To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose.
Walt Whitman.
On a cold morning in July, 1913, Lettice climbed down from a Belgian third-class carriage, dragging her luggage behind her, and found herself at Graide station, province of Luxemburg. Lettice was an expert in the art of traveling cheaply. She had left Victoria the previous afternoon, in a slow train, because the boat expresses don't take third-class passengers. After a wait at Dover, she had crossed by night in the fetid atmosphere of the second-class ladies' cabin of the old Rapide, and had been excessively ill. Continuing her journey at 4 A.M., she had traveled to Brussels in a smoking compartment2 with all the windows shut. Namur, Dinant, Houyet—she lost count of her changes after that. Sometimes she faced the engine; more often she had to ride back; once a Belgian père de famille marched across the width of the carriage and ruthlessly pulled up the window, her window, under her very nose. Always somebody was smoking, to the usual accompaniments, under the notice "Niet Rooken"; and always, at every change, she had to drag her heavy basket down steps and across lines of rail and heave it up to racks far above her aching head. We buy our pleasures dear when we are young. But this was the end. At Graide she was to meet the diligence which should land her at the doors of the H?tel Bellevue.
Of course there was no porter. In those days there never were any porters at a Belgian country station. If you didn't expédier your baggage (as every self-respecting[Pg 44] traveler should), you had to carry it yourself. Lettice's baggage was what is known as a pilgrim basket, gone at the corners, with a double strap3 which had slipped into a string round its middle, leaving the ends bulging4. Bending to it like a patient donkey, she trailed across the loose gray gravel5 to the exit, and at last was outside in the road. The Café de la Gare confronted her, a yellow house with red facings and a blue slate6 roof. "Bureau de la diligence" appeared on its sign, but the customary shabby, dirty, stuffy7, rickety ruin of a two-horse shandrydan was nowhere to be seen.
"Pour Rochehaut, madame?"
A smart commissionaire had seized her basket. Round his cap in gilt8 lettering ran the words, "H?tel Bellevue." Lettice nodded distrustfully, and in a trice was whisked round the corner, still clinging to her strap. Behold9 the diligence of the H?tel Bellevue—a brand-new motor char-à-banc, glistening10 in tan-colored varnish11! The commissionaire threw open the door with a flourish worthy12 of the boulevards, and Lettice subsided13 in a corner as if her patient knees had at last given way.
In the fresh air she presently revived enough to take notice of her fellow-travelers. There were two, both women, the elder obviously a maid. Lettice had seen them before, at Dinant, descending14 from a voiture-salon with a porter in attendance, and had marked them with a malevolent15 eye, having tried in vain to secure that porter herself. But even without that memory she would have noticed the younger of the two.
She was a tall slip of a girl, scarcely out of her teens, but not dressed like an ingénue. Her French hat, her furs, her gloves, the exquisite16 cloth of her suit, all her traveling appointments might have belonged to a married woman of thirty. Yet she was not married, for there was no wedding ring among the diamonds on her finger, and Lettice, whose eyes were as good as opera-glasses, could read the label on the gold-mounted dressing-case in the rack above her head—Miss D. M. O'Connor, H?tel Bellevue. She looked fragile,[Pg 45] as if recovering from an illness, and her figure was still slender and undeveloped; but she had masses of exquisitely17 glossy18 dark hair, and great dark eyes, full of fire and gloom. Young though she was, she knew how to get herself obeyed. When she scowled19 (and she could scowl20, with those black brows), even a Belgian porter came to attention. Lettice was wondering what it was that had set her at odds21 with the world, and written such bitterness on the small, brooding face, when the dark eyes looked up and met hers with a smile, sudden and child-like, which had just the effect of a sunburst over a gloomy landscape.
But before she could speak the unsociable Lettice hurriedly averted22 her eyes and blotted23 herself in her corner. She make talk with a stranger for an hour, and begin an acquaintance which would have to be continued, with smiles and remarks about the weather, every time they chanced to meet in the hotel? No, thank you! The most interesting character study was not worth that. Lettice would have walked a couple of miles any day to avoid a chance acquaintance.
