The Lonely Man hesitated, half turned away, then, drawn4 by an irresistible5 attraction, stepped on to the veranda, stood in the shadow, and looked in at a window.
The room was so large, and its occupants so far from the windows, that the silent intruder had small need to fear detection.
His first furtive6 glance into the interior awakened7, with a sudden throb8, more strongly than ever before, that illusive9 sense of home.
36He drew nearer.
A long, low room; the many windows running half the length of the veranda, a cushioned window seat beneath them. A door, on his left, opened on to the veranda. At the opposite side of the room, another door, standing10 ajar, led into a large hall. At the top of the room, on his right, a log fire burned in the huge fireplace. The leaping flames illumined the oak panelling and played on the carved beams in the ceiling. Persian rugs, in soft tints11 of blue and rose, lay upon the polished parquet12.
A couch, on the further side of the fireplace, and at right-angles to it, faced the windows. In the centre, opposite the hearth13, stood two large easy chairs.
These chairs were occupied by a young man in tweeds and shooting-boots—who lay back luxuriously14 with legs outstretched, as if long tramping in the heather had earned him a welcome rest—and by a very lovely girl, whose smiles and looks of happy tenderness were divided between the sturdy 37figure in the other chair, and a very small boy in Highland15 dress, who darted16 to and fro between them, trying to intercept17 a ball as they threw it to one another; a brave little figure, in tartan kilt and velvet18 jacket; his brown curls tumbled, his dark eyes shining, as he fell, over his father’s legs, headlong into his mother’s lap.
One casement19 stood open, and the lonely watcher could hear their merry laughter and the boy’s triumphant20 shout as he snatched the ball from his mother’s hand.
Holding it above his head, he danced out into the middle of the room, in full view of the windows.
The watching eyes narrowed in puzzled wonder.
Why was that leaping figure so familiar? The two in the chairs awakened no memories. The lovely woman, with her fair skin and coils of shining hair; the man, long-limbed, freckled21 and ruddy—total strangers both. Yet this child, who called them “Father” and “Mother,” this little 38dark head, brown, oval face, black, level brows? Where had he met the imp22 before?
His mind went back some twenty odd years to the Christmas after his eighth birthday. The kind Mayor had made a feast at the Townhall for the children from the Institution. They were given funny dresses to wear. A Highland dress was found for him, kilt and plaid and dirk complete. The little black velvet jacket had silver buttons with thistles on them. Some ladies talked about him. They said: “With those wonderful dark eyes and curls, he should have come as the Black Prince. Who is he?” They kissed him and gave him chocolates. He hated being kissed; but he liked the chocolates; and he liked being called the Black Prince. At one end of the hall there was a long mirror. He slipped away and stood before it. He had never before seen himself full length in a mirror. He held the box of chocolates above his head——
Why—yes! This little boy with the ball 39was an exact replica23 of the figure he had seen reflected in the mirror; a replica of himself.
He felt dizzy—shaken.
He was turning away; but at that moment, the hall beyond was illuminated24.
Something moved across it.
A woman appeared in the open doorway—an arresting figure—a woman with snow-white hair, tall, stately, matronly; extraordinarily25 beautiful, with a calm, melancholy26 beauty; a woman well past middle age, yet with soft white skin, unwrinkled; upright carriage; a noble, gracious personality.
“In the dark, children?” she said; then put out her hand, and the room flashed into light.
“Grannie!” shouted the boy, and ran to meet her.
With her hand upon his shoulder, she moved slowly into the middle of the room.
The young man half rose, offering his chair.
“Do not move, Colin,” she said, and went to the couch.
40The boy climbed up beside her, nestling his dark curls into the lace at her bosom27. She put her arm about him with a gesture infinitely28 tender and protective.
The younger woman spoke29. “Colin and I were lazing in the firelight, mother. Then Nigel arrived with his ball, and forced us to be energetic.”
The watcher at the window pressed closer to the pane2. In the fascination30 of the scene he forgot to fear discovery.
By the brighter light the couple appeared older than he had at first thought them. She was probably his own age, even older; her husband, two or three years her senior. She had inherited her mother’s remarkable31 beauty. It was good to see them together. The one revealed the youthful loveliness of the past; the other promised the maturer beauty yet to come; and both were very good to look upon.
