"You have brought Asmodeus into Lichfield," Colonel Musgrave one day rebuked5 Miss Stapylton, as they sat in the garden. "The demon6 of pride and dress is rampant7 everywhere—er—Patricia. Even Agatha does her hair differently now; and in church last Sunday I counted no less than seven duplicates of that blue hat of yours."
Miss Stapylton was moved to mirth. "Fancy your noticing a thing like that!" said she. "I didn't know you were even aware I had a blue hat."
"I am no judge," he conceded, gravely, "of such fripperies. I don't pretend to be. But, on the other hand, I must plead guilty to deriving8 considerable harmless amusement from your efforts to dress as an example and an irritant to all Lichfield."
"You wouldn't have me a dowd, Olaf?" said she, demurely9. "I have to be neat and tidy, you know. You wouldn't have me going about in a continuous state of unbuttonedness and black bombazine like Mrs. Rabbet, would you?"
Rudolph Musgrave debated as to this. "I dare say," he at last conceded, cautiously, "that to the casual eye your appearance is somewhat —er—more pleasing than that of our rector's wife. But, on the other hand——"
"Olaf, I am embarrassed by such fulsome11 eulogy12. Mrs. Rabbet isn't a day under forty-nine. And you consider me somewhat better-looking than she is!"
He inspected her critically, and was confirmed in his opinion.
"Olaf"—coaxingly—"do you really think I am as ugly as that?"
"Pouf!" said the colonel airily; "I dare say you are well enough."
"Olaf"—and this was even more cajoling—"do you know you've never told me what sort of a woman you most admire?"
"I don't admire any of them," said Colonel Musgrave, stoutly13. "They are too vain and frivolous—especially the pink-and-white ones," he added, unkindlily.
"Cousin Agatha has told me all about your multifarious affairs of course. She depicts14 you as a sort of cardiacal buccaneer and visibly gloats over the tale of your enormities. She is perfectly15 dear about it. But have you never—cared—for any woman, Olaf?"
Precarious16 ground, this! His eyes were fixed17 upon her now. And hers, for doubtless sufficient reasons, were curiously18 intent upon anything in the universe rather than Rudolph Musgrave.
"And—she cared?" asked Miss Stapylton.
She happened, even now, not to be looking at him.
"She!" Rudolph Musgrave cried, in real surprise. "Why, God bless my soul, of course she didn't! She didn't know anything about it."
"You never told her, Olaf?"—and this was reproachful. Then Patricia said: "Well! and did she go down in the cellar and get the wood-ax or was she satisfied just to throw the bric-à-brac at you?"
And Colonel Musgrave laughed aloud.
"Ah!" said he; "it would have been a brave jest if I had told her, wouldn't it? She was young, you see, and wealthy, and—ah, well, I won't deceive you by exaggerating her personal attractions! I will serve up to you no praises of her sauced with lies. And I scorn to fall back on the stock-in-trade of the poets,—all their silly metaphors20 and similes21 and suchlike nonsense. I won't tell you that her complexion22 reminded me of roses swimming in milk, for it did nothing of the sort. Nor am I going to insist that her eyes had a fire like that of stars, or proclaim that Cupid was in the habit of lighting23 his torch from them. I don't think he was. I would like to have caught the brat24 taking any such liberties with those innocent, humorous, unfathomable eyes of hers! And they didn't remind me of violets, either," he pursued, belligerently25, "nor did her mouth look to me in the least like a rosebud26, nor did I have the slightest difficulty in distinguishing between her hands and lilies. I consider these hyperbolical figures of speech to be idiotic27. Ah, no!" cried Colonel Musgrave, warming to his subject—and regarding it, too, very intently; "ah, no, a face that could be patched together at the nearest florist's would not haunt a man's dreams o'nights, as hers does! I haven't any need for praises sauced with lies! I spurn28 hyperbole. I scorn exaggeration. I merely state calmly and judicially29 that she was God's masterpiece,—the most beautiful and adorable and indescribable creature that He ever made."
She smiled at this. "You should have told her, Olaf," said Miss
Stapylton. "You should have told her that you cared."
He gave a gesture of dissent30. "She had everything," he pointed31 out, "everything the world could afford her. And, doubtless, she would have been very glad to give it all up for me, wouldn't she?—for me, who haven't youth or wealth or fame or anything? Ah, I dare say she would have been delighted to give up the world she knew and loved,—the world that loved her,—for the privilege of helping32 me digest old county records!"
And Rudolph Musgrave laughed again, though not mirthfully.
But the girl was staring at him, with a vague trouble in her eyes. "You should have told her, Olaf," she repeated.
And at this point he noted33 that the arbutus-flush in her cheeks began to widen slowly, until, at last, it had burned back to the little pink ears, and had merged34 into the coppery glory of her hair, and had made her, if such a thing were possible—which a minute ago it manifestly was not,—more beautiful and adorable and indescribable than ever before.
