She is like the watchman who announces the coming of Agamemnon; Clytemnestra sharpens her ax at the news, and the fatal bath is prepared for the anax andron. The tragedy moves on; the house of Atreus falls, and the wrath5 of implacable gods bellows6 across the heavens; meanwhile, the watchman has gone home to have tea with his family, and we hear no more of him. There are any number of morals to this.
Mrs. Ashmeade comes into the story on the day Patricia went to Lichfield, and some weeks after John Charteris's arrival at Matocton. Since then, affairs had progressed in a not unnatural7 sequence. Mr. Charteris, as we have seen, attributed it to Fate; and, assuredly, there must be a special providence8 of some kind that presides over country houses—a freakish and whimsical providence, which hugely rejoices in confounding one's sense of time and direction.
Through its agency, people unaccountably lose their way in the simplest walks, and turn up late and embarrassed for luncheon9. At the end of the evening, it brings any number of couples blinking out of the dark, with no idea the clock was striking more than half-past nine.
And it delights in sending one into the garden—in search of roses or dahlias or upas-trees or something of the sort, of course—and thereby10 causing one to encounter the most unlikely people, and really, quite the last person one would have thought of meeting, as all frequenters of house-party junketings will assure you. And thus is this special house-party providence responsible for a great number of marriages, and, it may be, for a large percentage of the divorce cases; for, if you desire very heartily11 to see anything of another member of a house-party, this lax-minded and easy-going providence will somehow always bring the event about in a specious12 manner, and without any apparent thought of the consequences.
And the Musgraves' house-party was no exception.
Mrs. Ashmeade, for reasons of her own, took daily note of this. The others were largely engrossed13 by their own affairs; they did not seriously concern themselves about the doings of their fellow-guests. And, besides, if John Charteris manifestly sought the company of Patricia Musgrave, her husband did not appear to be exorbitantly14 dissatisfied or angry or even lonely; and, be this as it might, the fact remained that Celia Reindan was at this time more than a little interested in Teddy Anstruther; and Felix Kennaston was undeniably very attentive15 to Kathleen Saumarez; and Tom Gelwix was quite certainly devoting the major part of his existence to sitting upon the beach with Rosalind Jemmett.
For, in Lichfield at all events, everyone's house has at least a pane16 or so of glass in it; and, if indiscriminate stone-throwing were ever to become the fashion, there is really no telling what damage might ensue. And so had Mrs. Ashmeade been a younger woman—had time and an adoring husband not rendered her as immune to an insanity18 à deux as any of us may hope to be upon this side of saintship or senility—why, Mrs. Ashmeade would most probably have remained passive, and Mrs. Ashmeade would never have come into this story at all.
As it was, she approached Rudolph Musgrave with a fixed19 purpose this morning as he smoked an after-breakfast cigarette on the front porch of Matocton. And,
"Rudolph," said Mrs. Ashmeade, "are you blind?"
"You mean—?" he asked, and he broke off, for he had really no conception of what she meant.
And Mrs. Ashmeade said, "I mean Patricia and Charteris. Did you think I was by any chance referring to the man in the moon and the Queen of Sheba?"
If ever amazement20 showed in a man's eyes, it shone now in Rudolph Musgrave's. After a little, the pupils widened in a sort of terror. So this was what Clarice Pendomer had been hinting at.
"Nonsense!" he cried. "Why—why, it is utter, preposterous21, Bedlamite nonsense!" He caught his breath in wonder at the notion of such a jest, remembering a little packet of letters hidden in his desk. "It—oh, no, Fate hasn't quite so fine a sense of humor as that. The thing is incredible!" Musgrave laughed, and flushed. "I mean——"
"I don't think you need tell me what you mean," said Mrs. Ashmeade. She sat down in a large rocking-chair, and fanned herself, for the day was warm. "Of course, it is officious and presumptuous22 and disagreeable of me to meddle23. I don't mind your thinking that. But Rudolph, don't make the mistake of thinking that Fate ever misses a chance of humiliating us by showing how poor are our imaginations. The gipsy never does. She is a posturing24 mountebank25, who thrives by astounding26 humanity."
Mrs. Ashmeade paused, and her eyes were full of memories, and very wise.