The man reclining in the chair between them, gazed intently at his own boots. He turned them from side to side, as the flame 41played upon them, and examined them critically. Then he thrust his hands deep into his breeches’ pockets, stretched his long legs to the fire, and stared at his boots with whole-hearted admiration32.
For the first time in all the long years, the Lonely Man without, yearned33 to be within. His loneliness seized and shook him. All his searching, all his watching, all his hungry, forlorn hours, seemed to have reached their culmination34. This—this, at last, was Home! Yet he stood outside, as a watcher from another world; he had no part nor lot in the love and comfort within.
His yearning35 gaze was fixed36 upon the central figure in the scene. Yes, she would always be the central figure in any scene. In court or cottage alike, she would be queen.
No wonder his little double dashed forward when she said: “In the dark, children?” If that voice could have called him, when he was a lonely little boy, how gladly he—who never came when he was 42called—would have shouted “Coming!” and flown to her embrace.
He looked at the dark head, so like his own, nestling against the softness of her breast. He could see her bosom rise and fall, in steady, rhythmic37 breathing, beneath the little olive cheek. Dark lashes38 veiled the bright brown eyes. Nigel was growing sleepy. What wonder, in such “sweet security.”
Nigel’s parents talked together.
She sat silent, looking down at the small face against her breast.
It struck him that there was an aloofness39 about her, a loneliness which almost matched his own. Tragedy had laid its mark upon that noble face; a sorrow borne in patient silence; an agony unshared; a grief too deep to be plumbed40 by human sympathy.
It seemed to the Lonely Man that his loneliness would be easier to bear, for having looked upon her; his “Returned Empty” life would hold more possibility of fulness; 43his “Glass with care” would be less sensitively brittle41, for having seen the mastered tragedy in that calm face, crowned by the silvered hair.
One final look; then he must turn away and be lost again in the outer darkness.
His face was close against the glass. His hungry eyes peered through.
At that moment she raised her head, looked straight across to the window, and saw him.
He could not move.
He could not look away. Her eyes gazed into his; right into his, and held them.
The hand stroking little Nigel’s leg, paused.
The boy’s lashes lay upon his cheek. He stirred uneasily. The hand stroked again.
Still her eyes held him.
44At last her lips moved, silently. They formed one word: “Wait.”
Presently she rose.
Nigel rubbed his eyes, leapt from the sofa, and found his ball.
She moved toward the window.
The man without stepped back into the shadow.
Nigel had flung the ball at his mother, and fallen over his father’s legs. The three were laughing and shouting together.
She came to the open casement, pushed it wider, and leaned out.
“I was expecting you”.... Her voice was like the night-wind in the tops of the pine trees; soft as a sigh, and full of mystery. “Do not go.... You will find a chair in the corner on your right. Wait there until I am alone.”
She drew back into the room, and closed the casement.
45He sank into the chair and sat there in the silence, listening to the beating of his heart. It sounded like heavy breakers pounding upon the rocks below.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
veranda
|
|
| n.走廊；阳台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
pane
|
|
| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
panes
|
|
| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
furtive
|
|
| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
throb
|
|
| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
illusive
|
|
| adj.迷惑人的，错觉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
tints
|
|
| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
parquet
|
|
| n.镶木地板 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
hearth
|
|
| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
luxuriously
|
|
| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
highland
|
|
| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
intercept
|
|
| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
casement
|
|
| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
freckled
|
|
| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
imp
|
|
| n.顽童 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
replica
|
|
| n.复制品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
extraordinarily
|
|
| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
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： |
|
|
|
|
30
fascination
|
|
| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
yearned
|
|
| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
culmination
|
|
| n.顶点；最高潮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
yearning
|
|
| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
rhythmic
|
|
| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
lashes
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
aloofness
|
|
| 超然态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
plumbed
|
|
| v.经历( plumb的过去式和过去分词 )；探究；用铅垂线校正；用铅锤测量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
brittle
|
|
| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
blanched
|
|
| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
ashen
|
|
| adj.灰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
fragrant
|
|
| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |