Mr. Effingham opened it in silence. If his young wife had ventured to raise her downcast eyes to his face, she would have viewed there, not anger, not sorrow, but a peculiar3 and unpleasing expression which flitted across it for a moment, as a bat wheels suddenly between us and the twilight4 sky, visible for a space so brief that we can hardly say that we have seen it. As it was, Clemence only heard the words of her husband, as he folded the paper, and placed it in his desk, “Fifty pounds more or less—what matters it! you may leave this for me to settle.”
Not one syllable5 of reproach, not even a hint of displeasure! What intense gratitude6 glowed in the heart of Clemence, deepening, if possible, the fervour of her love for the most noble, the most generous of men! But when she attempted to express something of what she felt, Mr. Effingham suddenly changed the subject; it appeared to be irksome, almost irritating to him to receive the grateful thanks of his wife.
The evening closed far more joyously7 to Clemence than the morning had begun. Her husband’s presence, as usual, sufficiently8 protected her from insolence9 on the part of his family. A pert reply from Vincent to a question asked by his step-mother, drew upon him such a stern reproof10 from Mr. Effingham, that the boy was for the time effectually silenced. Captain Thistlewood had walked off all his fierce indignation, and finding that the domestic tempest had subsided11 into an apparent calm, he made no attempt to stir up the sleeping elements of discord12, but, on the contrary, exerted himself to spread around him the atmosphere of good-humour in which he himself habitually13 lived. His flow of conversation was almost incessant14. Having on that day ascended15 to the ball of St. Paul’s, and explored the depths of the Thames Tunnel, he was equally primed, as he termed it, for the highest or the deepest subjects. He had been wandering over a great part of London, from the stately squares of the West End to the crowded thoroughfares of the East; he had seen skating on the Serpentine16, horses sliding and struggling up Holborn Hill, and described all with the same minuteness and zest17 with which he might have portrayed18 peculiarities19 in the manners and customs of some island of our antipodes.
“This merry old sailor must be as deceitful as Mrs. Effingham herself,” thought Vincent. “If I had not heard that he was a bully20 and a savage21, I should have thought him an uncommonly22 jolly old chap!”
“I took an omnibus back,” said Captain Thistlewood; “for what with the ‘getting up stairs’ at St. Paul’s, and the walking about for hours in the streets, I found myself tolerably well tired. That reminds me,” he turned towards Vincent,—“that reminds me of the riddle23, ‘What is always tired, yet always goes on?’ Will you guess it? Bad hand at riddles—eh? It is a wheel, to be sure; so that brings me back to my omnibus.
“We were a pretty full party in it, now one dropping in, then another out,—men of business from the city, clerks from the bank; one I noticed with a broad-brimmed hat, another with a smart new tile, cocked roguishly on the side of the head. They talk” (here he addressed himself to Louisa) “of telling the character of a man by the bumps on his head: I think that one might tell something by the style of his hat; he has a choice in one thing, and not in the other. Well, presently the man who stands on the door-step puts his head into the conveyance24. ‘Gentlemen and ladies,’ says he, ‘have a care of your purses; there’s two of the swell25-mob in the ’bus.’ So, as you may imagine, we gen’lmen and ladies (the ladies consisting of one good fat old dame2 opposite me, with a well-stuffed bag on her arm, or rather on her knee) looked awkwardly round on our companions, half smiling, as if to say, ‘Which of us are the thieves?’ I thought that the fat dame opposite kept rather a suspicious eye upon me, and held her hand tight over the opening of her big bag, afraid that some one should feloniously make off with her sandwiches or sausages. Presently the man with the new hat, dashing neck-tie, sparkling pin, and diamond studs to match, puts his hand into his pocket: ‘I’ve a large sum about me,’ he mutters half to himself, half as if apologizing to us for depriving us of the pleasure of his society, and out he pops with all convenient speed. Then he in the broad-brim gives signs of following; he was at the very inner end of the omnibus, and had to push past us all to get out. ‘I’ve a thousand pounds on my person,’ says he, and so gets down, off, and away! I could not help saying to my old lady, ‘There are more purses than two the safer for the discretion26 of these good gentleman: depend on’t, we’ve now nothing more to fear from the two dangerous members of the swell society!’”
“’Tis conscience that makes cowards of us all,” observed Mr. Effingham with a smile.
