There are some of sensitive natures that would shrink and die under such treatment. Margaret was differently constituted. The blow was terrible, but she did not give way under it. It hardened her whole nature, and excited in her a burning thirst for vengeance5. Strong in hate as in love, there sprang up in her soul a determined6 purpose, that, as Jacob Wynne had ruthlessly laid waste the garden of her life, she would never rest till she had made his as desolate7 as her own.
During the half-hour spent from wharf8 to wharf, she paced the deck of the steamer with hasty strides, her shawl clasped tightly over her throbbing9 bosom10, and her face concealed11 as before by the capacious sun-bonnet12. She heeded13 not that she was the object of curious attention on the part of her fellow-passengers. She never noticed how sedulously15 the children avoided coming in her way—what glances, half of wonder, half of awe16, they cast upon the tall, stately, ill-dressed woman who strode by them with such an impatient 119step. She had far other thoughts to occupy her. She could not force herself to sit down. With her mind in such a whirl, motion was absolutely necessary. Her hands were fiercely clenched17 till the nails penetrated18 the skin, and caused the blood to flow, but she neither saw the blood nor felt the injury.
At length they reached the slip. She disembarked with the other passengers, and with the same quick, hasty, impatient strides hurried through the streets, choosing instinctively19 the most obscure and unfrequented, until she reached the lodgings20 occupied by Jacob and herself.
Here she sat down for a few minutes, and looked about her.
The room was more ambitiously furnished than when first the reader was introduced to it. Jacob’s connection with Lewis Rand had given him a push upward, and enabled him to live more comfortably than before. But in this prosperity Margaret had not been permitted to participate. She had asked even humbly21 for money to provide herself with more comfortable and befitting clothing, but Jacob, with cold selfishness, had refused all her applications. He had grown tired of her, and, as we have seen, had already formed a plan by which he hoped, through marriage, to get possession of a small property which would place his new prosperity on a more permanent footing. His treatment of Margaret, therefore, was only part of a deliberate plan to rid himself of her, and thus remove the only obstacle to the success of his suit. He had not indeed intended to reveal his plans to her until marriage had secured the property he coveted22. We have seen how Margaret’s jealous espionage23 forced a premature24 disclosure of his object, and even defeated it altogether.
Margaret looked about the room, which she had so long regarded as home. Then her eye rested on herself disfigured 120by the faded and unsightly garments which Jacob’s parsimony25 compelled her to wear, and she smiled,—a smile of such bitter mockery, such deep and woful despair,—that she almost shuddered26 to see it reflected in the mirror opposite.
“There is no time to waste,” she muttered, slowly. “This can be my home no longer. I must do what I have to do and be gone.”
She opened a small drawer in the bureau, and drew out a half sheet of paper. It seemed to have been used for trying the pen, the same names together with particular letters, being several times repeated on it. Among the names that of Rand occurred most frequently.
Margaret smiled—this time a smile of triumph.
“Jacob Wynne! Jacob Wynne!” she repeated to herself, “what would you say if you knew that I hold in my hand the evidence of your crime,—forgery27! forgery!”
Her eyes sparkled with vindictive29 joy.
“You would not sleep so quietly in your bed to-night, Jacob Wynne, if you knew that I hold it in my power to hurl30 you into prison a convicted forger28! Why should I not do it? Tell me that, Jacob Wynne. Why, indeed; shall I have compassion31 upon you who have had no pity for me? Never! never!”
“When you are in prison,” she continued, in a tone of yet deeper vindictiveness32, “I will come and visit you, and taunt33 you with the knowledge that it is to me you owe your disgrace. Think you that she will smile upon you then; that she will be ready to stand before the altar as I did?—Heaven help me!—and plight34 her faith to a convicted forger?”
Margaret’s whole nature seemed changed. Her love seemed to have given place to a deadly resentment35.
121She collected a few articles, and packed them in a small bundle.
Then she took one more glance—a farewell look at what, till now, had been her home, and then pressed her hand upon her heart, while an expression of pain distorted her features. But this was only for a moment. By a powerful effort of self-control she checked her emotions, and silently went out from the room.
Mile after mile walked Margaret through the crowded city streets, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. All gazed curiously36 at her, all turned out for her. Now and then some one, more independent than his neighbors, seemed inclined to oppose her progress, and compel her to yield the way; but she moved steadily37 onwards, and he was obliged to waive39 his independence, and make way for the singular woman whose stately walk seemed so inconsistent with her miserable40 attire41.
On, on, till the houses became farther and farther apart; on, till the whirl of the great city is lost in the distance, and fields stretch out on either side of the highway.
The skies grew suddenly dark. The rumbling44 of distant thunder was heard. Vivid flashes of lightning played before her eyes, and dazzled her with their blinding glare; still she moved steadily onward38. A tree, shivered by the lightning, fell across her path; she climbed over the trunk which had been rent in twain, and continued her journey without exhibiting a trace of surprise or alarm. There was a conflict raging in her own soul fiercer than the conflict of the elements without; what was the lightning that dazzled her sight to that which had seared her heart? And why should she shrink from the shattered tree, whose own life had been made a yet more fearful wreck45?
