It was all right for the bookmakers this time at Brighton: the favourites, against which so much money had been staked, had been beaten, and "dark" horses, scarcely heard of, and backed for nothing, had carried off the principal prizes. So it followed that most of the gentry11 of the betting-ring, instead of hurrying off to the scene of their next trials of fortune, finding themselves with plenty of money in their pockets, at a pleasant place in lovely weather, made up their minds to remain there during the intervening Saturday and Sunday, and to drop business so far as possible until the Monday morning, when they would speed away by the early express-trains.
So far as possible, but not entirely12. It is impossible for them to drop business altogether even on this glorious Sunday afternoon, when the whole face of Nature is blandly13 smiling. See the broad blue bosom14 of the sea smooth and sparkling as glass, dotted here and there with white-sailed pleasure-boats; see far away, beyond the encircling belt of brick and stone, the broad shoulder of the bare and bushless downs, over which the fresh air careering comes away laden15 with the delicious scents16 of trodden turf and wild thyme and yellow gorse; see the brown beach, where under the lee of the fishing-smacks, or making a table of the large flukes of rusty17 anchors, sit groups of excursionists,--pallid Londoners, exulting18 in the unwonted luxury of escaping from the stony19 streets, and more excited by the brisk and revivifying sea air than by the contents of the stone bottle which stands in the midst of each group, and whose contents are so perpetually going round from hand to hand in the little footless glass; see the Esplanade thronged20 with its hundreds of foot passengers, its scores of flies and carriages; see the Stock Exchange in all its glory, and the children of Israel gorgeous in long ringlets, thunder-and-lightning neckties, and shot-silk parasols; and see the turf-men standing21 here and there in little knots, trying to be interested in the scenes passing around them, but ever and again turning to each other with some question of "odds," for some scrap22 of "intelligence."
The ring is strongly represented this Sunday afternoon on Brighton Parade, both in its highest and its lowest form. The short stout23 man in the greasy24 suit of black, with the satin waistcoat frayed25 round the pockets by the rubbing of his silver watch-guard, who is jotting26 down memoranda27 with a fat cedar-pencil in his betting-book, enters freely into conversation and is on an equality with the gentlemanly-looking man whose only visible "horseyness" is expressed in his tightly-cut trousers and his bird's-eye neckerchief with the horseshoe pin. Patrons of the turf, owners of racehorses, commission-agents, bookmakers, touts28, tipsters, hangers-on of every kind to turf speculations29 and turf iniquities30, are here at Brighton on this lovely Sunday afternoon.
There was one group, consisting of three people, planted on the Esplanade, just in front of the Old Ship Hotel, the three component31 members of which were recognised and saluted32 by nearly everyone who passed. One of them was a short square-built man, with keen eyes closely set and sunken, small red whiskers, and a sharp-pointed33 nose. He was dressed in black, with a wonderfully neatly-tied long white cravat34, folded quite flat, with a dog's tooth set in gold for a pin; and he wore a low-crowned hat. The other two were young men, dressed in the best style of what is known as "horsey get-up." They had been talking and laughing ever since they had taken up their position, immediately after lunching at the hotel, out of which they had strolled with cigars in their mouths; and it was obvious that any respect which the elder man might receive was not paid to him on account of his age, but rather in acknowledgment of the caustic35 remarks with which he amused his companions. These remarks seemed at last to have come to an end. There had been a long silence, which was broken by the elder man asking,
"Don't know; haven't seen him since Thursday night," said the taller of the young men.
"Won a pot of money on the Cup," said the other sententiously; "regular hatful."
"Dropped his tin, Foxey dear. Held on like grim death to Gaslight, and was put in the hole like the rest of us. He tells me he has been hit for--"
"He tells you!" interrupted the elder man; "He tells you! I've known Gilbert Lloyd for two or three years, and anything he tells me I should take deuced good care not to believe."
"Very good, Foxey dear! very nice, you sweet old thing! only don't halloo out quite so loud, because here's G.L. coming across the road to speak to us, and he mightn't--How do, Lloyd, old fellow?"
