She had arrived in a state of grievous uncertainty1 as to what manner of woman she was, physically3 and intellectually, as compared with eastern women; she was well satisfied, now, that her beauty was confessed, her mind a grade above the average, and her powers of fascination4 rather extraordinary. So she was at ease upon those points. When she arrived, she was possessed5 of habits of economy and not possessed of money; now she dressed elaborately, gave but little thought to the cost of things, and was very well fortified6 financially. She kept her mother and Washington freely supplied with money, and did the same by Col. Sellers—who always insisted upon giving his note for loans—with interest; he was rigid7 upon that; she must take interest; and one of the Colonel’s greatest satisfactions was to go over his accounts and note what a handsome sum this accruing8 interest amounted to, and what a comfortable though modest support it would yield Laura in case reverses should overtake her.
In truth he could not help feeling that he was an efficient shield for her against poverty; and so, if her expensive ways ever troubled him for a brief moment, he presently dismissed the thought and said to himself, “Let her go on—even if she loses everything she is still safe—this interest will always afford her a good easy income.”
Laura was on excellent terms with a great many members of Congress, and there was an undercurrent of suspicion in some quarters that she was one of that detested9 class known as “lobbyists;” but what belle10 could escape slander11 in such a city? Fairminded people declined to condemn12 her on mere13 suspicion, and so the injurious talk made no very damaging headway. She was very gay, now, and very celebrated14, and she might well expect to be assailed15 by many kinds of gossip. She was growing used to celebrity16, and could already sit calm and seemingly unconscious, under the fire of fifty lorgnettes in a theatre, or even overhear the low voice “That’s she!” as she passed along the street without betraying annoyance17.
The whole air was full of a vague vast scheme which was to eventuate in filling Laura’s pockets with millions of money; some had one idea of the scheme, and some another, but nobody had any exact knowledge upon the subject. All that any one felt sure about, was that Laura’s landed estates were princely in value and extent, and that the government was anxious to get hold of them for public purposes, and that Laura was willing to make the sale but not at all anxious about the matter and not at all in a hurry. It was whispered that Senator Dilworthy was a stumbling block in the way of an immediate18 sale, because he was resolved that the government should not have the lands except with the understanding that they should be devoted19 to the uplifting of the negro race; Laura did not care what they were devoted to, it was said, (a world of very different gossip to the contrary notwithstanding,) but there were several other heirs and they would be guided entirely20 by the Senator’s wishes; and finally, many people averred21 that while it would be easy to sell the lands to the government for the benefit of the negro, by resorting to the usual methods of influencing votes, Senator Dilworthy was unwilling22 to have so noble a charity sullied by any taint2 of corruption—he was resolved that not a vote should be bought. Nobody could get anything definite from Laura about these matters, and so gossip had to feed itself chiefly upon guesses. But the effect of it all was, that Laura was considered to be very wealthy and likely to be vastly more so in a little while. Consequently she was much courted and as much envied: Her wealth attracted many suitors. Perhaps they came to worship her riches, but they remained to worship her. Some of the noblest men of the time succumbed23 to her fascinations24. She frowned upon no lover when he made his first advances, but by and by when she was hopelessly enthralled25, he learned from her own lips that she had formed a resolution never to marry. Then he would go away hating and cursing the whole sex, and she would calmly add his scalp to her string, while she mused26 upon the bitter day that Col. Selby trampled27 her love and her pride in the dust. In time it came to be said that her way was paved with broken hearts.
