Isabel received her letter by the next morning’s post. If any justification6 of Mr. Troy’s suspicions had been needed, the terms in which Moody wrote would have amply supplied it.
“DEAR ISABEL (I hope I may call you ‘Isabel’ without offending you, in your present trouble?)— I have a proposal to make, which, whether you accept it or not, I beg you will keep a secret from every living creature but ourselves. You will understand my request, when I add that these lines relate to the matter of tracing the stolen bank-note.
“I have been privately7 in communication with a person in London, who is, as I believe, the one person competent to help us in gaining our end. He has already made many inquiries8 in private. With some of them I am acquainted; the rest he has thus far kept to himself. The person to whom I allude9, particularly wishes to have half an hour’s conversation with you in my presence. I am bound to warn you that he is a very strange and very ugly old man; and I can only hope that you will look over his personal appearance in consideration of what he is likely to do for your future advantage.
“Can you conveniently meet us, at the further end of the row of villas10 in which your aunt lives, the day after to-morrow, at four o’clock? Let me have a line to say if you will keep the appointment, and if the hour named will suit you. And believe me your devoted11 friend and servant,
“ROBERT MOODY.”
The lawyer’s warning to her to be careful how she yielded too readily to any proposal of Moody’s recurred12 to Isabel’s mind while she read those lines. Being pledged to secrecy13, she could not consult Mr. Troy — she was left to decide for herself.
No obstacle stood in the way of her free choice of alternatives. After their early dinner at three o’clock, Miss Pink habitually14 retired15 to her own room “to meditate,” as she expressed it. Her “meditations” inevitably16 ended in a sound sleep of some hours; and during that interval Isabel was at liberty to do as she pleased. After considerable hesitation17, her implicit18 belief in Moody’s truth and devotion, assisted by a strong feeling of curiosity to see the companion with whom the steward had associated himself, decided19 Isabel on consenting to keep the appointment.
Taking up her position beyond the houses, on the day and at the hour mentioned by Moody, she believed herself to be fully20 prepared for the most unfavorable impression which the most disagreeable of all possible strangers could produce.
But the first appearance of Old Sharon — as dirty as ever, clothed in a long, frowzy21, gray overcoat, with his pug-dog at his heels, and his smoke-blackened pipe in his mouth, with a tan white hat on his head, which looked as if it had been picked up in a gutter22, a hideous23 leer in his eyes, and a jaunty24 trip in his walk — took her so completely by surprise that she could only return Moody’s friendly greeting by silently pressing his hand. As for Moody’s companion, to look at him for a second time was more than she had resolution to do. She kept her eyes fixed25 on the pug-dog, and with good reason; as far as appearances went, he was indisputably the nobler animal of the two.
Under the circumstances, the interview threatened to begin in a very embarrassing manner. Moody, disheartened by Isabel’s silence, made no attempt to set the conversation going; he looked as if he meditated26 a hasty retreat to the railway station which he had just left. Fortunately, he had at his side the right man (for once) in the right place. Old Sharon’s effrontery27 was equal to any emergency.
“I am not a nice-looking old man, my dear, am I?” he said, leering at Isabel with cunning, half-closed eyes. “Bless your heart! you’ll soon get used to me! You see, I am the sort of color, as they say at the linen-drapers, that doesn’t wash well. It’s all through love; upon my life it is! Early in the present century I had my young affections blighted28; and I’ve neglected myself ever since. Disappointment takes different forms, miss, in different men. I don’t think I have had heart enough to brush my hair for the last fifty years. She was a magnificent woman, Mr. Moody, and she dropped me like a hot potato. Dreadful! dreadful! Let us pursue this painful subject no further. Ha! here’s a pretty country! Here’s a nice blue sky! I admire the country, miss; I see so little of it, you know. Have you any objection to walk along into the fields? The fields, my dear, bring out all the poetry of my nature. Where’s the dog? Here, Puggy! Puggy! hunt about, my man, and find some dog-grass. Does his inside good, you know, after a meat diet in London. Lord! how I feel my spirits rising in this fine air! Does my complexion29 look any brighter, miss? Will you run a race with me, Mr. Moody, or will you oblige me with a back at leap-frog? I’m not mad, my dear young lady; I’m only merry. I live, you see, in the London stink30; and the smell of the hedges and the wild flowers is too much for me at first. It gets into my head, it does. I’m drunk! As I live by bread, I’m drunk on fresh air! Oh! what a jolly day! Oh! how young and innocent I do feel!” Here his innocence31 got the better of him, and he began to sing, “I wish I were a little fly, in my love’s bosom32 for to lie!” “Hullo! here we are on the nice soft grass! and, oh, my gracious! there’s a bank running down into a hollow! I can’t stand that, you know. Mr. Moody, hold my hat, and take the greatest care of it. Here goes for a roll down the bank!”
He handed his horrible hat to the astonished Moody, laid himself flat on the top of the bank, and deliberately33 rolled down it, exactly as he might have done when he was a boy. The tails of his long gray coat flew madly in the wind: the dog pursued him, jumping over him, and barking with delight; he shouted and screamed in answer to the dog as he rolled over and over faster and faster; and, when he got up, on the level ground, and called out cheerfully to his companions standing34 above him, “I say, you two, I feel twenty years younger already!”— human gravity could hold out no longer. The sad and silent Moody smiled, and Isabel burst into fits of laughter.
“There,” he said “didn’t I tell you you would get used to me, Miss? There’s a deal of life left in the old man yet — isn’t there? Shy me down my hat, Mr. Moody. And now we’ll get to business!” He turned round to the dog still barking at his heels. “Business, Puggy!” he called out sharply, and Puggy instantly shut up his mouth, and said no more.
“Well, now,” Old Sharon resumed when he had joined his friends and had got his breath again, “let’s have a little talk about yourself, miss. Has Mr. Moody told you who I am, and what I want with you? Very good. May I offer you my arm? No! You like to be independent, don’t you? All right — I don’t object. I am an amiable35 old man, I am. About this Lady Lydiard, now? Suppose you tell me how you first got acquainted with her?”
In some surprise at this question, Isabel told her little story. Observing Sharon’s face while she was speaking, Moody saw that he was not paying the smallest attention to the narrative36. His sharp, shameless black eyes watched the girl’s face absently; his gross lips curled upwards37 in a sardonic38 and self-satisfied smile. He was evidently setting a trap for her of some kind. Without a word of warning — while Isabel was in the middle of a sentence — the trap opened, with the opening of Old Sharon’s lips.
“I say,” he burst out. “How came you to seal her Ladyship’s letter — eh?”
The question bore no sort of relation, direct or indirect, to what Isabel happened to be saying at the moment. In the sudden surprise of hearing it, she started and fixed her eyes in astonishment39 on Sharon’s face. The old vagabond chuckled40 to himself. “Did you see that?” he whispered to Moody. “I beg your pardon, miss,” he went on; “I won’t interrupt you again. Lord! how interesting it is! — ain’t it, Mr. Moody? Please to go on, miss.”
But Isabel, though she spoke41 with perfect sweetness and temper, declined to go on. “I had better tell you, sir, how I came to seal her Ladyship’s letter,” she said. “If I may venture on giving my opinion, that part of my story seems to be the only part of it which relates to your business with me to-day.”
Without further preface she described the circumstances which had led to her assuming the perilous42 responsibility of sealing the letter. Old Sharon’s wandering attention began to wander again: he was evidently occupied in setting another trap. For the second time he interrupted Isabel in the middle of a sentence. Suddenly stopping short, he pointed43 to some sheep, at the further end of the field through which they happened to be passing at the moment.
“There’s a pretty sight,” he said. “There are the innocent sheep a-feeding — all following each other as usual. And there’s the sly dog waiting behind the gate till the sheep wants his services. Reminds me of Old Sharon and the public!” He chuckled over the discovery of the remarkable44 similarity between the sheep-dog and himself, and the sheep and the public — and then burst upon Isabel with a second question. “I say! didn’t you look at the letter before you sealed it?”
“Certainly not!” Isabel answered.
“Not even at the address?”
“No!”
“Thinking of something else — eh?”
“Very likely,” said Isabel.
“Was it your new bonnet45, my dear?”
Isabel laughed. “Women are not always thinking of their new bonnets,” she answered.
Old Sharon, to all appearance, dropped the subject there. He lifted his lean brown forefinger46 and pointed again — this time to a house at a short distance from them. “That’s a farmhouse47, surely?” he said. “I’m thirsty after my roll down the hill. Do you think, Miss, they would give me a drink of milk?”
“I am sure they would,” said Isabel. “I know the people. Shall I go and ask them?”
“Thank you, my dear. One word more before you go. About the sealing of that letter? What could you have been thinking of while you were doing it?” He looked hard at her, and took her suddenly by the arm. “Was it your sweetheart?” he asked, in a whisper.
The question instantly reminded Isabel that she had been thinking of Hardyman while she sealed the letter. She blushed as the remembrance crossed her mind. Robert, noticing the embarrassment48, spoke sharply to Old Sharon. “You have no right to put such a question to a young lady,” he said. “Be a little more careful for the future.”
“There! there! don’t be hard on me,” pleaded the old rogue49. “An ugly old man like me may make his innocent little joke — eh, miss? I’m sure you’re too sweet-tempered to be angry when I meant no offense50.. Show me that you bear no malice51. Go, like a forgiving young angel, and ask for the milk.”
Nobody appealed to Isabel’s sweetness of temper in vain. “I will do it with pleasure,” she said — and hastened away to the farmhouse.
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1
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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3
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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6
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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8
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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11
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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12
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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16
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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21
frowzy
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| adj.不整洁的；污秽的 | |
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gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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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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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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29
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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30
stink
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| vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭 | |
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31
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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32
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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33
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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34
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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40
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
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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42
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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43
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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44
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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45
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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46
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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47
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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48
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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49
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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50
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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51
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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