The new-comer was a man of about four-and-twenty, a little above the middle height, and slightly but strongly built. His face would generally have been considered handsome, though a physiognomist would have read shiftiness and suspicion in the small and sunken blue eyes, want of geniality38 in the tightly-closing mouth visible under the slight fair moustache, and determination in the jaw39. Though there was a slight trace of the stable in his appearance, he was decidedly more gentlemanly-looking than his companions, having a distinct stamp of birth and breeding which they lacked. He smiled as he approached the group, and waved a small stick which he carried in a jaunty41 manner; but Foxey noticed a flushed appearance round his eyes, an eager worn straining round his mouth, and said to his friend who had last spoken, "You're right, Jack43; Lloyd has had it hot and strong this time, and no mistake."
The young man had by this time crossed the road and stood leaning over the railing. In answer to a repetition of their salutes44, he said:
"Not very bright. None of us are always up to the mark, save Foxey here, who is perennial45; and just now I'm worried and bothered. O, not as you fellows imagine," he said hastily, as he saw a smile go round; and as he said it his face darkened, and the clenching46 of his jaws47 gave him a very savage48 expression,--"not from what I've dropped at this meeting; that's neither here nor there: lightly come; lightly gone; but the fact is that Gore, who is living with me over there, is deuced seedy."
"Thought he looked pulled and done on Thursday," said Foxey. "Didn't know whether it was backing Gaslight that had touched him up, or--"
"No," interrupted Lloyd hurriedly; "a good deal of champagne49 under a tremendously hot sun; that's the cause, I believe. Harvey has a way of turning up his little finger under excitement, and never will learn to moderate his transports. He's overdone50 it this time, and I'm afraid is really bad. I must send for a doctor; and now I'm off to the telegraph-office, to send a message to my wife. Gore was to have cleared out of this early this morning, to spend a day or two with Sandcrack, the vet51, at Shoreham; and my proprietress was coming down here; but there's no room for her now, and I must put her off."
"Do you think Harvey Gore's really bad?" asked one of the younger men.
"Well, I think he's got something like sunstroke, and I know he's a little off his head," responded Lloyd. "He'll pull round, I daresay--I've no doubt. But still he can't be moved just yet, and a woman would only be in the way under such circumstances, let alone it's not being very lively for her; so I'll just send her a message to keep off. Ta-ta! I shall look into the smoking-room to-night at the Ship, when Harvey's gone off to sleep." And with a nod and a smile, Gilbert Lloyd started off.
"Queer customer that, Foxey."
"Queer indeed; which his golden number is Number One!" said Foxey enigmatically.
"What's his wife like?"
"Never saw her," said Foxey; "but I should think she had a pleasant time of it with that youth. It will be an awful disappointment to him, her not coming down, won't it?"
"Foxey, you are an unbeliever of the deepest dye. Domestic happiness in your eyes is--"
"Bosh! You never said a truer word. Now, let's have half-a-crown's-worth of fly, and go up the cliff."
A short time after Gilbert Lloyd had left the house in which he had taken lodgings, consisting of the parlour-floor and a bedroom upstairs, Mrs. Bush, the landlady52, whose mind was rather troubled, partly because the servant, whose "Sunday out" it was, had not yet returned from the Methodist chapel53 where she performed her devotions--a delay which her mistress did not impute54 entirely to the blandishments of the preacher--and partly for other reasons, took up her position in the parlour-window, and began to look up and down the street. Mrs. Bush was not a landlady of the jolly type; she was not ruddy of complexion55, or thin and trim of ankle, neither did she adorn56 herself with numerous ribbons of florid hue57. On the contrary, she was a pale, anxious-faced woman, who looked as if she had had too much to do, and quite enough to fret58 about, all her life. And now, as she stood in the parlour-window on a hot Sunday, and contemplated59 the few loungers who straggled through the street on their way to the seashore, she assumed a piteous expression of countenance60, and shook her head monotonously61.
"I wish I hadn't let 'em the rooms, I'm sure," said Mrs. Bush to herself. "It's like my luck--and in the race-week too. If he's able to be up and away from this in a day or two, then I know nothing of sickness; and I've seen a good deal of it too in my time. No sign of that girl! But who's this?"
Asking this, under the circumstances, unsatisfactory question, Mrs. Bush drew still closer to the parlour-window, holding the inevitable62 red-moreen curtain still farther back, and looked with mingled63 curiosity and helplessness at a cab which stopped unmistakably at the door of her house, and from the window of which a handsome young female head protruded64 itself. Mrs. Bush could not doubt that the intention of the lady in the cab was to get out of it and come into her house; and that good-for-nothing Betsy had not come in, and there was nobody to open the door but Mrs. Bush--a thing which, though a meek-enough woman in general, she did not like doing. The lady gave her very little time to consider whether she liked it or not; for she descended65 rapidly from the cab, took a small travelling-bag from the hand of the cabman, paid him, mounted the three steps which led to the door, and knocked and rang with so determined66 a purpose of being admitted that Mrs. Bush, without a moment's hesitation,--but with a muttered "Mercy on us! Suppose he'd been asleep now!" which seemed to imply that the lady's vehemence67 might probably damage somebody's nerves,--crossed the hall and opened the door.
She found herself confronted by a very young lady, a girl of not more, and possibly less, than nineteen years, in whose manner there was a certain confidence strongly suggestive of her entertaining an idea that the house which she was evidently about to enter was her own, and not that of the quiet, but not well-pleased, looking person who asked her civilly enough, yet not with any cordiality of tone, whom she wished to see.
"Is Mr. Lloyd not at home? This is his address, I know," was the enigmatical reply of the young lady.
"A Mr. Lloyd is lodging8 here, miss," returned Mrs. Bush, with a glance of anything but approbation68 at her questioner, and planting herself rather demonstratively in the doorway69; "but he isn't in. Did you wish to see him?"
"I am Mrs. Lloyd," replied the young lady with a frown, and depositing her little travelling-bag within the threshold; "did you not know I was coming? Let me in, please."
And the next minute--Mrs. Bush could not tell exactly how it happened--she found the hall-door shut, and she was standing in the passage, while the young lady who had announced herself as Mrs. Lloyd was calmly walking into the parlour. Mrs. Bush was confounded by the sudden and unexpected nature of this occurrence; but the only thing she could do was to follow the unlooked-for visitor into the parlour, and she did it. The young lady had already seated herself on a small hard sofa, covered with crimson70 moreen to match the window-curtains, had put off her very becoming and fashionable bonnet71, and was then taking off her gloves. She looked annoyed, but not in the least embarrassed.
"That is Mr. Lloyd's room, I presume?" she said, as she pointed to the folding-doors which connected the parlours, and which stood slightly open.
"Yes, m'm; but--"
Mrs. Bush hesitated; but as the young lady rose, took up her bag, and instantly pushed the door she had indicated quite open, and walked into the apartment, Mrs. Bush felt that the case was getting desperate. Though a depressed72 woman habitually73, she was not by any means a timid one, and had fought many scores of highly successful battles with lodgers76 in her time. But this was quite a novel experience, and Mrs. Bush was greatly at a loss how to act. Something must be done, that was quite clear. Not so what that something was to be; and more than ever did Mrs. Bush resent the tarrying of Betsy's feet on her return from Beulah Chapel.
"She would have shut the door in her face, and kept her out until I saw how things really were," thought the aggrieved77 landlady; but she said boldly enough, as she closely followed the intruder, and glanced at her left hand, on which the symbol of lawful78 matrimony duly shone:
"If you please, m'm, you wasn't expected. Mr. Lloyd nor the other gentleman never mentioned that there was a lady coming; and I don't in general let my parlours to ladies."
"Indeed! that is very awkward," said the young lady, who had opened her bag, taken out her combs and brushes, and was drawing a chair to the dressing-table; "but it cannot be helped. Mr. Lloyd quite expected me, I know; he arranged that I should come down to-morrow before he left town; but it suited me better to come to-day. I can't think why he did not tell you."
"I suppose he forgot it, m'm," said Mrs. Bush, utterly79 regardless of the uncomplimentary nature of the suggestion, "on account of the sick gentleman; but it's rather unfortunate, for I never do take in ladies, not in my parlours; and Mr. Lloyd not having mentioned it, I--"
"Do you mean to say that I cannot remain here with my husband?" said the young lady, turning an astonished glance upon Mrs. Bush.
"Well, m'm," said the nervous landlady, "as it's for a short time only as Mr. Lloyd has taken the rooms, and as it's Sunday, I shall see, when he conies in. You see, m'm, I've rather particular people in my drawing-rooms, and it's different about ladies; and--" Here she glanced once more at the light girlish figure, in the well-fitting, fashionable dress, standing before the dressing-table, and at the white hand adorned80 with the orthodox ring.
"I think I understand you," said the intruder gravely; "you did not know Mr. Lloyd was married, and you are not sure that I am his wife. It is a difficulty, and I really don't see how it is to be gotten over. Will you take his word?--at all events I may remain here until he comes in presently?"
Something winning, something convincing, in the tone of her voice caused a sudden revulsion of feeling in Mrs. Bush. The good woman--for she was a good woman in the main--began to feel rather ashamed of herself, and she commenced a bungling81 sort of apology. Of course the lady could stay, but it was awkward Mr. Lloyd not having told her; and there was but one servant, a good-for-nothing hussy as ever stepped--and over-staying her time now to that degree, that she expected the "drawing-rooms" would not have their dinner till ever so late; but at this point the young lady interrupted her.
"If I may stay for to-night," she said gently, and with a very frank smile, which made Mrs. Bush feel indignant with herself, as well as ashamed, "some other arrangement can be made to-morrow; and I require no waiting-on. I shall give you no trouble, or as little as possible."
Mrs. Bush could not hold out any longer. She told the young lady she could certainly stay for that day and night, and as for to-morrow, she would "see about it;" and then, at the dreaded82 summons of the impatient "drawing-rooms," bustled83 away, saying she would return presently, and "see to" the stranger herself.
Pretty girls in pretty dresses are not rarities in the lodging-houses of Brighton; indeed, it would perhaps be difficult to name any place where they are to be seen more frequently, or in greater numbers; but the toilet-glass on the table in the back bedroom of Mrs. Bush's lodging-house, a heavy article of furniture, with a preponderance of frame, had probably reflected few such faces as that of the lady calling herself Mrs. Lloyd, who looked attentively84 into it when she found herself alone, and decided40 that she was not so very dusty, considering.
She was rather tall, and her figure was slight and girlish, but firm and well-developed. She carried her head gracefully85; and something in her attitude and air suggested to the beholder86 that she was not more commonplace in character than in appearance. Her complexion was very fair and clear, but not either rosy87 or milky88; very young as she was, she looked as if she had thought too much and lived too much to retain the ruddiness and whiteness of colouring which rarely coexist with intellectual activity or sensitive feelings. Her features were well-formed; but the face was one in which a charm existed different from and superior to any which merely lies in regularity89 of feature. It was to be found mainly in the eyes and mouth. The eyes were brown in colour--the soft rich deep brown in which the pupil confounds itself with the iris90; and the curling lashes91 harmonised with both; eyes not widely opened, but yet with nothing sly or hidden in their semi-veiled habitual74 look--eyes which, when suddenly lifted up, and opened in surprise, pleasure, anger, or any other emotion, instantly convinced the person who received the glance that they were the most beautiful he had ever seen. The eyebrows92 were dark and arched, and the forehead, of that peculiar93 formation and width above the brow which phrenologists hold to indicate a talent for music, was framed in rippling94 bands of dark chestnut95 hair.
She was a beautiful and yet more a remarkable-looking young woman, girlish in some points of her appearance, and in her light lithe96 movements, but with something ungirlish, and even hard, in her expression. This something was in the mouth: not small enough to be silly, not large enough to be defective97 in point of proportion; the line of the lips was sharp, decisive, and cold; richly coloured, as befitted her youth, they were not young lips--they did not smile spontaneously, or move above the small white teeth with every thought and fancy, but moved deliberately98, opening and closing at her will only. What it was in Mrs. Lloyd's face which contradicted the general expression of youth which it wore, would have been seen at once if she had placed her hand across her eyes. The beaming brown eyes, the faintly-tinted rounded cheeks, were the features of a girl--the forehead and the mouth were the features of a woman who had left girlhood a good way behind her, and travelled over some rough roads and winding99 ways since she had lost sight of it.
When Mrs. Bush returned, she found the stranger in the front parlour, but not standing at the window, looking out for the return of her husband; on the contrary, she was seated at the prim100 round table, listlessly turning over some newspapers and railway literature left there by Gilbert Lloyd. Once again Mrs. Bush looked at her with sharp suspicion; once again she was disarmed101 by her beauty, her composure, and the sweetness of her smile.
"Mr. Lloyd is not in yet, m'm," began Mrs. Bush, "and you'll be wanting your lunch."
"No, thank you," said Mrs. Lloyd; "I can wait. I suppose you don't know when he is likely to be in?"
"He said directly," replied Mrs. Bush; "and I wish he had kept to it, for I can't think the sick gentleman is any better. I've been to look at him, and he seems to me a deal worse since morning."
Mrs. Lloyd looked rather vacantly at Mrs. Bush. "Have you a lodger75 ill in the house?" she asked. "That makes it still more inconvenient102 for you to receive me."
Mrs. Bush felt uncomfortable at this question. How very odd that Mrs. Lloyd should not know about her husband's friend! They are evidently queer people, thought the landlady; and she answered rather stiffly:
"The only lodger ill in the house, m'm, is the gentleman as came with Mr. Lloyd; and, in my opinion, he's very ill indeed."
"Came with Mr. Lloyd?" said the young lady in a tone of great surprise. "Do you mean Mr. Gore? Can you possibly mean Mr. Gore?"
"Just him," answered Mrs. Bush succinctly103. "Didn't you know he was here with Mr. Lloyd?"
"I knew he was coming to Brighton with him, certainly," said Mrs. Lloyd; "but I understood he was to leave immediately after the races--before I came down. What made him stay?"
Mrs. Bush drew near the table, and, leaning her hands upon it, fell into an easy tone of confidential104 chat with Mrs. Lloyd. That lady sat still, looking thoughtfully before her, as the landlady began, but after a little resting her head on her hand and covering her eyes:
"He stayed, m'm, because he was very ill, uncommon105 ill to be sure; I never saw a gentleman iller, nor more stubborn. His portmanteau was packed and ready when he went to the races, and he told Betsy he shouldn't be five minutes here when he'd come back; and Mr. Lloyd said to him in my hearing, 'Gore,' said he, 'how your digestion106 stands the tricks you play with it, I can not understand;' for they'd been breakfasting, and he had eat unwholesome, I can't say otherwise. But when they come from the races, they come in a cab, which wasn't usual; and, not to offend you, m'm, Mr. Lloyd had had quite enough" (here she paused for an expression of annoyance107 on the part of her hearer; but no such manifestation108 was made); "but Mr. Gore, he was far gone, and a job we had to get him upstairs without disturbing the drawing-rooms, I can assure you. And Mr. Lloyd told me he had been very ill all day at the races, and wouldn't come home or let them fetch a doctor--there were ever so many there--or anything, but would go on drinking, and when he put him in the cab, he wanted to take him to a doctor's, but he wouldn't go; and Mr. Lloyd did say, m'm, begging your pardon, that Mr. Gore damned the doctors, and said all the medicine he ever took, or ever would take, was in his portmanteau."
"Was there no doctor sent for, then? Has nothing been done for him?" asked Mrs. Lloyd, with some uneasiness in her tone, removing her hand from her eyes and looking full at Mrs. Bush.
"We've done--Betsy and me and Mr. Lloyd; for no one could be more attentive--all we could; but Mr. Gore was quite sensible, and have a doctor he would not; and what could we do? We gave him the medicine out of the case in his portmanteau. I mixed it and all, and he told me how, quite well; and this morning he was ever so much better."
"And is he worse now? Who is with him?" asked Mrs. Lloyd, rising.
"Well, m'm, I think he looks a deal worse; and I wish Mr. Lloyd was come in, because I think he ought to send for a doctor; I don't know what to do."
"Who is with him?" repeated Mrs. Lloyd.
"No one," returned Mrs. Bush. "No one is with him. When Mr. Lloyd went out, he told me Mr. Gore felt inclined to sleep; he had had some tea and was better, and I was not to let him be disturbed. But when I was upstairs just now, I heard him give a moan; and I knew he was not asleep, so I went in; and he looks very bad, and I couldn't get a word out of him but 'Where's Lloyd?'"
"Take me to his room at once," said Mrs. Lloyd, "and send for a doctor instantly. We must not wait for anything."
But the incorrigible109 Betsy had not yet returned, and Mrs. Bush explained to the stranger that she had no means of sending for a doctor until she could send Betsy.
"Let me see Mr. Gore first, for a minute, and then I will fetch the nearest doctor myself," said Mrs. Lloyd; and passing out of the room as she spoke42, she began to ascend110 the narrow staircase, followed by the landlady, instructing her that the room in which the sick man was to be found was the "two-pair front."