"I am only a looker-on at the tragic27 farce28 that is being played here," she continued, after a little, "but lookers-on, you know, see most of the game. They are not playing fairly with you, Rudolph. When people set about an infringement29 of the Decalogue they owe it to their self-respect to treat with Heaven as a formidable antagonist30. To mark the cards is not enough. They are not playing fairly, my dear, and you ought to know it."
He walked up and down the porch once or twice, with his hands behind him; then he stopped before Mrs. Ashmeade, and smiled down at her. Without, many locusts31 shrilled32 monotonously33.
"No, I do not think you are officious or meddling34 or anything of the sort, I think you are one of the best and kindest-hearted women in the world. But—bless your motherly soul, Polly! the thing is utterly35 preposterous. Of course, Patricia is young, and likes attention, and it pleases her to have men admire her. That, Polly, is perfectly36 natural. Why, you wouldn't expect her to sit around under the trees, and read poetry with her own husband, would you? We have been married far too long for that, Patricia and I. She thinks me rather prosy and stupid at times, poor girl, because—well, because, in point of fact, I am. But, at the bottom of her heart—Oh, it's preposterous! We are the best friends in the world, I tell you! It is simply that she and Jack37 have a great deal in common—"
"You don't understand John Charteris. I do," said Mrs. Ashmeade, placidly38. "Charteris is simply a baby with a vocabulary. His moral standpoint is entirely39 that of infancy40. It would be ludicrous to describe him as selfish, because he is selfishness incarnate41. I sometimes believe it is the only characteristic the man possesses. He reaches out his hand and takes whatever he wants, just as a baby would, quite simply, and as a matter of course. He wants your wife now, and he is reaching out his hand to take her. He probably isn't conscious of doing anything especially wrong; he is always so plausible42 in whatever he does that he ends by deceiving himself, I suppose. For he is always plausible. It is worse than useless to argue any matter with him, because he invariably ends by making you feel as if you had been caught stealing a hat. The only argument that would get the better of John Charteris is knocking him down, just as spanking43 is the only argument which ever gets the better of a baby. Yes, he is very like a baby—thoroughly44 selfish and thoroughly dependent on other people; only, he is a clever baby who exaggerates his own helplessness in order to appeal to women. He has a taste for women. And women naturally like him, for he impresses them as an irresponsible child astray in an artful and designing world. They want to protect him. Even I do, at times. It is really maternal45, you know; we would infinitely46 prefer for him to be soft and little, so that we could pick him up, and cuddle him. But as it is, he is dangerous. He believes whatever he tells himself, you see."
Her voice died away, and Mrs. Ashmeade fanned herself in the fashion addicted47 by perturbed48 women who, nevertheless, mean to have their say out—slowly and impersonally49, and quite as if she was fanning some one else through motives50 of charity.
"I don't question," Musgrave said, at length, "that Jack is the highly estimable character you describe. But—oh, it is all nonsense, Polly!" he cried, with petulance51, and with a tinge—if but the merest nuance52 —of conviction lacking in his voice.
The fan continued its majestic53 sweep from the shade into the sunlight, and back again into the shadow. Without, many locusts shrilled monotonously.
"Rudolph, I know what you meant by saying that Fate hadn't such a fine sense of humor."
"My dear madam, it was simply thrown out, in the heat of conversation—as an axiom——"
For a moment the fan paused; then went on as before. It was never charged against Pauline Ashmeade, whatever her shortcomings, that she was given to unnecessary verbiage54.
Colonel Musgrave was striding up and down, divided between a disposition55 to swear at the universe at large and a desire to laugh at it. Somehow, it did not occur to him to doubt what she had told him. He comprehended now that, chafing56 under his indebtedness in the affair of Mrs. Pendomer, Charteris would most naturally retaliate57 by making love to his benefactor's wife, because the colonel also knew John Charteris. And for the rest, it was useless to struggle against a Fate that planned such preposterous and elaborate jokes; one might more rationally depend on Fate to work out some both ludicrous and horrible solution, he reflected, remembering a little packet of letters hidden in his desk.
Nevertheless, he paused after a while, and laughed, with a tolerable affectation of mirth.
"I say—I—and what in heaven's name, Polly, prompted you to bring me this choice specimen58 of a mare's-nest?"
"Because I am fond of you, I suppose. Isn't one always privileged to be disagreeable to one's friends? We have been friends a long while, you know."
