CHAPTER XIV. A DISCOVERY.

 Monday came. The huge bulk of the elephant, with its howdah outside, darkened the veranda¹; servants were busy lading mules²; there were boxes of provisions, the small tent, trunks, knapsacks, cooking vessels³, and many other et c?tera to be packed, the weight duly apportioned⁴, and the ropes securely fastened. To start on a camping expedition in Siam is a very different thing indeed from going on a railway journey in England. Foresight⁵ is required, readiness of resource, and a large amount of patience; no necessary article must be forgotten, no possible contingency⁶ overlooked.

Io, who had completed her packing arrangements, sat in the drawing-room writing her letters for the English mail, to have them sent off before she should start. Every now and then she laid down her pen, that she might run to the veranda to see how the packing was progressing. The novelty and bustle⁷ of the scene were to the youthful Englishwoman somewhat amusing.

Io was just finishing her despatch⁸ when Oscar entered the room, with his little packet of letters in his hand.

“Is your letter to your mother ready?” said he. “We had better send off our budget to the post before we start.”

Io folded up her large sheet in the then approved style (envelopes are a modern invention; paste wafers, now a thing of the past, were in common use then, when the more formal wax seal was not required). As lucifer matches were unknown, sealing was a more troublesome operation in those days than in the reign⁹ of our gracious Queen.

“Is all ready for our start?” asked Io, as she pressed the seal down on the wafer. “Is the luggage at last all packed on the mules, and Lightfoot saddled and bridled¹⁰? I think that I shall set out on my pony¹¹.”

“I am sorry to say that we cannot take Lightfoot at all,” replied Oscar.

“Why? Nothing the matter, I hope?”

“Master Thud had his own reasons for staying away from church yesterday,” answered Coldstream in a tone of displeasure. “The boy chose to ride Lightfoot, and let him down. Thud has no idea of riding.”

“Oh, I hope that my poor pony is not much hurt!” cried Io.

“Not permanently¹² injured, I think,” replied Oscar; “but he is lame¹³, and must not be mounted till our return. I am annoyed at your disappointment, and have been rebuking¹⁴ Thud pretty sharply; but he is so encased in self-complacency that it is not easy to touch him. He told me that the fall was entirely¹⁵ the fault of the pony.”

“I fear that poor Thud is a great trial to you, dear Oscar,” observed Io.

“He would have been a greater trial to those at home. I do not regret that we brought him. I own that if we had any one with whom to leave him, Thud should not, after this last prank¹⁶, accompany us to Tavoy. But I cannot burden poor Lawrence, and Pogson is out of the question—so are the Cottles.”

“Dr. Pinny?” suggested Io.

Oscar Coldstream shook his head. “I would not say a word against your old friend,” he observed; “but you yourself would hardly think the good doctor a desirable guardian¹⁷ for your young brother.”

“No, perhaps not,” said Io slowly, looking down as she spoke¹⁸; and as she did so her eyes fell on the little packet of Oscar’s letters which he had laid down on her writing-table whilst speaking of Thud. The address on the uppermost of those letters made Io start and flush to her temples. It was directed to Mrs. Mortimer.

“Who is she?” exclaimed Io, impatience¹⁹ and indignation forcing out the words against her will.

Oscar looked at his wife with surprise. “She is my more than friend,” he replied. “You must often have heard of her from me.”

“I never heard the name from your lips,” exclaimed Io.

“What! not heard of my mother’s old friend, my godmother—she who wrote to you so warmly after our engagement?”

“That was Mrs. Winter, the dear, sweet lady who nursed you through the small-pox when you were quite a little child.”

“Mrs. Winter and Mrs. Mortimer are one. I must have forgotten to tell you of her second marriage, which took place when I was last in Moulmein. My friend married a cousin of her own who was going, in a state of hopeless consumption, to Malta. Mrs. Winter married him in order to be able to go with the dying sufferer and nurse him to the last.”

“O Oscar, what a fool I have been!” exclaimed Io, bursting into tears; but the tears were those of relief, and shed on the bosom²⁰ of her husband.

“And can it be,” said Oscar, in a tone of gentle reproach, “that my Io for one moment thought me so base, so utterly²¹ worthless, as to be even in thought faithless to her to whom I had pledged my troth? Could you not trust me, Io?”

Io, very penitently²², took her husband’s hand and kissed it passionately²³. “Oh, forgive me, forgive me!” she sobbed²⁴; “we should never, never doubt one whom we love.”

Oscar’s reply was a heavy sigh, almost a groan²⁵.

Io looked up anxiously into his face. “O my beloved husband,” she cried, “you have now found out the secret of my sadness; and now that you know all, my soul is relieved of its burden. Will you not also open your heart? will you not tell me why your life has lost its brightness? There should be no secret between husband and wife.”

Oscar took both hands of his Io, and his eyes gazed into hers with an expression of mingled²⁶ love and sorrow which she remembered to her dying day. “There should be no secret between us. Io, I would tell you everything were not your peace dearer to me than my own.” (? See illustration.)

“Any knowledge is better than ignorance,” exclaimed Io in an agitated²⁷ tone.

“Did Eve find it so?” asked Oscar. “No, my beloved,” he continued, still holding her hand in his own; “on this one subject you must not press me to speak. You cannot relieve me of my burden; you cannot even help me to bear it. Let this be the last time that you even allude²⁸ to its existence. I ask only your silence and your prayers.” Oscar pressed a tender kiss on Io’s brow, took up his letters, and quitted the room.

1 veranda   

n.走廊；阳台

参考例句：

• She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
• They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。

2 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 apportioned   

vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They apportioned the land among members of the family. 他们把土地分给了家中各人。
• The group leader apportioned them the duties for the week. 组长给他们分派了这星期的任务。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

6 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

7 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

8 despatch   

n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道

参考例句：

• The despatch of the task force is purely a contingency measure.派出特遣部队纯粹是应急之举。
• He rushed the despatch through to headquarters.他把急件赶送到总部。

9 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

10 bridled   

给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气

参考例句：

• She bridled at the suggestion that she was lying. 她对暗示她在说谎的言论嗤之以鼻。
• He bridled his horse. 他给他的马套上笼头。

11 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

12 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

13 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

14 rebuking   

责难或指责( rebuke的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rebuking people who disagree with them. 指责和自己意见不同的人。
• We could hear the director rebuking Jim for being late from work again. 我们听得见主任在斥辞责吉姆上班又迟到了。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

17 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

18 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：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

19 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

20 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

21 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

22 penitently   

参考例句：

• He sat penitently in his chair by the window. 他懊悔地坐在靠窗的椅子上。 来自柯林斯例句

23 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

24 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

25 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

26 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

27 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

28 allude   

v.提及，暗指

参考例句：

• Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept.圣经中有许多经文间接地提到这样的概念。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles.她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。