Sir Michael Audley read the above advertisement in the second column of the Times, as he sat at breakfast with my lady and Alicia two or three days after Robert's return to town.
"Robert's friend has not yet been heard of, then," said the baronet, after reading the advertisement to his wife and daughter.
"As for that," replied my lady, "I cannot help wondering that any one can be silly enough to advertise for him. The young man was evidently of a restless, roving disposition1—a sort of Bamfyld Moore Carew of modern life, whom no attraction could ever keep in one spot."
Though the advertisement appeared three successive times, the party at the Court attached very little importance to Mr. Talboys' disappearance2; and after this one occasion his name was never again mentioned by either Sir Michael, my lady, or Alicia.
Alicia Audley and her pretty stepmother were by no means any better friends after that quiet evening on which the young barrister had dined at the Court.
"She is a vain, frivolous3, heartless little coquette," said Alicia, addressing herself to her Newfoundland dog Caesar, who was the sole recipient4 of the young lady's confidences; "she is a practiced and consummate5 flirt6, Caesar; and not contented7 with setting her yellow ringlets and her silly giggle8 at half the men in Essex, she must needs make that stupid cousin of mine dance attendance upon her. I haven't common patience with her."
In proof of which last assertion Miss Alicia Audley treated her stepmother with such very palpable impertinence that Sir Michael felt himself called upon to remonstrate9 with his only daughter.
"The poor little woman is very sensitive, you know, Alicia," the baronet said, gravely, "and she feels your conduct most acutely."
"I don't believe it a bit, papa," answered Alicia, stoutly11. "You think her sensitive because she has soft little white hands, and big blue eyes with long lashes12, and all manner of affected13, fantastical ways, which you stupid men call fascinating. Sensitive! Why, I've seen her do cruel things with those slender white fingers, and laugh at the pain she inflicted14. I'm very sorry, papa," she added, softened15 a little by her father's look of distress16; "though she has come between us, and robbed poor Alicia of the love of that dear, generous heart, I wish I could like her for your sake; but I can't, I can't, and no more can Caesar. She came up to him once with her red lips apart, and her little white teeth glistening17 between them, and stroked his great head with her soft hand; but if I had not had hold of his collar, he would have flown at her throat and strangled her. She may bewitch every man in Essex, but she'd never make friends with my dog."
"Your dog shall be shot," answered Sir Michael angrily, "if his vicious temper ever endangers Lucy."
The Newfoundland rolled his eyes slowly round in the direction of the speaker, as if he understood every word that had been said. Lady Audley happened to enter the room at this very moment, and the animal cowered18 down by the side of his mistress with a suppressed growl19. There was something in the manner of the dog which was, if anything, more indicative of terror than of fury; incredible as it appears that Caesar should be frightened by so fragile a creature as Lucy Audley.
Amicable20 as was my lady's nature, she could not live long at the Court without discovering Alicia's dislike to her. She never alluded21 to it but once; then, shrugging her graceful22 white shoulders, she said, with a sigh:
"It seems very hard that you cannot love me, Alicia, for I have never been used to make enemies; but since it seems that it must be so, I cannot help it. If we cannot be friends, let us be neutral. You won't try to injure me?"
"Injure you!" exclaimed Alicia; "how should I injure you?"
"You'll not try to deprive me of your father's affection?"
"I may not be as amiable23 as you are, my lady, and I may not have the same sweet smiles and pretty words for every stranger I meet, but I am not capable of a contemptible24 meanness; and even if I were, I think you are so secure of my father's love, that nothing but your own act will ever deprive you of it."
"What a severe creature you are, Alicia!" said my lady, making a little grimace25. "I suppose you mean to infer by all that, that I'm deceitful. Why, I can't help smiling at people, and speaking prettily26 to them. I know I'm no better than the rest of the world; but I can't help it if I'm pleasantér. It's constitutional."
Alicia having thus entirely27 shut the door upon all intimacy28 between Lady Audley and herself, and Sir Michael being chiefly occupied in agricultural pursuits and manly29 sports, which kept him away from home, it was perhaps natural that my lady, being of an eminently30 social disposition, should find herself thrown a good deal upon her white-eyelashed maid for society.
Phoebe Marks was exactly the sort of a girl who is generally promoted from the post of lady's maid to that of companion. She had just sufficient education to enable her to understand her mistress when Lucy chose to allow herself to run riot in a species of intellectual tarantella, in which her tongue went mad to the sound of its own rattle31, as the Spanish dancer at the noise of his castanets. Phoebe knew enough of the French language to be able to dip into the yellow-paper-covered novels which my lady ordered from the Burlington Arcade32, and to discourse33 with her mistress upon the questionable34 subjects of these romances. The likeness35 which the lady's maid bore to Lucy Audley was, perhaps, a point of sympathy between the two women. It was not to be called a striking likeness; a stranger might have seen them both together, and yet have failed to remark it. But there were certain dim and shadowy lights in which, meeting Phoebe Marks gliding36 softly through the dark oak passages of the Court, or under the shrouded37 avenues in the garden, you might have easily mistaken her for my lady.