“It reminds me,” said Clemence, “of an Eastern tale of a merchant, who, having been robbed of a large quantity of cotton, and entertaining suspicions of the honesty of several of his acquaintance, invited all whom he doubted to a social meal. In the midst of his entertainment he suddenly exclaimed, with affected27 indignation, ‘Why, what audacious rogues28 are these, to steal my cotton, and then every one come to my house with a bit of it sticking to his beard!’ In a moment several hands were raised, each thief laid hold of his own beard, and the merchant, by this involuntary confession29, was enabled to single out those who had robbed him.”
“We leave all that sort of work to the detective police,” observed Lady Selina.
“Yes, in old England,” replied Captain Thistlewood; “it is a different matter in some other countries that I have heard of, where the constables30 and the highwaymen form a kind of joint-stock company,—the robbers the active managers, the police the sleeping partners—ha! ha! ha! What was the book, Clemence, in which we read that good story of the Englishman in Rome?” The eyes of Vincent brightened at the idea of a story; he unconsciously edged his chair nearer to that of the captain.
“An Englishman was on a visit to the city of Rome, and he had been told that bandits were plentiful32 there as blackberries, and that a man there thought as little of cutting a throat as he would in France of cutting a caper33, or a joke in the Emerald Isle34. John Bull had, therefore, been advised by no means to take his constitutionals after the sun had set.
“Our friend, however, once received an invitation to an evening party, which he had a mind to accept; and, thinks he, ‘A stout35 heart and a good crab-tree cudgel will make me a match for any brigand36 that breathes!’ So he went to his party, took a cheerful glass (maybe did not confine himself to one), and then set out in the darkness to return to his lodging37 in Rome. Now, our Englishman was a bold fellow, but that night he could not help thinking a little of what he had heard of stilettoes, and stabbing, and all that sort of thing. Suddenly a man coming in an opposite direction knocked right up against him, and then hurried on with rapid step. Our friend clapped his hand on his watch-pocket—never a watch was there!”
“The man must have robbed him!” exclaimed Vincent.
“So thought our Englishman, and he was not one to part with his property lightly. Turning round sharp, he rushed after the fellow, overtook him, seized him by the throat, shouted, ‘Oriuolo!—watch!’ in the best Italian that he could muster38, and was well rewarded when a watch was thrust into his hand by the half-throttled, gasping39 Roman!”
“The robber had caught a Tartar!” exclaimed Vincent.
“The Englishman went home in triumph. He could not help boasting a little of his exploit when he and his family met round the breakfast-table. ‘Well, it is odd enough,’ said his sister, ‘but I could have been sure that I saw your watch hanging up in your room last evening after you had gone to your party.’ The Englishman stared for a moment, clapped his hand to his forehead to catch the thought which suddenly darted40 across it, pulled out from his pocket the watch which he had taken from the Italian—and lo! it was no more his than the clock at the Horse-Guards! He recollected41 that he had left his own watch at home, as a measure of precaution. So, instead of having been attacked, as he had imagined, by a brigand, he had played the brigand himself, and had actually robbed a poor fellow of his property, under the idea of recovering his own!”
Vincent could not help laughing. “It is the first time,” he exclaimed, “that an English gentleman ever acted as a thief!”
“I wish that I could say as much, my boy,” observed Captain Thistlewood, slowly sipping42 his glass of port. “I’m sorry to say that I’ve met with pickpockets43, even in the higher ranks of life, quite as dangerous as the gentlemen of the swell-mob in my omnibus. I’ve known a man, and one who drove his cabriolet too, go to a shop and order goods to the amount of hundreds of pounds, aware all the time that he had as little chance of paying for them as of discharging the national debt. I’ve met with another, looked upon as a man of honour, who built up a grand establishment upon the fortunes and credulity of others, who ate his turtle, and drank his claret,—ay, and asked his friends to share in the feast,—knowing all the time that he was spending the money of those who had confided44 their all to his care. Such men are, in my eyes, pickpockets—heartless pickpockets—for they not only violate honesty, but abuse a trust, and add hypocrisy45 to theft!”
“Let us adjourn46 to the drawing-room,” said Mr. Effingham abruptly47, pushing back his chair from the table.
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收听单词发音
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1
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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5
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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6
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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7
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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8
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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9
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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10
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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11
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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12
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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15
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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17
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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18
portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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19
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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20
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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21
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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22
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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23
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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24
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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25
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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28
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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29
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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30
constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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31
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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32
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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33
caper
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| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
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34
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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37
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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38
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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39
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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40
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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41
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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43
pickpockets
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| n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 ) | |
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44
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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45
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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46
adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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47
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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