The room in which the sick man lay was airy, and tolerably large. As Gertrude Lloyd softly turned the handle of the door, and entered, the breeze, which bore with it a mingled flavour of the sea and the dust, fluttered the scanty111 window-curtains of white dimity, and caused the draperies of the bed to flap dismally112. The sun streamed into the room, but little impeded113 by the green blinds, which shed a sickly hue over everything, and lent additional ghastliness to the face, which was turned away from Gertrude when she entered the chamber114. The bed, a large structure of extraordinary height, stood in front of one of the windows; the furniture of the room was of the usual lodging-house quality; an open portmanteau, belching115 forth116 tumbled shirts and rumpled117 pocket-handkerchiefs, gaped118 wide upon the floor; the top of the chest of drawers was covered with bottles, principally of the soda-water pattern, but of which one contained a modicum119 of brandy, and another some fluid magnesia. Everything in the room was disorderly and uncomfortable; and Gertrude's quick eye took in all this discomfort120 and its details in a glance, while she stepped lightly across the floor and approached the bed.
The sunlight was shining on Harvey Gore's face, and showed her how worn and livid, how ghastly and distorted, it was. He lay quite still, and took no notice of her presence. Instantly perceiving the effect of the green blind, Gertrude went to the window and pulled it up, then beckoned121 Mrs. Bush to her side, and once more drew near the bed.
"Mr. Gore," she said, "Mr. Gore! Do you not know me? Can you not look at me? Can you not speak to me? I am Mrs. Lloyd."
The sick man answered her only with a groan122. His face was an awful ashen123 gray; his shoulders were so raised that the head seemed to be sunken upon the chest; and his body lay upon the bed with unnatural124 weight and stillness. One hand was hidden by the bedclothes, the other clutched a corner of the pillow with cramped125 and rigid126 fingers. The two women exchanged looks of alarm.
"Was he looking like this when you saw him last--since I came?" said Mrs. Lloyd, speaking in a distinct low tone directed completely into the ear of the listener.
"No, no; nothing like so bad as he looks now," said Mrs. Bush, whose distended127 eyes were fixed128 upon the patient with an expression of unmitigated dismay. "Did you ever see anyone die?" she whispered to Gertrude Lloyd.
"No; never."
"Then you will see it, and soon."
"Do you really think he is dying?" and then she leaned over him, shook him very gently by the shoulder, loosened his hold of the pillow, and said again,
"Mr. Gore! Mr. Gore! Do you not know me? Can you not speak to me?"
Again he groaned129, and then, feebly opening his eyes, so awfully130 glazed131 and hollow that Gertrude recoiled133 with an irrepressible start, made a movement with his head.
"He knows me," whispered Gertrude to Mrs. Bush; "for God's sake go for a doctor without an instant's delay! I must stay with him."
The landlady, dreadfully frightened, was only too glad to escape from the room.
For a few moments after she was left alone with the sick man Gertrude stood beside him quite still and silent; then he moved uneasily, again groaned, and made an ineffectual attempt to sit up in his bed. Gertrude tried to assist him; she passed her arms round his shoulders, and put all her strength to the effort to raise him, but in vain. The large heavy frame slipped from her hold, and sunk down again with ominous134 weight and inertness135. Looking around in great fear, but still preserving her calmness, she perceived the bottle in which some brandy still remained. In an instant she had filled a wine-glass with the spirit, lifted the sufferer's feeble head, and contrived136 to pour a small quantity down his throat. The stimulant137 acted for a little upon the dying man; he looked at her with eyes in which an intelligent purpose pierced the dull glaze132 preceding the fast-coming darkness, stretched his hand out to her, and drew her nearer, nearer. Gertrude bent138 over him until her chestnut hair touched his wan37 livid temples, and then, when her face was on a level with his own, he whispered in her ear.
* * * * *
Mrs. Bush had not gone many steps away from her own hall-door when she met Gilbert Lloyd. He was walking slowly, his hands thrust deep into his pockets, his head bent, his eyes frowning and downcast, and his under-lip firmly held by his white, sharp, even teeth. He did not see Mrs. Bush until she came close up to him, and exclaimed,
"O, Mr. Lloyd, how thankful I am I've met you! The gentleman is very bad indeed--just gone, sir,--and I was going for a doctor. There's not a moment to lose."
"Impossible, Mrs. Bush," he said; "you must be mistaken. He was much better when I left him; besides, he was not seriously ill at all."
"I don't know about that, sir, and I can't stay to talk about it; I must get the doctor at once."
"No, no," said Lloyd, rousing himself; "I will do that. Where is the nearest? Tell me, and do you go back to him."