Sharp October winds were sweeping38 the leaves from the limes in the long avenue, and driving them in withered39 heaps with a ghostly rustling40 noise along the dry gravel10 walks. The old well must have been half choked up with the leaves that drifted about it, and whirled in eddying41 circles into its black, broken mouth. On the still bosom42 of the fish-pond the same withered leaves slowly rotted away, mixing themselves with the tangled43 weeds that discolored the surface of the water. All the gardeners Sir Michael could employ could not keep the impress of autumn's destroying hand from the grounds about the Court.
"How I hate this desolate44 month!" my lady said, as she walked about the garden, shivering beneath her sable45 mantle46. "Every thing dropping to ruin and decay, and the cold flicker47 of the sun lighting48 up the ugliness of the earth, as the glare of gas-lamps lights the wrinkles of an old woman. Shall I ever grow old, Phoebe? Will my hair ever drop off as the leaves are falling from those trees, and leave me wan49 and bare like them? What is to become of me when I grow old?"
She shivered at the thought of this more than she had done at the cold, wintry breeze, and muffling50 herself closely in her fur, walked so fast that her maid had some difficulty in keeping up with her.
"Do you remember, Phoebe," she said, presently, relaxing her pace, "do you remember that French story we read—the story of a beautiful woman who had committed some crime—I forget what—in the zenith of her power and loveliness, when all Paris drank to her every night, and when the people ran away from the carriage of the king to flock about hers, and get a peep at her face? Do you remember how she kept the secret of what she had done for nearly half a century, spending her old age in her family chateau51, beloved and honored by all the province as an uncanonized saint and benefactress to the poor; and how, when her hair was white, and her eyes almost blind with age, the secret was revealed through one of those strange accidents by which such secrets always are revealed in romances, and she was tried, found guilty, and condemned52 to be burned alive? The king who had worn her colors was dead and gone; the court of which she had been a star had passed away; powerful functionaries53 and great magistrates54, who might perhaps have helped her, were moldering in the graves; brave young cavaliers, who would have died for her, had fallen upon distant battle-fields; she had lived to see the age to which she had belonged fade like a dream; and she went to the stake, followed by only a few ignorant country people, who forgot all her bounties55, and hooted56 at her for a wicked sorceress."
"I don't care for such dismal57 stories, my lady," said Phoebe Marks with a shudder58. "One has no need to read books to give one the horrors in this dull place."
"It is a dull place, Phoebe," she said, "though it doesn't do to say so to my dear old husband. Though I am the wife of one of the most influential61 men in the county, I don't know that I wasn't nearly as well off at Mr. Dawson's; and yet it's something to wear sables62 that cost sixty guineas, and have a thousand pounds spent on the decoration of one's apartments."
Treated as a companion by her mistress, in the receipt of the most liberal wages, and with perquisites63 such as perhaps lady's maid never had before, it was strange that Phoebe Marks should wish to leave her situation; but it was not the less a fact that she was anxious to exchange all the advantages of Audley Court for the very unpromising prospect64 which awaited her as the wife of her Cousin Luke.
The young man had contrived65 in some manner to associate himself with the improved fortunes of his sweetheart. He had never allowed Phoebe any peace till she had obtained for him, by the aid of my lady's interference, a situation as undergroom of the Court.
He never rode out with either Alicia or Sir Michael; but on one of the few occasions upon which my lady mounted the pretty little gray thoroughbred reserved for her use, he contrived to attend her in her ride. He saw enough, in the very first half hour they were out, to discover that, graceful as Lucy Audley might look in her long blue cloth habit, she was a timid horsewoman, and utterly67 unable to manage the animal she rode.
Lady Audley remonstrated68 with her maid upon her folly69 in wishing to marry the uncouth70 groom66.
The two women were seated together over the fire in my lady's dressing-room, the gray sky closing in upon the October afternoon, and the black tracery of ivy71 darkening the casement72 windows.
"You surely are not in love with the awkward, ugly creature are you, Phoebe?" asked my lady sharply.
The girl was sitting on a low stool at her mistress feet. She did not answer my lady's question immediately, but sat for some time looking vacantly into the red abyss in the hollow fire.
Presently she said, rather as if she had been thinking aloud than answering Lucy's question:
"I don't think I can love him. We have been together from children, and I promised, when I was little better than fifteen, that I'd be his wife. I daren't break that promise now. There have been times when I've made up the very sentence I meant to say to him, telling him that I couldn't keep my faith with him; but the words have died upon my lips, and I've sat looking at him, with a choking sensation, in my throat that wouldn't let me speak. I daren't refuse to marry him. I've often watched and watched him, as he has sat slicing away at a hedge-stake with his great clasp-knife, till I have thought that it is just such men as he who have decoyed their sweethearts into lonely places, and murdered them for being false to their word. When he was a boy he was always violent and revengeful. I saw him once take up that very knife in a quarrel with his mother. I tell you, my lady, I must marry him."
"You silly girl, you shall do nothing of the kind!" answered Lucy. "You think he'll murder you, do you? Do you think, then, if murder is in him, you would be any safer as his wife? If you thwarted73 him, or made him jealous; if he wanted to marry another woman, or to get hold of some poor, pitiful bit of money of yours, couldn't he murder you then? I tell you you sha'n't marry him, Phoebe. In the first place I hate the man; and, in the next place I can't afford to part with you. We'll give him a few pounds and send him about his business."
Phoebe Marks caught my lady's hand in hers, and clasped them convulsively.
"My lady—my good, kind mistress!" she cried, vehemently75, "don't try to thwart74 me in this—don't ask me to thwart him. I tell you I must marry him. You don't know what he is. It will be my ruin, and the ruin of others, if I break my word. I must marry him!"
"Very well, then, Phoebe," answered her mistress, "I can't oppose you. There must be some secret at the bottom of all this." "There is, my lady," said the girl, with her face turned away from Lucy.
"I shall be very sorry to lose you; but I have promised to stand your friend in all things. What does your cousin mean to do for a living when you are married?"
"He would like to take a public house."
"Then he shall take a public house, and the sooner he drinks himself to death the better. Sir Michael dines at a bachelor's party at Major Margrave's this evening, and my step-daughter is away with her friends at the Grange. You can bring your cousin into the drawing-room after dinner, and I'll tell him what I mean to do for him."
"You are very good, my lady," Phoebe answered with a sigh.
Lady Audley sat in the glow of firelight and wax candles in the luxurious76 drawing-room; the amber77 damask cushions of the sofa contrasting with her dark violet velvet78 dress, and her rippling79 hair falling about her neck in a golden haze80. Everywhere around her were the evidences of wealth and splendor81; while in strange contrast to all this, and to her own beauty; the awkward groom stood rubbing his bullet head as my lady explained to him what she intended to do for her confidential82 maid. Lucy's promises were very liberal, and she had expected that, uncouth as the man was, he would, in his own rough manner, have expressed his gratitude83.
To her surprise he stood staring at the floor without uttering a word in answer to her offer. Phoebe was standing84 close to his elbow, and seemed distressed85 at the man's rudeness.
"Tell my lady how thankful you are, Luke," she said.
"But I'm not so over and above thankful," answered her lover, savagely86. "Fifty pound ain't much to start a public. You'll make it a hundred, my lady?"
"I shall do nothing of the kind," said Lady Audley, her clear blue eyes flashing with indignation, "and I wonder at your impertinence in asking it."
"Oh, yes, you will, though," answered Luke, with quiet insolence87 that had a hidden meaning. "You'll make it a hundred, my lady."
Lady Audley rose from her seat, looked the man steadfastly88 in the face till his determined89 gaze sunk under hers; then walking straight up to her maid, she said in a high, piercing voice, peculiar90 to her in moments of intense agitation91:
"Phoebe Marks, you have told this man!"
The girl fell on her knees at my lady's feet.
"Oh, forgive me, forgive me!" she cried. "He forced it from me, or I would never, never have told!"
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收听单词发音
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1
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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3
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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7
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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8
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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12
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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13
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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14
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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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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cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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31
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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39
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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40
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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41
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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42
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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45
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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46
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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47
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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48
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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49
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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50
muffling
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| v.压抑，捂住( muffle的现在分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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51
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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52
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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53
functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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55
bounties
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| （由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方 | |
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56
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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58
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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61
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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62
sables
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| n.紫貂( sable的名词复数 )；紫貂皮；阴暗的；暗夜 | |
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63
perquisites
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| n.（工资以外的）财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 )；额外收入；（随职位而得到的）好处；利益 | |
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64
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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65
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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66
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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67
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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68
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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70
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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71
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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72
casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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73
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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74
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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78
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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80
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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81
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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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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83
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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84
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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85
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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87
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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88
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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90
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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