
“I’ve done myself?” said the volatile49 damsel. “Not a doubt of it. That’s my style, you know. But I have some sense; I know who’s who. Now, Jones, junior, make your man handle the ribbons. I’ve always had a grudge50 against that ordinance51 about fast driving, and now’s our chance.”
And the sacred “ordinance,” with all other proprieties52, was left in ruins that day. They tore along the Avenue with unexplained and most inexplicable53 speed, Hope being concealed54 by riding backward, and by a large shawl, and Blanche and her admirer receiving the full indignation of every chaste55 and venerable eye. Those who had tolerated all this girl’s previous improprieties were obliged to admit that the line must be drawn56 somewhere. She at once lost several good invitations and a matrimonial offer, since Jones, junior, was swept away by his parents to be wedded57 without delay to a consumptive heiress who had long pined for his whiskers; and Count Posen, in his Souvenirs, was severer on Blanche’s one good deed than on the worst of her follies58.
A few years after, when Blanche, then the fearless wife of a regular-army officer, was helping59 Hope in the hospitals at Norfolk, she would stop to shout with delight over the reminiscence of that stately Jones equipage in mad career, amid the barking of dogs and the groaning60 of dowagers. “After all, Hope,” she would say, “the fastest thing I ever did was under your orders.”
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1
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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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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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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temporize
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| v.顺应时势；拖延 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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40
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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41
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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42
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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46
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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47
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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48
disclaimed
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| v.否认( disclaim的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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50
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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51
ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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52
proprieties
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| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
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53
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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54
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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55
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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56
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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57
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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59
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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60
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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