CHAPTER XIII.

'Well, Dr. Cruden,' said Mrs. Brimble, 'what is your opinion of the improvements going on at the Dew? Mr. Brimble will not take us till all is complete.'
'The place will be charming, and so transformed that poor Marjory will not know it. Sir Eustace has an excellent taste, has he not, squire¹?'
'He's excellent every way, except that he has a sort of Saunders look sometimes, Mary thinks.'
'We are none of us infallible, Mr. Brimble; and, so exposed to mistakes as we have been by your imprudence, it was necessary I should be cautious.'
'Quite,' said the squire, who was watching with his eyeglass through a side window something that attracted him, and he immediately left the room.
'I think Eustace will be a valuable person in that position, doctor,' continued the lady, looking up from her work-frame, on which she was embroidering² the arms of De la Mark for a chair for her nephew.
'I feel sure of it,' said the doctor.
'We shall miss him very much when he settles at the Dew. I hope he will marry well.'
'I don't know any one better able to choose a good wife, madam, and he is worthy³ of the best; therefore his marriage will doubtless give satisfaction.'
'I daresay, like all young men in his position, he has been married to more young ladies than one by the country gossips.'
'Not unlikely,' said the doctor.
'I have not heard any reports,' said Mrs. Brimble; 'but of course people would be delicate in speaking to me.'
'Oh yes, very properly so,' said the doctor, not in the least divining the lady's tactics.
'I suppose,' said Mrs. Brimble carelessly, looking very intently on some shades of wool, as if her whole heart were fixed⁴ upon making a right choice, 'you have never heard anything hinted, doctor?'
'I cannot say I have not. My sister, in her numerous visits, falls in with such reports, and she has told me of several; but I think none likely, though, indeed, one lady that I am not at liberty to name would shine in married life.'
Mrs. Brimble got quite out of sorts with her wools, and had to tumble her basket over for some time before she was calm enough to ask the doctor for the lady's name, which of course she did not wish to know from idle curiosity, but out of pure disinterested⁵ affection for her dear nephew.
'I hope I am not doing wrong,' said the doctor, 'in mentioning the Honourable⁶ Amelia Groves⁷.'
'Oh, you need not fear my mentioning it,' said Mrs. Brimble quickly; 'but that will never come to anything. I know the kind of girl he ought to marry—some one with spirit, lively and amusing, and if I know anything of Eustace, his choice is nearly made, if not quite.'
'Oh,' said the doctor, 'I am sure you ought to tell me.'
'If you have not had a guess that way yourself, doctor, I would rather not.'
The doctor looked up at the ceiling, crossed and uncrossed his legs, leant his head upon his hand, rubbed his forehead, and went through all the various manoeuvres which imply deep thought, finishing the process by guessing one of the Miss Punters.
'I am a bad hand at guessing,' he said, finding that Miss Punter was not well received. 'At one time I thought it not unlikely that poor little Marjory would be his choice, but I think now he never felt anything for her but deep pity; and as to her, poor girl, her heart is buried with her father, whom I fear she will shortly follow.'
'I thought people never died of grief, doctor.'
'Grief is a strong consumer, madam; but Marjory inherits from her mother that terrible disease that laid her in an untimely grave.'
The squire, re-entering, turned the conversation. 'Eu tells me that he must return to-night, and that you go with him, and he wants me to go too; he says he has capital quarters there, so I think of sending one of the fellows on with some dogs—eh, Mary? only for a day or so, you know.'
Flora⁸ came into the room just in time to hear the announcement, and protested loudly against it, denouncing her cousin Eu in no very measured terms for his unreasonable⁹ proposal.
'You little vixen!' said the squire; 'isn't it enough for your mother to sit there harrowing my heart with her looks, but I must stand your tongue too? How would it be if we all went?'
'Oh, lovely!' said Flora; 'how I should like it!'
'Highly incorrect,' said Mrs. Brimble.
'My dear Mary, if you would be so very correct, you must abide¹⁰ by being uncomfortable. Let us share the honours; you shall be correct, and Flo and I will be comfortable. Flo, we'll go—we'll have rooms at the De la Mark Arms, and we can rough it there for a night.'
The horror of Mrs. Brimble at such a proposal was too much for the squire, and, taking the doctor's arm, with a mischievous¹¹ laugh he left the room.
'I'm sure papa has got something in his head,' said Flora; 'see how he's talking, too, in the garden with Dr. Cruden; he is so delighted! What can it be?'
While Flora and her mother were watching and wondering, Charity was learning the secret that so perplexed¹² them. She had been reading to Marjory, and a gentle tap at the door introduced, to her great surprise, her cousin Eustace. He so strongly recalled Marjory's most painful feelings that it was sometimes beyond her strength to be long in his society. To-day she felt weaker than usual, and left the room soon after he entered it.
An awkward silence ensued, then a few remarks as to her state. At length Eustace, breaking through the restraint, said, 'Cousin Charity, I fear I have driven Marjory away, and yet I cannot regret it; indeed, my purpose was to see you; yes, and to see you alone—a privilege I have sometimes thought you studiously avoided giving me. I wanted to ask you one question. Is the kind feeling with which you regarded me when I was poor Jobson quite gone?'
Charity was silent; but a glance at her satisfied Eustace that he had nothing to fear.
About half an hour afterwards Eustace joined his uncle, telling him that he had received Charity's consent, for which he had asked permission to plead, and that there was now no necessity to punish him with a secret.
The squire shook him warmly by the hand, and lost no time in taking advantage of his liberty.

1 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

2 embroidering   

v.（在织物上）绣花( embroider的现在分词 )；刺绣；对…加以渲染（或修饰）；给…添枝加叶

参考例句：

• He always had a way of embroidering. 他总爱添油加醋。 来自辞典例句
• Zhao Junxin learned the craft of embroidering from his grandmother. 赵俊信从奶奶那里学到了刺绣的手艺。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 disinterested   

adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的

参考例句：

• He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
• He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。

6 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

7 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

8 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

9 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

10 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

11 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

12 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。