The story of the poor mad woman who still proclaims in her seclusion1 the justice of the deed which she did, has now been told. It may perhaps be well to collect the scattered2 ends of the threads of the tale for the benefit of readers who desire to know the whole of a history.
Mrs. O’Hara never returned to the cottage on the cliffs after the perpetration of the deed. On the unhappy priest devolved the duty of doing whatever must be done. The police at the neighbouring barracks were told that the young lord had perished by a fall from the cliffs, and by them search was made for the body. No real attempt was set on foot to screen the woman who had done the deed by any concealment3 of the facts. She herself was not alive to the necessity of making any such attempt. “An eye for an eye!” she said to the head-constable when the man interrogated4 her. It soon became known to all Liscannor, to Ennistimon, to the ladies at Castle Quin, and to all the barony of Corcomroe that Mrs. O’Hara had thrust the Earl of Scroope over the cliffs of Moher, and that she was now detained at the house of Father Marty in the custody5 of a policeman. Before the day was over it was declared also that she was mad,—and that her daughter was dying.
The deed which the woman had done and the death of the young lord were both terrible to Father Marty; but there was a duty thrown upon him more awful to his mind even than these. Kate O’Hara, when her mother appeared at the priest’s house, had been alone at the cottage. By degrees Father Marty learned from the wretched woman something of the circumstances of that morning’s work. Kate had not seen her lover that day, but had been left in the cottage while her mother went out to meet the man, and if possible to persuade him to do her child justice. The priest understood that she would be waiting for them,—or more probably searching for them on the cliffs. He got upon his horse and rode up the hill with a heavy heart. What should he tell her; and how should he tell it?
Before he reached the cottage she came running down the hillside to him. “Father Marty, where is mother? Where is Mr. Neville? You know. I see that you know. Where are they?” He got off his horse and put his arm round her body and seated her beside himself on the rising bank by the wayside. “Why don’t you speak?” she said.
“I cannot speak,” he murmured. “I cannot tell you.”
“Is he—dead?” He only buried his face in his hands. “She has killed him! Mother—mother!” Then, with one loud long wailing6 shriek7, she fell upon the ground.
Not for a month after that did she know anything of what happened around her. But yet it seemed that during that time her mind had not been altogether vacant, for when she awoke to self-consciousness, she knew at least that her lover was dead. She had been taken into Ennistimon and there, under the priest’s care, had been tended with infinite solicitude8; but almost with a hope on his part that nature might give way and that she might die. Overwhelmed as she was with sorrows past and to come would it not be better for her that she should go hence and be no more seen? But as Death cannot be barred from the door when he knocks at it, so neither can he be made to come as a guest when summoned. She still lived, though life had so little to offer to her.
But Mrs. O’Hara never saw her child again. With passionate9 entreaties10 she begged of the police that her girl might be brought to her, that she might be allowed if it were only to see her face or to touch her hand. Her entreaties to the priest, who was constant in his attendance upon her in the prison to which she was removed from his house, were piteous,—almost heartbreaking. But the poor girl, though she was meek11, silent, and almost apathetic12 in her tranquillity13, could not even bear the mention of her mother’s name. Her mother had destroyed the father of the child that was to be born to her, her lover, her hero, her god; and in her remembrance of the man who had betrayed her, she learned to execrate14 the mother who had sacrificed everything,—her very reason,—in avenging15 the wrongs of her child!
Mrs. O’Hara was taken away from the priest’s house to the County Gaol16, but was then in a condition of acknowledged insanity17. That she had committed the murder no one who heard the story doubted, but of her guilt18 there was no evidence whatever beyond the random19 confession20 of a maniac21. No detailed22 confession was ever made by her. “An eye for an eye,” she would say when interrogated,—“Is not that justice? A tooth for a tooth!” Though she was for a while detained in prison it was impossible to prosecute23 her,—even with a view to an acquittal on the ground of insanity; and while the question was under discussion among the lawyers, provision for her care and maintenance came from another source.
As also it did for the poor girl. For a while everything was done for her under the care of Father Marty;—but there was another Earl of Scroope in the world, and as soon as the story was known to him and the circumstances had been made clear, he came forward to offer on behalf of the family whatever assistance might now avail them anything. As months rolled on the time of Kate O’Hara’s further probation24 came, but Fate spared her the burden and despair of a living infant. It was at last thought better that she should go to her father and live in France with him, reprobate25 though the man was. The priest offered to find a home for her in his own house at Liscannor; but, as he said himself, he was an old man, and one who when he went would leave no home behind him. And then it was felt that the close vicinity of the spot on which her lover had perished would produce a continued melancholy26 that might crush her spirits utterly27. Captain O’Hara therefore was desired to come and fetch his child,—and he did so, with many protestations of virtue28 for the future. If actual pecuniary29 comfort can conduce to virtue in such a man, a chance was given him. The Earl of Scroope was only too liberal in the settlement he made. But the settlement was on the daughter and not on the father; and it is possible therefore that some gentle restraint may have served to keep him out of the deep abysses of wickedness.
The effects of the tragedy on the coast of Clare spread beyond Ireland, and drove another woman to the verge30 of insanity. When the Countess of Scroope heard the story, she shut herself up at Scroope and would see no one but her own servants. When the succeeding Earl came to the house which was now his own, she refused to admit him into her presence, and declined even a renewed visit from Miss Mellerby who at that time had returned to her father’s roof. At last the clergyman of Scroope prevailed, and to him she unburdened her soul,—acknowledging, with an energy that went perhaps beyond the truth, the sin of her own conduct in producing the catastrophe31 which had occurred. “I knew that he had wronged her, and yet I bade him not to make her his wife.” That was the gist32 of her confession and she declared that the young man’s blood would be on her hands till she died. A small cottage was prepared for her on the estate, and there she lived in absolute seclusion till death relieved her from her sorrows.
And she lived not only in seclusion, but in solitude33 almost to her death. It was not till four years after the occurrences which have been here related that John fourteenth Earl of Scroope brought a bride home to Scroope Manor34. The reader need hardly be told that that bride was Sophie Mellerby. When the young Countess came to live at the Manor the old Countess admitted her visits and at last found some consolation35 in her friend’s company. But it lasted not long, and then she was taken away and buried beside her lord in the chancel of the parish church.
When it was at last decided36 that the law should not interfere37 at all as to the personal custody of the poor maniac who had sacrificed everything to avenge38 her daughter, the Earl of Scroope selected for her comfort the asylum39 in which she still continues to justify40 from morning to night, and, alas41, often all the night long, the terrible deed of which she is ever thinking. “An eye for an eye,” she says to the woman who watches her.
“Oh, yes, ma’am; certainly.”
“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth! Is it not so? An eye for an eye!”
The End
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1
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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8
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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10
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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11
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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14
execrate
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| v.憎恶；厌恶；诅咒 | |
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15
avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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maniac
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| n.精神癫狂的人；疯子 | |
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22
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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24
probation
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| n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期) | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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29
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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30
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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31
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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32
gist
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| n.要旨；梗概 | |
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33
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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36
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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37
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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38
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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39
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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40
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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41
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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