Poor Washington gradually woke up to the fact that he too was an intellectual marvel28 as well as his gifted sister. He could not conceive how it had come about (it did not occur to him that the gossip about his family’s great wealth had any thing to do with it). He could not account for it by any process of reasoning, and was simply obliged to accept the fact and give up trying to solve the riddle29. He found himself dragged into society and courted, wondered at and envied very much as if he were one of those foreign barbers who flit over here now and then with a self-conferred title of nobility and marry some rich fool’s absurd daughter. Sometimes at a dinner party or a reception he would find himself the centre of interest, and feel unutterably uncomfortable in the discovery. Being obliged to say something, he would mine his brain and put in a blast and when the smoke and flying debris30 had cleared away the result would be what seemed to him but a poor little intellectual clod of dirt or two, and then he would be astonished to see everybody as lost in admiration31 as if he had brought up a ton or two of virgin32 gold. Every remark he made delighted his hearers and compelled their applause; he overheard people say he was exceedingly bright—they were chiefly mammas and marriageable young ladies. He found that some of his good things were being repeated about the town. Whenever he heard of an instance of this kind, he would keep that particular remark in mind and analyze33 it at home in private. At first he could not see that the remark was anything better than a parrot might originate; but by and by he began to feel that perhaps he underrated his powers; and after that he used to analyze his good things with a deal of comfort, and find in them a brilliancy which would have been unapparent to him in earlier days—and then he would make a note of that good thing and say it again the first time he found himself in a new company. Presently he had saved up quite a repertoire34 of brilliancies; and after that he confined himself to repeating these and ceased to originate any more, lest he might injure his reputation by an unlucky effort.
He was constantly having young ladies thrust upon his notice at receptions, or left upon his hands at parties, and in time he began to feel that he was being deliberately35 persecuted36 in this way; and after that he could not enjoy society because of his constant dread37 of these female ambushes38 and surprises. He was distressed39 to find that nearly every time he showed a young lady a polite attention he was straightway reported to be engaged to her; and as some of these reports got into the newspapers occasionally, he had to keep writing to Louise that they were lies and she must believe in him and not mind them or allow them to grieve her.
Washington was as much in the dark as anybody with regard to the great wealth that was hovering40 in the air and seemingly on the point of tumbling into the family pocket. Laura would give him no satisfaction. All she would say, was:
“Wait. Be patient. You will see.”
“But will it be soon, Laura?”
“It will not be very long, I think.”
“But what makes you think so?”
“I have reasons—and good ones. Just wait, and be patient.”
“But is it going to be as much as people say it is?”
“What do they say it is?”
“Oh, ever so much. Millions!”
“Yes, it will be a great sum.”
“But how great, Laura? Will it be millions?”
“Yes, you may call it that. Yes, it will be millions. There, now—does that satisfy you?”
“Splendid! I can wait. I can wait patiently—ever so patiently. Once I was near selling the land for twenty thousand dollars; once for thirty thousand dollars; once after that for seven thousand dollars; and once for forty thousand dollars—but something always told me not to do it. What a fool I would have been to sell it for such a beggarly trifle! It is the land that’s to bring the money, isn’t it Laura? You can tell me that much, can’t you?”
“Yes, I don’t mind saying that much. It is the land.
“But mind—don’t ever hint that you got it from me. Don’t mention me in the matter at all, Washington.”
“All right—I won’t. Millions! Isn’t it splendid! I mean to look around for a building lot; a lot with fine ornamental41 shrubbery and all that sort of thing. I will do it to-day. And I might as well see an architect, too, and get him to go to work at a plan for a house. I don’t intend to spare any expense; I mean to have the noblest house that money can build.” Then after a pause—he did not notice Laura’s smiles “Laura, would you lay the main hall in encaustic tiles, or just in fancy patterns of hard wood?”
Laura laughed a good old-fashioned laugh that had more of her former natural self about it than any sound that had issued from her mouth in many weeks. She said:
“You don’t change, Washington. You still begin to squander42 a fortune right and left the instant you hear of it in the distance; you never wait till the foremost dollar of it arrives within a hundred miles of you,” —and she kissed her brother good bye and left him weltering in his dreams, so to speak.
He got up and walked the floor feverishly43 during two hours; and when he sat down he had married Louise, built a house, reared a family, married them off, spent upwards44 of eight hundred thousand dollars on mere luxuries, and died worth twelve millions.
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1
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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3
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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5
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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6
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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8
accruing
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| v.增加( accrue的现在分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
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9
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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12
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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14
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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16
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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17
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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18
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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19
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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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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averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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22
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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fascinations
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| n.魅力( fascination的名词复数 )；有魅力的东西；迷恋；陶醉 | |
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enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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27
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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28
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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29
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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30
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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31
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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32
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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33
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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34
repertoire
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| n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表 | |
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35
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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36
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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37
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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38
ambushes
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| n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着 | |
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39
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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40
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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41
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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42
squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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43
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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44
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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