Miss O'Connor stared, half incredulous; then the clouds came down again with a vengeance24, and she turned her back on the ungrateful Lettice and looked out of the window. They were passing down a straight road between long strips of arable25 land, wheat, potatoes, cabbages, beets26, fenceless and flat as a table; and with the road went an avenue of trees, each lopped to a mop-head atop of its naked stem, crawling away like a green caterpillar27 to the limit of sight. In the distance a tiny white church raised a gray conical spire28 like an extinguisher; a group of white and gray dolls'-houses clustered below, drowsily29 basking30, blue haze31 and brown dust, under the hazy32 sky.
"Louisa! What time do we get to Rochehaut?"
"Half-past twelve the book said, Miss Dot."
"Which means half-past one, I suppose," said Dorothea O'Connor in her caustic33 young voice. They were speaking in undertones, but Lettice, whose ears were as sharp as her eyes, could not help hearing every word. "This is the[Pg 46] most hatefully ugly place I've ever seen. Of course one expects advertisements to lie, but there is such a thing as overdoing34 it."
When Dorothea was annoyed, she let it be known. Louisa, faithful soul, bowed her head before the storm; but she paid about as much attention as to the rages of a child.
"Oh, Miss Dot dear, I wish you'd leave this dreadful heathen country and come back to England!"
"I'm coming back to England when I've done what I want, and not before." There was a pleasing vigor36 and directness in Dorothea's statements. "I'm sorry for you, Louisa, but after all you'll be able to get a cup of real English tea at the Bellevue—all the advertisements said so!"
"'Tisn't tea I'm thinking of, Miss Dot, but this dreadful wicked idea of yours. Deceiving your dear kind uncle and all—"
"It's no business of Uncle Jack's what I do, and if I don't tell him it's only because I don't want him to be bothered." Louisa sighed and shook her head. "I won't be moaned at," Dorothea declared, with an inimical flash. "No, and I won't be prayed at either! I've told you, you can go home if you like; but if you stay, you'll just have to resign yourself, because I am going through with it—I should despise myself for ever and ever if I didn't! There: is that plain?"
"Oh, Miss Dot, you have shook your hat so crooked37!" was Louisa's earnest reply. Dorothea laughed, as she submitted to have it set straight.
"I rather hate you sometimes, Louisa darling, you make me feel such a brute," she said, "but I'm going on, all the same. Dear me, is this place an example of the unsurpassed view, I wonder? It'll add a fresh joy to Rochehaut if there's an outbreak of typhoid!"
They were passing through the village which in the distance had looked so trim. Set well back from the road on either side was a row of white houses; before each house, a midden, foursquare; before the middens, a gutter38, running auburn; between the gutters39, the main street, down which[Pg 47] the omnibus had to pass. Dorothea, her face buried in her handkerchief, was rummaging40 her bag impatiently for a bottle of lavender salts, when something made her glance at her fellow-traveler. Lettice was no longer gray, she was green, and trying weakly to unfasten her veil. Suddenly her surprised and unyielding waist was clasped by a peremptory41 arm, and the lavender salts were thrust under her nose.
"How many hatpins have you?—oh, here's the last. Move my things off the seat, Louisa. Now put your head down on these rugs; that's better. We shall be out of this hateful village directly."
The amazed Lettice found herself laid flat on the cushions. Automatically she rose up, reacting like a bent42 twig43; instantly she was pressed back again.
"No, you must lie still. I saw you at Brussels, looking as ill as ill, even then. Are you ill, or is it only the traveling that's upset you?"
"I had a bad crossing," said Lettice, in a tone that was almost surly.
