"Is mother up stairs, Katy?" he asked.
"Yes," said Katy, looking very knowing. "She went up as soon as Mr. Craven went away."
"He staid a long time. He seems to come here pretty often."
"May be he'll come oftener and stay longer, soon," said Katy, nodding her head vigorously.
"What do you mean, Katy? What makes you say such things?"
[22]
"What do I mane? Why do I say such things? You'll know pretty soon, I'm thinking."
"I wish you'd tell me at once what you mean?" said Frank, impatiently.
"Mr. Craven doesn't come here for nothing, bad 'cess to him," said Katy, oracularly.
"You don't mean, Katy—" exclaimed Frank, in excitement.
"I mean that you're goin' to have a step-father, Master Frank, and a mighty2 mane one, too; but if your mother's satisfied, it ain't for Katy O'Grady to say a word, though he isn't fit for her to wipe her shoes on him."
"Who told you such a ridiculous story?" demanded Frank, angrily.
"He told me himself shure," said Katy. "Didn't I pop in when he was on his knees at your mother's feet, and didn't he ask me to congratulate him, and your mother said never a word? What do you say to that Master Frank, now?"
"I think there must be some mistake, Katy," said Frank, turning pale. "I will go and ask my mother."
[23]
"No wonder the child can't abide3 havin' such a mane step-father as that," soliloquized Katy. "He looks like a sneakin' hyppercrite, that he does, and I'd like to tell him so."
Mrs. Hunter was an amiable4 woman, but rather weak of will, and easily controlled by a stronger spirit. She had yielded to Mr. Craven's persuasions6 because she had not the power to resist for any length of time. That she did not feel a spark of affection for him, it is hardly necessary to say, but she had already begun to feel a little reconciled to an arrangement which would relieve her from so large a share of care and responsibility. She was placidly7 thinking it all over when Frank entered the room hastily.
"Have you wiped your feet, Frank?" she asked, for she had a passion for neatness. "I am afraid you will track dirt into the room."
"Yes—no—I don't know," answered Frank, whose thoughts were on another subject. "Has Mr. Craven been here?"
"Yes," replied his mother, blushing a little.
[24]
"He seemed to stay pretty long."
"He was here about an hour."
"He comes pretty often, too."
"I consult him about my business affairs, Frank."
"Look here, mother, what do you think Ben Cameron told me to-day?"
"I don't know, I am sure, Frank."
"He said it was all over the village that you were going to marry him."
"So soon! Why, you don't mean to say there's anything in it, mother?" said Frank, impetuously.
"Is it true? Are you really going to marry that man?"
"He didn't ask me till this afternoon, and, of course, it took me by surprise, and I said so, but he urged me so much that I finally consented."
"You don't love him, mother? I am sure you can't love such a man as that."
[25]
"I never shall love any one again in that way, Frank—never any one like your poor father."
"Then why do you marry him?"
"He doesn't ask me to love him. But he can relieve me of a great many cares and look after you."
"I don't want anybody to look after me, mother—that is, anybody but you. I hate Mr. Craven!"
"Now that is wrong, Frank. He speaks very kindly11 of you—very kindly indeed. He says he takes a great interest in you."
"I am sorry I cannot return the interest he professes12. I dislike him, and I always have. I hope you won't be angry, mother, if I tell you just what I think of him. I think he's after your property, and that is what made him offer himself. He is poor as poverty, though I don't care half so much for that as I do for other things."
"How do you know?"
[26]
"He told me that he had twenty thousand dollars' worth of mining stock out West somewhere, besides owning a house in New York."
Frank looked astonished.
"If he has as much property as that," he said, "I don't see what makes him come here. I don't believe his business brings him in three hundred dollars a year."
"That's the very reason, Frank. He has money enough, and doesn't mind if business is dull. He generously offered to pay—or was it help pay?—the expenses of your education; but I told him that you didn't need it."
"If I did, I wouldn't take it from him. But what you tell me surprises me, mother. He doesn't look as if he was worth five hundred dollars in the world. What made him tell you all this?"
"He said that some people would accuse him of being a fortune-hunter, and he wanted to convince me that he was not one."
"It may be a true story, and it may not," said Frank.
"You are really very unjust, Frank," said his mother. "I don't pretend to love Mr. Craven, and he doesn't expect it, but I am sure he has [27] been very kind, and he takes a great deal of interest in you, and you will learn to know him better."
"When you are married to him?"
"Yes."
"Mother," exclaimed Frank, impetuously, "don't marry this man! Let us live alone, as we have done. We don't want any third person to come in, no matter who he is. I'll take care of you."
"You are only a boy, Frank."
"But I am already fifteen. I shall soon be a man at any rate, and I am sure we can get along as well as we have done."
Mrs. Hunter was not a strong or a resolute14 woman, but even women of her type can be obstinate15 at times. She had convinced herself, chiefly through Mr. Craven's suggestion, that the step she was about to take was for Frank's interest, and the thought pleased her that she was sacrificing herself for him. The fact that she didn't fancy Mr. Craven, of course heightened the sacrifice, and so Frank found her far more difficult of persuasion5 than he anticipated. She considered that he [28] was but a boy and did not understand his own interests, but would realize in future the wisdom of her conduct.
"I have given my promise, Frank," she said.
"But you can recall it."
"It would not be right. My dear Frank, why can you not see this matter as I do? I marry for your sake."
"Then, mother, I have the right to ask you not to do it. It will make me unhappy."
"Frank, you do not know what is best. You are too young."
"Then you are quite determined16, mother?" asked Frank, sadly.
"I cannot draw back now, Frank. I—I hope you won't make me unhappy by opposing it."
"I won't say another word, mother, since you have made up your mind," said Frank, slowly. "When is it going to be?"
"I do not know yet. Mr. Craven wants it to be soon."
[29]
"Certainly, Frank."
He left the room sad at heart. He felt that for him home would soon lose its charms, and that he would never get over the repugnance18 which he felt against his future step-father.
点击收听单词发音
1 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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2 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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3 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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4 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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5 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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6 persuasions | |
n.劝说,说服(力)( persuasion的名词复数 );信仰 | |
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7 placidly | |
adv.平稳地,平静地 | |
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8 nervously | |
adv.神情激动地,不安地 | |
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9 displease | |
vt.使不高兴,惹怒;n.不悦,不满,生气 | |
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10 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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11 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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12 professes | |
声称( profess的第三人称单数 ); 宣称; 公开表明; 信奉 | |
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13 credulous | |
adj.轻信的,易信的 | |
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14 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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15 obstinate | |
adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的 | |
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16 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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17 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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18 repugnance | |
n.嫌恶 | |
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