CHAPTER XXXIV

 A saint whose perfect soul

With perfect love for goal

Faith hardly might control,

Creeds¹ might not harden.

—Swinburne.

When Legros was alone once more with his daughter he asked for a fuller explanation.

 

"I wish, my jewel, that you had not interfered," he said reproachfully, "when first I desired to kick those rascals² out of doors. My first instinct was right, you see."

 

"Nay³, but, Father dear," she said gently, "I am glad that you yielded to me in this. If we had not listened to what these men said, we should know nothing of the villainies which they are concocting⁴, and could not warn those whom they attack."

 

"Methinks that were no concern of ours," retorted her father gruffly.

 

"They are proposing to bring false accusations⁵ of treason against Lord Stowmaries," urged Rose Marie, almost reproachfully.

 

"And what is that to us, my child?"

 

"Lord Stowmaries is my husband, Father; to-morrow we set out on a journey in order to ask him to render me justice—and this we do on Monseigneur's advice."

 

"There is no obligation on our part to undertake the journey."

 

"There was none yesterday, Father dear, but there is to-day."

 

[312]"To-day? Why?"

 

"Because to-day we know that Lord Stowmaries—my husband—is in danger of his life, and that we can, mayhap, give him timely warning."

 

"Lord Stowmaries is so little thy husband, child, that even to-day when thou thinkest of saving him from these perjurers, he goes about carrying in the pocket of his coat the dispensation to repudiate⁶ thee, which he hath obtained from His Holiness by a misrepresentation of facts."

 

Even as he spoke⁷ these harsh words—and he spoke them roughly, too—the good tailor took his daughter's hand tenderly in his, and stroked it, as if to mitigate⁸ by this loving touch the cruelty of the words. But the child who had been once so yielding and submissive was now an obstinate⁹ woman.

 

"All the more reason, Father dear," she said, "for proving to my Lord Stowmaries that he hath deeply wronged me, and that I am worthy¹⁰ to be his wife."

 

He was wholly unaccustomed to this new phase in his daughter's character. She had always been of a meek¹¹, gentle disposition¹², still a child in her expressions of loving obedience¹³, in her tender, clinging ways. Now, suddenly she seemed to have a will of her own. She it was who had decreed that Monseigneur's advice should be followed, she it was now who refused to give up all thoughts of the journey.

 

Let us confess that worthy M. Legros was now for awaiting events. If the rascals spoke true, God Himself had provided a glorious vengeance¹⁴ against the dastardly young reprobate¹⁵ who had so ill-used Rose Marie. Papa Legros of a truth did not see that she—the injured wife—was called upon to move a finger in the cause of a man who had paid another to dishonour¹⁶ her. There are times[313] and circumstances in life when the meekest¹⁷ of men become as ravenous¹⁸ tigers. The kindly¹⁹ tailor had a heart of gold, a simple mind and an adoring fondness for his child. He would never have done the meanest man any hurt. Yet in this case, and because of the terrible wrong done to his Rose Marie, he almost gloated on the thought of the troubles which were about to descend²⁰ on Stowmaries. Vaguely²¹ the hope wormed itself into his heart that my lord would cease to exist—painlessly if possible—still that he would cease to be, and then Rose Marie would be free, a child-widow, who might yet find happiness in the arms of a good man.

 

But not one thought of Michael in all this! Legros himself would not let his mind dwell on that reprobate whom he had loved as a son. And Rose Marie? Did she perchance, when thinking of her journey to England, feel a vague thrill of hope that she might see him there?

 

Who shall pry²² into the secret orchard²³, the key of which lies hid in a young girl's heart. Those who knew Rose Marie both before and after the tragic²⁴ episode of the mock marriage, declared that she had a great desire to see Michael Kestyon again.

 

If only to tell him that she had not forgiven him—that she would never forgive—and never, never forget.

 

1 creeds   

（尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• people of all races, colours and creeds 各种种族、肤色和宗教信仰的人
• Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds. 天主教徒对于新教教义来说，是不可知论者。

2 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

3 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

4 concocting   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• I judged that he was concocting a particularly knotty editorial. 我估计他是在拼凑一篇特别伤脑筋的社论。 来自辞典例句
• 'And you,' returned Sydney, busy concocting the punch, 'are such a sensitive and poetical spirit.' “可你呢，”西德尼一边忙着调五味酒，一边回答，“你却是这样一个敏感而有诗意的精灵。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 repudiate   

v.拒绝，拒付，拒绝履行

参考例句：

• He will indignantly repudiate the suggestion.他会气愤地拒绝接受这一意见。
• He repudiate all debts incurred by his son.他拒绝偿还他儿子的一切债务。

7 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。

8 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

9 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

10 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

11 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

12 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

13 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

14 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

15 reprobate   

n.无赖汉；堕落的人

参考例句：

• After the fall,god begins to do the work of differentiation between his elect and the reprobate.人堕落之后，上帝开始分辨选民与被遗弃的人。
• He disowned his reprobate son.他声明与堕落的儿子脱离关系。

16 dishonour   

n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩

参考例句：

• There's no dishonour in losing.失败并不是耻辱。
• He would rather die than live in dishonour.他宁死不愿忍辱偷生。

17 meekest   

adj.温顺的，驯服的( meek的最高级 )

参考例句：

• Even the meekest little lamb can turn into a tigress. 多温柔的女人结婚后都会变成母老虎。 来自互联网

18 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

19 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

20 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

21 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

22 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

23 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

24 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。