It was late before Lady Markham came up-stairs. She came in shading her candle with her hand, gliding3 noiselessly to her child’s bedside. “Are you not asleep, Frances? I thought you would be too tired to keep awake.”
“Oh no. I have done nothing to tire me. I thought you would not want me down-stairs, as I was not dressed.”
“I always want you,” said Lady Markham, stooping to kiss her. “But I quite understand{v2-183} why you did not come. There was nobody that could have interested you. Some old friends of mine, and a man or two whom Markham brought to dine; but nothing young or pleasant. And did you have a tolerable day? Was poor Caroline a little less grey and cold? But Constance used to tell me she was only cold when I was there.”
“I don’t think she was cold. She was—very kind; at least that is what she meant, I am sure,” said Frances, anxious to do her aunt justice.
Lady Markham laughed softly, with a sort of suppressed satisfaction. She was anxious that Frances should please. She had herself, at a considerable sacrifice of pride, kept up friendly relations, or at least a show of friendly relations, with her husband’s sister. But notwithstanding all this, the tone in which Frances spoke4 was balm to her. The cloak was an evidence that the girl had succeeded; and yet she had not joined herself to the other side. This unexpected triumph gave a softness to Lady Markham’s voice.
“We must remember,” she said, “that poor{v2-184} Caroline is very much alone. When one is much alone, one’s very voice gets rusty5, so to speak. It sounds hoarse6 in one’s throat. You may think, perhaps, that I have not much experience of that. Still, I can understand; and it takes some time to get it toned into ordinary smoothness. It is either too expressive7, or else it sounds cold. A great deal of allowance is to be made for a woman who spends so much of her life alone.”
“Oh yes,” cried Frances, with a burst of tender compunction, taking her mother’s soft white dimpled hand in her own, and kissing it with a fervour which meant penitence8 as well as enthusiasm. “It is so good of you to remind me of that.”
“Because she has not much good to say of me? My dear, there are a great many things that you don’t know, that it would be hard to explain to you: we must forgive her for that.”
And for a moment Lady Markham looked very grave, turning her face away towards the vacancy9 of the dark room with something that sounded like a sigh. Her daughter had never loved her so much as at this moment. She{v2-185} laid her cheek upon her mother’s hand, and felt the full sweetness of that contact enter into her heart.
“But I am disturbing your beauty-sleep, my love,” she said; “and I want you to look your best to-morrow; there are several people coming to-morrow. Did she give you that great cloak, Frances? How like poor Caroline! I know the cloak quite well. It is far too old for you. But that is beautiful sable10 it is trimmed with; it will make you something. She is fond of giving presents.” Lady Markham was very quick—full of the intelligence in which Mrs Clarendon failed. She felt the instinctive11 loosening of her child’s hands from her own, and that the girl’s cheek was lifted from that tender pillow. “But,” she said, “we’ll say no more of that to-night,” and stooped and kissed her, and drew her covering about her with all the sweetness of that care which Frances had never received before. Nevertheless, the involuntary and horrible feeling that it was clever of her mother to stop when she did and say no more, struck chill to the girl’s very soul.{v2-186}
Next day Mr Ramsay came in the afternoon, and immediately addressed himself to Frances. “I hope you have not forgotten your promise, Miss Waring, to give me all the renseignements. I should not like to lose such a good chance.”
“I don’t think I have any information to give you—if it is about Bordighera, you mean. I am fond of it; but then I have lived there all my life. Constance thought it dull.”
“Ah yes, to be sure—your sister went there. But her health was perfect. I have seen her go out in the wildest weather, in days that made me shiver. She said that to see the sun always shining bored her. She liked a great deal of excitement and variety—don’t you think?” he added after a moment, in a tentative way.
“The sun does not shine always,” said Frances, piqued12 for the reputation of her home, as if this were an accusation13. “We have grey days sometimes, and sometimes storms, beautiful storms, when the sea is all in foam14.”
He shivered a little at the idea. “I have never yet found the perfect place in which there is nothing of all that,” he said. “Wher{v2-187}ever I have been, there are cold days—even in Algiers, you know. No climate is perfect. I don’t go in much for society when I am at a health-place. It disturbs one’s thoughts and one’s temper, and keeps you from fixing your mind upon your cure, which you should always do. But I suppose you know everybody there?”
“There is—scarcely any one there,” she said, faltering15, remembering at once that her father was not a person to whom to offer introductions.
“So much the better,” he said more cheerfully. “It is a thing I have often heard doctors say, that society was quite undesirable. It disturbs one’s mind. One can’t be so exact about hours. In short, it places health in a secondary place, which is fatal. I am always extremely rigid16 on that point. Health—must go before all. Now, dear Miss Waring, to details, if you please.” He took out a little note-book, bound in russia, and drew forth17 a jewelled pencil-case. “The hotels first, I beg; and then the other particulars can be filled in. We can put them under different heads:{v2-188} (1) Shelter; (2) Exposure; (3) Size and convenience of apartments; (4) Nearness to church, beach, &c. I hope you don’t think I am asking too much?”
“I am so glad to see that you have not given him up because of Con2,” said one of Lady Markham’s visitors, talking very earnestly over the tea-table, with a little nod and gesture to indicate of whom she was speaking. “He must be very fond of you, to keep coming; or he must have some hope.”
“I think he is rather fond of me, poor Claude!” Lady Markham replied without looking round. “I am one of the oldest friends he has.”