Mrs. Ashmeade was looking out over the river now, but she seemed to see a great way, a very great way, beyond its glaring waters, and to be rather uncertain as to whether what she beheld59 there was of a humorous or pathetic nature.
"Rudolph, do you remember that evening—the first summer that I knew you—at Fortress60 Monroe, when we sat upon the pier61 so frightfully late, and the moon rose out of the bay, and made a great, solid-looking, silver path that led straight over the rim17 of the world, and you talked to me about—about what, now?"
"Oh, yes, yes!—I remember perfectly! One of the most beautiful evenings I ever saw. I remember it quite distinctly. I talked—I—and what, in the Lord's name, did I talk about, Polly?"
"Ah, men forget! A woman never forgets when she is really friends with a man. I know now you were telling me about Anne Charteris, for you have been in love with her all your life, Rudolph, in your own particular half-hearted and dawdling62 fashion. Perhaps that is why you have had so many affairs. You plainly found the run of women so unimportant that it put every woman on her pride to prove she was different. Yes, I remember. But that night I thought you were trying to make love to me, and I was disappointed in you, and—yes, rather pleased. Women are all vain and perfectly inconsistent. But then, girl-children always take after their fathers."
Mrs. Ashmeade rose from her chair. Her fan shut with a snap.
"You were a dear boy, Rudolph, when I first knew you—and what I liked was that you never made love to me. Of all the boys I have known and helped to form, you were the only sensible one—the only one who never presumed. That was rather clever of you, Rudolph. It would have been ridiculous, for even arithmetically I am older than you.
"Wouldn't it have been ridiculous, Rudolph?" she demanded, suddenly.
Polly, you were a wonderfully handsome woman. Any boy——"
"Oh, yes!—I was. I'm not now, am I, Rudolph?" Mrs. Ashmeade threw back her head and laughed naturally. "Ah, dear boy that was, it is unfair, isn't it, for an old woman to seize upon you in this fashion, and insist on your making love to her? But I will let you off. You don't have to do it."
She caught her skirts in her left hand, preparatory to going, and her right hand rested lightly on his arm. She spoke64 in a rather peculiar voice.
"Yes," she said, "the boy was a very, very dear boy, and I want the man to be equally brave and—sensible."
Musgrave stared after her. "I wonder—I wonder—? Oh, no, that couldn't be," he said, and wearily.
"There must be some preposterous situations that don't come about."
* * * * *
And afterward65 he strolled across the lawn, where the locusts were shrilling66, as if in a stubborn prediction of something which was inevitable67, and he meditated68 upon a great number of things. There were a host of fleecy little clouds in the sky. He looked up at them, interrogatively.
And then he smiled and shook his head.
"Yet I don't know," said he; "for I am coming to the conclusion that the world is run on an extremely humorous basis."
And oddly enough, it was at the same moment that Patricia—in
Lichfield—reached the same conclusion.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
intervention
|
|
| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
bellows
|
|
| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
unnatural
|
|
| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
providence
|
|
| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
luncheon
|
|
| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
heartily
|
|
| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
specious
|
|
| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
engrossed
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
exorbitantly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
attentive
|
|
| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
pane
|
|
| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
insanity
|
|
| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
preposterous
|
|
| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
presumptuous
|
|
| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
meddle
|
|
| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
posturing
|
|
| 做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
mountebank
|
|
| n.江湖郎中；骗子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
tragic
|
|
| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
farce
|
|
| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
infringement
|
|
| n.违反；侵权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
antagonist
|
|
| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
locusts
|
|
| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
shrilled
|
|
| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
monotonously
|
|
| adv.单调地，无变化地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
meddling
|
|
| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
infancy
|
|
| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
incarnate
|
|
| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
plausible
|
|
| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
spanking
|
|
| adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
addicted
|
|
| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
perturbed
|
|
| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
impersonally
|
|
| ad.非人称地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
petulance
|
|
| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
nuance
|
|
| n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
verbiage
|
|
| n.冗词；冗长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
chafing
|
|
| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
retaliate
|
|
| v.报复，反击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
specimen
|
|
| n.样本，标本 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
fortress
|
|
| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
pier
|
|
| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
dawdling
|
|
| adj.闲逛的，懒散的v.混（时间）( dawdle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
courteous
|
|
| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
shrilling
|
|
| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的现在分词 )； 凄厉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
meditated
|
|
| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |