“IOU, Lady Lydiard, five hundred pounds (L500), Felix Sweetsir.”
Her Ladyship became possessed2 of this pecuniary3 remittance4 under circumstances which surround it with a halo of romantic interest. It was the last communication she was destined5 to receive from her accomplished6 nephew. There was a Note attached to it, which cannot fail to enhance its value in the estimation of all right-minded persons who assist the circulation of paper money.
The lines that follow are strictly7 confidential8:
“Note. — Our excellent Moody9 informs me, my dear aunt, that you have decided10 (against his advice) on ‘refusing to prosecute11.’ I have not the slightest idea of what he means; but I am very much obliged to him, nevertheless, for reminding me of a circumstance which is of some interest to yourself personally.
“I am on the point of retiring to the Continent in search of health. One generally forgets something important when one starts on a journey. Before Moody called, I had entirely12 forgotten to mention that I had the pleasure of borrowing five hundred pounds of you some little time since.
“On the occasion to which I refer, your language and manner suggested that you would not lend me the money if I asked for it. Obviously, the only course left was to take it without asking. I took it while Moody was gone to get some curacoa; and I returned to the picture-gallery in time to receive that delicious liqueur from the footman’s hands.
“You will naturally ask why I found it necessary to supply myself (if I may borrow an expression from the language of State finance) with this ‘forced loan.’ I was actuated by motives13 which I think do me honor. My position at the time was critical in the extreme. My credit with the money-lenders was at an end; my friends had all turned their backs on me. I must either take the money or disgrace my family. If there is a man living who is sincerely attached to his family, I am that man. I took the money.
“Conceive your position as my aunt (I say nothing of myself), if I had adopted the other alternative. Turned out of the Jockey Club, turned out of Tattersalls’, turned out of the betting-ring; in short, posted publicly as a defaulter before the noblest institution in England, the Turf — and all for want of five hundred pounds to stop the mouth of the greatest brute14 I know of, Alfred Hardyman! Let me not harrow your feelings (and mine) by dwelling15 on it. Dear and admirable woman! To you belongs the honor of saving the credit of the family; I can claim nothing but the inferior merit of having offered you the opportunity.
“My IOU, it is needless to say, accompanies these lines. Can I do anything for you abroad? — F. S.”
To this it is only necessary to add (first) that Moody was perfectly16 right in believing F. S. to be the person who informed Hardyman’s father of Isabel’s position when she left Lady Lydiard’s house; and (secondly) that Felix did really forward Mr. Troy’s narrative17 of the theft to the French police, altering nothing in it but the number of the lost bank-note.
What is there left to write about? Nothing is left — but to say good-by (very sorrowfully on the writer’s part) to the Persons of the Story.
Good-by to Miss Pink — who will regret to her dying day that Isabel’s answer to Hardyman was No.
Good-by to Lady Lydiard — who differs with Miss Pink, and would have regretted it, to her dying day, if the answer had been Yes.
Good-by to Moody and Isabel — whose history has closed with the closing of the clergyman’s book on their wedding-day.
Good-by to Hardyman — who has sold his farm and his horses, and has begun a new life among the famous fast trotters of America.
Good-by to Old Sharon — who, a martyr18 to his promise, brushed his hair and washed his face in honor of Moody’s marriage; and catching19 a severe cold as the necessary consequence, declared, in the intervals20 of sneezing, that he would “never do it again.”
And last, not least, good-by to Tommie? No. The writer gave Tommie his dinner not half an hour since, and is too fond of him to say good-by.
The End
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1 speculative | |
adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的 | |
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2 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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3 pecuniary | |
adj.金钱的;金钱上的 | |
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4 remittance | |
n.汇款,寄款,汇兑 | |
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5 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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6 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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7 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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8 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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9 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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10 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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11 prosecute | |
vt.告发;进行;vi.告发,起诉,作检察官 | |
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12 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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13 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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14 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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15 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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16 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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17 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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18 martyr | |
n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲 | |
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19 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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20 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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