“But Constance, you know, gave him a terrible snub. I should not have wondered if he had never entered the house again.”
“He enters the house almost every day, and will continue to do so, I hope. Poor boy, he cannot afford to throw away his friends.”
“Then that is almost the only luxury he can’t afford.”
Lady Markham smiled upon this remark. “Claude,” she said, turning round, “don’t you{v2-189} want some tea? Come and get it while it is hot.”
“I am getting some renseignements from Miss Waring. It is very good of her. She is telling me all about Bordighera, which, so far as I can see, will be a very nice place for the winter,” said Ramsay, coming up to the tea-table with his little note-book in his hand. “Thanks, dear Lady Markham. A little sugar, please. Sugar is extremely nourishing, and it is a great pity to leave it out in diet—except, you know, when you are inclining to fat. Banting is at the bottom of all this fashion of doing without sugar. It is not good for little thin fellows like me.”
“I gave it up long before I ever heard of Banting,” said the stout18 lady: for it need scarcely be said that there was a stout lady; no tea-party in England ever assembled without one. The individual in the present case was young, and rebellious19 against the fate which had overtaken her—not of the soft, smiling, and contented20 kind.
“It does us real good,” said Claude, with his softly pathetic voice. “I have seen one or two{v2-190} very sad instances where the fat did not go away, you know, but got limp and flaccid, and the last state of that man was worse than the first. Dear lady, I think you should be very cautious. To make experiments with one’s health is really criminal. We are getting on very nicely with the renseignements. Miss Waring has remembered a great deal. She thought she could not tell me anything; but she has remembered a great deal.”
“Bordighera? Is that where Constance is?” the ladies said to each other round the low tea-table where Lady Markham was so busy. She smiled upon them all, and answered “Yes,” without any tinge21 of the embarrassment22 which perhaps they hoped to see.
“But of course as a resident she is not living among the people at the hotels. You know how the people who live in a place hold themselves apart; and the season is almost over. I don’t think that either tourists or invalids23 passing that way are likely to see very much of Con.”
In the meantime, Frances, as young Ramsay had said, had been honestly straining her{v2-191} mind to “remember” what she could about the Marina and the circumstances there. She did not know anything about the east wind, and had no recollection of how it affected26 the place. She remembered that the sun shone in at the windows all day; which of course meant, as he informed her, a southern exposure; and that in all the hotel gardens, as well as elsewhere, there were palms growing, and hedges of lemons and orange trees; and that at the Angleterre—or was it the Victoria?—the housekeeper27 was English; along with other details of a similar kind. There were no balls; very few concerts or entertainments of any kind; no afternoon tea-parties. “How could there be?” said Frances, “when there were only ourselves, the Gaunts, and the Durants.”
“Only themselves, the Gaunts, and the Durants,” Ramsay wrote down in his little book. “How delightful28 that must be! Thank you so much, Miss Waring. Usually one has to pay for one’s experience; but thanks to you, I feel that I know all about it. It seems a place in which one could do one’s self every{v2-192} justice. I shall speak to Dr Lull29 about it at once. I have no doubt he will think it the very place for me.”
“You will find it dull,” said Frances, looking at him curiously30, wondering was it possible that he could be sincere, or whether this was his way of justifying31 to himself his intention of following Constance. But nothing could be more steadily32 matter-of-fact than the young man’s aspect.
“Yes, no doubt I shall find it dull. I don’t so very much object to that. At Cannes and those places there is a continual racket going on. One might almost as well be in London. One is seduced33 into going out in the evening, doing all sorts of things. I think your place is an ideal place—plenty of sunshine and no amusements. How can I thank you enough, Miss Waring, for your renseignements? I shall speak to Dr Lull without delay.”
“But you must recollect25 that it will soon be getting very hot; and even the people who live there will be going away. Mr Durant sometimes takes the duty at Homburg or one of those places; and the Gaunts come home to England; and even we{v2-193}——”
Here Frances paused for a moment to watch him, and she thought that the pencil with which he was still writing down all these precious details, paused too. He looked up at her, as if waiting for further information. “Yes?” he said interrogatively.
“Even we—go up among the mountains where it is cooler,” she said.
He looked a little thoughtful at this; but presently threw her back into perplexity by saying calmly: “That would not matter to me so much, since I am quite sincere in thinking that when one goes to a health-place, one should give one’s self up to one’s health. But unfortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately, Miss Waring, England is just as good as anywhere else in the summer; and Dr Lull has not thought it necessary this year to send me away. But I feel quite set up with your renseignements,” he added, putting back his book into his pocket, “and I certainly shall think of it for another year.”
Frances had been so singled out for the purpose of giving the young invalid24 information, that she found herself a little apart from the{v2-194} party when he went away. They were all ladies, and all intimates, and the unaccustomed girl was not prepared for the onslaught of this curious and eager, though so pretty and fashionable mob. “What are those renseignements you have been giving him? Is he going off after Con? Has he been questioning you about Con? We are all dying to know. And what do you think she will say to him if he goes out after her?” cried all, speaking together, those soft eager voices, to which Frances did not know how to reply.
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1
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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2
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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3
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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4
spoke
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| 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 | |
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5
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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6
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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7
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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8
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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9
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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10
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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11
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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12
piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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13
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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14
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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15
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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16
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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17
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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19
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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20
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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21
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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22
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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23
invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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24
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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25
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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26
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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27
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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28
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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29
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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30
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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31
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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32
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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33
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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