"A bad crossing? You came over last night? Then I don't wonder at anything. My flask44, Louisa—no, that's the eau-de-Cologne, how stupid you are! I'm going to give you a liqueur; brandy's hateful, and no good at all, but a cura?ao does pull you together. Open your mouth—that's right—"
Lettice had opened her mouth to say she did not like liqueurs, but she was given no time; her zealous45 nurse immediately poured the dose down her throat. This was an outrage—it was forcible feeding—and on Lettice, of all people! Lettice, who could not bear so much as to be touched against her will! Coughing in the most lady-like way, pink with choking and with injured dignity, she presented a pathetic sight for any one with eyes to see. Dorothea had none.
"You aren't one bit fit to be going about alone and looking after yourself," she said, in a mixture of severity and solicitude46. "You ought to be in bed! Are you cold?—why, your hands are like lumps of ice! My cloak, Louisa.[Pg 48] When we get to the hotel you shall have a hot bottle and I'll see after you properly. No, don't try to talk."
Hitherto Lettice had expressed no gratitude47, but now, having been told to keep silence, she said "Thank you," in a tone of acid obstinacy48. It is trying to be done good to against your will. Nobody had ever before attempted such a liberty with Lettice. Denis might lecture, but he never dreamed of enforcing his advice; while her own sisters would have laughed at the possibility. "Make Lettice do what she doesn't choose?" cried Rosabel. "You might just as well argue with the leg of that table!"
Lettice, of course, did not agree with them; she considered herself to be of a yielding disposition49, bordering on flabbiness; but there are things the meekest50 cannot stand. The moment Dorothea's back was turned she rose up and put on her hat again. After that she felt happier, if less comfortable. Lettice was one of those persons who are never really happy when they are comfortable; instinctive51 dread35 of slackness (springing by rebound52 from innate53 love of luxury) drove her to deny her body in order to ease her soul. Certainly her body was not at ease. Violent remedies did not suit her. It might have been the cura?ao, or the insult, or both of them together, but her sensations were growing acute.
She saw nothing when they plunged54 into a rick dark green valley of woods. She was blind to the silvery splendors55 of distant hills and river. They turned into a wide courtyard and drew up. Lettice saw only that the H?tel Bellevue had many piazzas56 and balconies, all full of people, all watching the arrival of the coach. Dorothea descended57 on one side. Her patient slipped out on the other and made towards the door.
"Why, Lettice!"
It was Denis, who had sprung out of his chair and was advancing towards her, smiling, as the phrase goes, all over his face. Lettice, while wishing him at Jericho, produced an answering smile.
"Well," said she.
[Pg 49]
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You said you meant to spend the night in Brussels! You might have sent a wire!"
"I forgot," said Lettice, still edging towards the door. She wished he would not stand directly in the way. Denis at last began to perceive that something was wrong.
"Did you have a bad crossing? You're all the colors of the rainbow, my dear girl—"
Lettice suddenly swerved58 past him and almost ran towards the house. As she reached the door another dense59 and solid person came out, and got hopelessly in the way. A delay at such a moment ... well, if it had been anybody in the world but Lettice ... and even as it was....
"Good Lord!" said Denis.
The new-comer, who was Harry60 Gardiner, turned with commendable61 presence of mind and rang for a maid. "Show this lady to her room—"
"And take her a cup of tea at once," finished Dorothea, coming up breathless to resume command. "I'll see to her myself in a moment."
Lettice's last thought, as she hid her shame within the house, was that she must on no account forget to lock her door.
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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13
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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17
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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19
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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21
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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22
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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24
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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arable
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| adj.可耕的，适合种植的 | |
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beets
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| 甜菜( beet的名词复数 )； 甜菜根； （因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而）脸红 | |
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caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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28
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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29
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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30
basking
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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31
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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34
overdoing
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| v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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35
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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37
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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38
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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39
gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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40
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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41
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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42
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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43
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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44
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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45
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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46
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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47
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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48
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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49
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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50
meekest
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| adj.温顺的，驯服的( meek的最高级 ) | |
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51
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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52
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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53
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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54
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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55
splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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56
piazzas
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| n.广场，市场( piazza的名词复数 ) | |
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57
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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58
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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60
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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61
commendable
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| adj.值得称赞的 | |
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