122And now the rain began to fall, not in a gentle shower, but in a fierce, drenching46 deluge47. It soaked through and through her miserable clothing, and fell upon her hot skin. She did not seem to heed14 even that, but still walked on—on with the same quick, steady pace, as before.
By the wayside was a small cottage, a very small one. There was but one story, and two rooms were all it contained. It stood a few feet back from the road. There was a small yard in front, and behind a small garden, devoted48 to the cultivation49 of vegetables.
When Margaret came in sight of this cottage she paused,—paused a moment irresolutely,—and then slowly entered through the open gate into the path which led up to the front door.
She did not knock, but passing the door, stole to the window and looked cautiously in.
The room revealed to her gaze was very plainly furnished. The floor was clean, but had no carpet. A table and a few chairs, a clock, a stove, and a rocking-chair, were all that the room contained.
In the rocking-chair sat an old lady, quietly engaged in knitting. Her back was towards the window, and Margaret could therefore see nothing of her features. At her feet reposed50 a gigantic cat, with her eyes half closed, purring contentedly51.
It was a picture of humble52 comfort and domestic happiness. The placid53 look of the old lady seemed to indicate that she had no anxieties to disturb her tranquillity54. The cat, too, seemed to feel that dozing55 was the great work of her existence, as, coiled up on the hearth56, she watched, with winking57 eyes, the rapid movements of the old lady’s fingers.
Such was the general aspect of the room upon which the 123burning eyes of Margaret now rested. She stood for brief space peering in with an air of irresolution58.
At length she opened the outer door. A moment more, and the door of the inner room yielded to her touch, and she stood upon the threshold.
The old lady looked up from her knitting, and uttered a half exclamation59 of terror as her eyes rested on the tall, forlorn woman standing60 before her, with her clothes hanging in wet folds about her person, and her hair falling in wild disorder61 about her face, from which she had now removed her bonnet. The cat, too, who had been roused from her nap, and who was as much unused to such company as her mistress, stood with her back arched in terror, gazing in dismay at the stranger.
“Who are you?” asked the old lady, tremulously. “What do you want with me?”
Margaret looked at her earnestly, and said, in a low voice:
“You do not know me?”
“No, I don’t know you,” said the old lady, shaking her head.
The old lady trembled, she looked with an earnest glance of inquiry63 at the wild, haggard face of her visitor, and then bursting into tears took a step forward, and opening her arms exclaimed,—
“Margaret, my daughter!”
The hard heart melted for a moment, tears gushed64 from eyes dry before, and the two were folded in a close embrace.
Then the old lady drew back a step, and gazed long and earnestly at her daughter.
“It is years since we met,” was the sad reply. “I might have expected to find you changed.”
124“But not such a change,” replied Margaret. “It is not years alone that have wrought66 the change in me. But you don’t—you cannot see the greater change,” she continued with rapidity, “that has taken place in my heart. It is a woful change, mother.”
Her mother marked, with alarm, the excitement of her manner, her quick breathing, and the flush upon her cheeks.
“Your clothes are wet, Margaret,” she said, anxiously. “This terrible storm has drenched67 you. You must change them instantly, or you will get your death of cold.”
“Ah, that reminds me,” said Margaret, waywardly, “you haven’t admired my clothes yet. They are very rich and becoming, are they not? This shawl,” and she lifted up the tattered68 rag and spread it out, while the rain dropped from it upon the floor, “have you ever seen a more beautiful one? And this dress,”—she held it up in her fingers,—“how much it resembles the soft silk I wore at my wedding—yes, my wedding,” she repeated, with startling emphasis.
“You are not well, Margaret,” said her mother, alarmed at her strange conduct. “You have caught cold in this storm, and you will be sick if you are not careful.”
“Sick! That matters little.”
“You might die,” urged the old lady, in a tone of mild reproach.
“Yes,” said Margaret, reflectively, “I might die, and that would prevent my revenge. I must live for that; yes, I must live for that.”
“What do you mean, Margaret?”
“Never mind, mother,” said Margaret, evasively, “never mind. I will tell you some time. Now I will place myself in your hands, mother, and try to get well.”
“Now you are yourself again,” said the old lady, relieved by her calmer tone. “You must take off those wet 125clothes directly, and put on some of mine. You had better go to bed at once.”
Margaret yielded implicitly69 to her mother’s directions. Nevertheless, she was very sick for many weeks. Often she was delirious70, and her mother more than once shuddered at the wild words which escaped her.
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1
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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spurned
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| v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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13
heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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17
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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19
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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22
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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parsimony
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| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
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26
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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27
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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vindictiveness
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| 恶毒；怀恨在心 | |
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33
taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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35
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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36
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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37
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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39
waive
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| vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等) | |
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40
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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41
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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42
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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43
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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44
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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45
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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46
drenching
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| n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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47
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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48
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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49
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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50
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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52
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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53
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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54
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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55
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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56
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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57
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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58
irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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59
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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60
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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61
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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62
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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63
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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64
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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65
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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66
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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67
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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68
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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69
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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70
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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