"First turn to the right, second door on the left," said Mrs. Bush, with unusual promptitude. "Dr. Muxky's; he isn't long established, but does a good business."
Gilbert Lloyd hurried away; and Mrs. Bush returned to the house, thinking only when she had reached it, that she had forgotten to mention his wife's arrival to Gilbert Lloyd.
* * * * *
When Lloyd entered the sick man's room, bringing with him Dr. Muxky, as that sandy-haired and youthful general practitioner140 was called by his not numerous clients, he saw a female figure bending over the bed. It was not that of Mrs. Bush; he had passed her loitering on the stairs,--ostensibly that she might conduct the gentlemen to the scene of action, really because she dared not re?nter the room unsupported by a medical presence. The figure did not change its attitude as they entered, and Dr. Muxky approached the patient with a professional gliding141 step. He was followed by Lloyd; who, however, stopped abruptly142 on the opposite side of the bed when he met the full unshrinking gaze of his wife's bright, clear, threatening eyes.
"May I trouble you to stand aside for a moment?" said Dr. Muxky courteously143 to Gertrude, who instantly moved, but only a very little way, and again stood quite still and quite silent. Dr. Muxky stooped over his patient, but only for a few seconds. Then he looked up at Gilbert Lloyd, and said hastily,
"I have been called in too late, sir; I'm afraid your friend is dead."
"Yes," said Gertrude quietly, as if the doctor had spoken to her: "he is dead. He has been dead some minutes."
Gilbert Lloyd looked at her, but did not speak; the doctor looked from one to the other, but said nothing. Then Gertrude stretched out her hand and laid her fingers heavily upon the dead man's eyelids144, and kept them there for several moments amid the silence. In a little while she steadily145 withdrew her hand, and without a word left the room.
On the drawing-room landing she found Mrs. Bush. That practised and cautious landlady, mindful of the possible prejudice of her permanent lodgers against serious illness and probable death in their immediate7 vicinity, raised her finger, as a signal that a low tone of voice would be advisable.
"Go upstairs; the doctor wants you," said Gertrude, and passed quickly down to the parlour. A few moments more, and she had put on her bonnet and shawl, opened the hall-door without noise, closed it softly, and was walking swiftly down the street towards the shore.
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sapphire
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| n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的 | |
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verdigris
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| n.铜锈；铜绿 | |
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blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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7
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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8
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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9
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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10
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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11
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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12
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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13
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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16
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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17
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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18
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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19
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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20
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
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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22
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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24
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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25
frayed
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| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
jotting
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| n.简短的笔记，略记v.匆忙记下( jot的现在分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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27
memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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28
touts
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| n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报 | |
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29
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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30
iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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31
component
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| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
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32
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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33
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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34
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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35
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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36
gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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37
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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38
geniality
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| n.和蔼，诚恳；愉快 | |
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39
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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40
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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41
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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42
spoke
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| 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 | |
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43
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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44
salutes
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| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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45
perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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46
clenching
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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47
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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48
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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49
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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50
overdone
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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51
vet
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| n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查 | |
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52
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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53
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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54
impute
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| v.归咎于 | |
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55
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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56
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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57
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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58
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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59
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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60
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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61
monotonously
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| adv.单调地，无变化地 | |
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62
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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63
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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64
protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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66
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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67
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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68
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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69
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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70
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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71
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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72
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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73
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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74
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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75
lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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76
lodgers
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| n.房客，租住者( lodger的名词复数 ) | |
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77
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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78
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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79
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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80
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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81
bungling
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| adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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82
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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83
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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84
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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85
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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86
beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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87
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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88
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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89
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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90
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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91
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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92
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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93
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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94
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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95
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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96
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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97
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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98
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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99
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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100
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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101
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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102
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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103
succinctly
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| adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地 | |
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104
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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105
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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106
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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107
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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108
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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109
incorrigible
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| adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的 | |
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110
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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111
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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112
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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113
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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115
belching
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| n. 喷出，打嗝 动词belch的现在分词形式 | |
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116
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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117
rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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119
modicum
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| n.少量，一小份 | |
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120
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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121
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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123
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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124
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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125
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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126
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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127
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
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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129
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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130
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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131
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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132
glaze
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| v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情 | |
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133
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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134
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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135
inertness
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| n.不活泼，没有生气；惰性；惯量 | |
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136
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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137
stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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138
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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139
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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140
practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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141
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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142
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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143
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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144
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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145
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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