"Ah, yes!" he scoffed35, "Lichfield would have made a fitting home for her. She would have been very happy here, shut off from the world with us,—with us, whose forefathers36 have married and intermarried with one another until the stock is worthless, and impotent for any further achievement. For here, you know, we have the best blood in America, and —for utilitarian37 purposes—that means the worst blood. Ah, we may prate38 of our superiority to the rest of the world,—and God knows, we do!—but, at bottom, we are worthless. We are worn out, I tell you! we are effete39 and stunted40 in brain and will-power, and the very desire of life is gone out of us! We are contented41 simply to exist in Lichfield. And she—"
He paused, and a new, fierce light came into his eyes. "She was so beautiful!" he said, half-angrily, between clenched42 teeth.
"You are just like the rest of them, Olaf," she lamented43, with a hint of real sadness. "You imagine you are in love with a girl because you happen to like the color of her eyes, or because there is a curve about her lips that appeals to you. That isn't love, Olaf, as we women understand it. Ah, no, a girl's love for a man doesn't depend altogether upon his fitness to be used as an advertisement for somebody's ready-made clothing."
"You fancy you know what you are talking about," said Rudolph Musgrave, "but you don't. You don't realize, you see, how beautiful she—was."
And this time, he nearly tripped upon the tense, for her hand was on his arm, and, in consequence, a series of warm, delicious little shivers was running about his body in a fashion highly favorable to extreme perturbation of mind.
"You should have told her, Olaf," she said, wistfully. "Oh, Olaf, Olaf, why didn't you tell her?"
She did not know, of course, how she was tempting44 him; she did not know, of course, how her least touch seemed to waken every pulse in his body to an aching throb45, and set hope and fear a-drumming in his breast. Obviously, she did not know; and it angered him that she did not.
"She wouldn't have laughed, Olaf." And, indeed, she did not look as if she would.
"But much you know of her!" said Rudolph Musgrave, morosely47. "She was just like the rest of them, I tell you! She knew how to stare a man out of countenance48 with big purple eyes that were like violets with the dew on them, and keep her paltry49 pink-and-white baby face all pensive50 and sober, till the poor devil went stark51, staring mad, and would have pawned52 his very soul to tell her that he loved her! She knew! She did it on purpose. She would look pensive just to make an ass10 of you! She—"
And here the colonel set his teeth for a moment, and resolutely53 drew back from the abyss.
"She would not have cared for me," he said, with a shrug54. "I was not exactly the sort of fool she cared for. What she really cared for was a young fool who could dance with her in this silly new-fangled gliding55 style, and send her flowers and sweet-meats, and make love to her glibly—and a petticoated fool who would envy her fine feathers,—and, at last, a knavish56 fool who would barter57 his title for her money. She preferred fools, you see, but she would never have cared for a middle-aged58 penniless fool like me. And so," he ended, with a vicious outburst of mendacity, "I never told her, and she married a title and lived unhappily in gilded59 splendor60 ever afterwards."
"You should have told her, Olaf," Miss Stapylton persisted; and then she asked, in a voice that came very near being inaudible: "Is it too late to tell her now, Olaf?"
The stupid man opened his lips a little, and stood staring at her with hungry eyes, wondering if it were really possible that she did not hear the pounding of his heart; and then his teeth clicked, and he gave a despondent61 gesture.
"Yes," he said, wearily, "it is too late now."
Thereupon Miss Stapylton tossed her head. "Oh, very well!" said she; "only, for my part, I think you acted very foolishly, and I don't see that you have the least right to complain. I quite fail to see how you could have expected her to marry you—or, in fact, how you can expect any woman to marry you,—if you won't, at least, go to the trouble of asking her to do so!"
Then Miss Stapylton went into the house, and slammed the door after her.
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1
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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vociferously
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| adv.喊叫地，吵闹地 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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avidly
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| adv.渴望地，热心地 | |
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rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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8
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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9
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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10
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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fulsome
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| adj.可恶的，虚伪的，过分恭维的 | |
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eulogy
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| n.颂词；颂扬 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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depicts
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| 描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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18
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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19
intake
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| n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口 | |
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metaphors
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| 隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 ) | |
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21
similes
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| （使用like或as等词语的）明喻( simile的名词复数 ) | |
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22
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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brat
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| n.孩子；顽童 | |
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belligerently
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rosebud
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| n.蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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spurn
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| v.拒绝，摈弃；n.轻视的拒绝；踢开 | |
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judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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30
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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34
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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35
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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37
utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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prate
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| v.瞎扯，胡说 | |
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effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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40
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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41
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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42
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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45
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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46
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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47
morosely
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| adv.愁眉苦脸地，忧郁地 | |
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48
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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49
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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50
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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51
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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52
pawned
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| v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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53
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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54
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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55
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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56
knavish
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| adj.无赖（似）的，不正的；刁诈 | |
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57
barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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58
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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59
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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60
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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61
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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