Until matters were concluded, Helen desired that the fact of their good fortune should be kept strictly4 private. Neither Martha nor Herbert suspected that their humble5 neighbors had fallen heirs to a princely fortune.
One of the three houses referred to was situated in Twenty-second Street. It was nearly new, and thoroughly6 furnished. Fortunately, it had just been vacated by a family on the point of visiting Europe for a series of years. By Mr. Sharp’s advice, negotiations7 for the purchase of the furniture were entered into and satisfactorily completed. To this house Helen and her father proposed to remove.
Thanks to Helen’s good care, and the rest which she so much needed, Martha Grey had quite recovered from the attack brought on by excessive labor8. She was anxious to resume work, but Helen had succeeded in putting her off.
281“I shall certainly begin to-morrow,” said Martha, one evening. “I cannot consent longer to remain a burden upon you.”
“But if I were rich,” said Helen, with a smile.
“That would be different.”
“Well, Martha, I may become rich some day.”
“I hope you will, my dear child.”
“But you don’t expect it. Yet stranger things have happened. Now, Martha, I have a promise to exact of you. When I am rich, will you come and live with me?”
Martha smiled.
“Yes, Helen, when you are rich, I will come and live with you.”
“Mind you don’t forget your promise. I may remind you of it some day.”
“Poor child!” thought Martha. “She means, when her father has completed his invention. I am afraid it will be a long time before that will bring her a fortune.”
The next morning, Martha was sitting in her little rocking-chair, busy at her sewing, when Helen came in with a smile.
“Put down that sewing directly, Martha,” she said. “I have another plan for to-day.”
“But, my dear child, I must disobey you this time. It is quite time that I was again at work.”
“You can put off your sewing for a couple of hours. Mr. Sharp has been kind enough to invite you and papa and myself to take a ride.”
“He is very kind,” said Martha. “I don’t know why he should think of me.”
“Perhaps he thought it would do you good. He knew you had been sick.”
“But I have nothing fit to wear.”
“Am I very richly dressed?”
282“No, but——”
It was a beautiful morning,—an Indian summer day,—the air balmy and sweet as a day in early June. The seamstress yielded not unwillingly10 to the solicitations of Helen, and was quickly dressed for the drive.
Mr. Sharp was waiting below with a carriage.
“Good morning, Miss Grey,” he said, with his usual suavity11; “I am truly glad to see that you have recovered from your illness. You are a little pale yet, but I hope we shall succeed in bringing back the roses to your cheek.”
“I am very much obliged to you for kindly12 remembering me, Mr. Sharp,” said Martha. “It is a charming day. I assure you I shall enjoy the drive.”
“It seems to me,” thought M’lle Fanchette, looking from her window, “that the Fords are growing extravagant14. Such airs as that child puts on, merely because she sings in a theatre! and bless my soul, there’s the seamstress, Martha Grey, too! She’d better be at work. There’s the lawyer, too. It can’t be possible he is paying attentions to Helen Ford13. No, she’s too young for that. Or is it Martha Grey? If it’s she, I don’t admire his taste, that’s all. She is most an old woman, and never had any beauty to boast of. (Martha was three years younger than M’lle Fanchette.) Well, well, its a queer world. That Helen may lose her situation by and by,—I’m sure, I don’t think much of her singing,—and then we sha’n’t have such gay doings.”
By this time the carriage had driven away, and M’lle Fanchette prepared to go to her shop.
Our party did not at once drive to Twenty-second street, but farther up on the island, through that portion of the city, then wholly unsettled, which is now occupied by the 283Central Park. It was a charming morning. Helen was in the best of spirits, and even Mr. Ford forgot, for the time, his invention, and drank in the sweet influences of the day. To Martha, confined in her room for so long, whose only prospect15 had been the brick wall opposite, it seemed like a dream of Paradise. Memories of her childhood came back to her, and her eyes involuntarily filled with tears as she thought of that sweet, unforgotten time. Mr. Sharp was in excellent spirits, livelier, and more affable even than usual, and kept up the spirits of the party by his jocular remarks.
At length the carriage stopped.
The driver jumped from his seat, and threw open the door of the carriage.
“We haven’t got home?” said Martha, a little bewildered.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” said Helen; “Mr. Sharp has invited us to look over a house which he has just secured for some friends of his.”
“What a handsome house!” said Martha. “They must be rich people.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Sharp, with an incomprehensible smile, “I assure you that they are quite rich.”
“They wouldn’t object to our visit?” asked Martha, timidly.
“O no, not at all. In fact they gave me permission to bring you here.”
By this time they had entered the hall, and went in first to inspect the parlors16. These were furnished in the style appropriate to such a house. To Martha, who had never before entered a house of such pretensions17, it seemed very magnificent, and even palatial18.
After they had examined the rooms on the lower floor they went up stairs. The chambers20 were furnished with equal taste. Helen felt that it would take some time to get accustomed 284to such a style of living after her humble lodgings21 at Mother Morton’s.
“I like this room very much,” said Martha. It was a broad, spacious22 chamber19 with a sunny aspect, very pleasant and home-like in its appearance.
“You would be willing to give up your room at Mrs. Morton’s if you could have this?” inquired Helen.
“If I could have as agreeable neighbors,” said Martha, with a smile.
“Very well,” said Helen, “I will take you at your word. You shall occupy this room.”
“What do you mean, Helen?” asked Martha, in surprise.
“I mean that it only depends upon your own consent to exchange your present room for this.”
“I don’t understand,” said Martha, bewildered.
“Then I will explain. The mistress of this house, who is a friend of Mr. Sharp, is desirous of securing a companion, and will take you if you will come.”
“Perhaps she may not like me.”
“I think there is no doubt on that point; do you papa?”
“No, I believe not,” said Mr. Ford.
“Then you will consent, Martha. You will be secure against want, and will have every comfort provided you.”
“It will be great good fortune for me,” said Martha. “But I cannot bear the thought of being separated from you, Helen.”
“You may learn to like the lady I refer to as well as me.”
“Never!” said Martha, with emphasis.
“Make no rash promises,” said Helen, “I shall be very much disappointed if you do not.”
“If I could see this lady.”
“So you shall. You will find her in the next room.”
More mystified than ever, Martha accompanied Helen into the next room. There was a large pier23 glass extending 285from floor to ceiling. Helen led the seamstress up to it, and standing24 beside her said, “There, Martha, there is the lady who invites you to be her companion.”
“But I see only yourself.”
“Well, and I am the one,” said Helen, smiling.
Then Helen explained to her astonished and delighted auditor25 the great change that had taken place in her circumstances. No longer obliged to toil26 for her daily bread, she would henceforth live in affluence27.
“God has been very good to us, Martha,” she said, in conclusion. “I hope we shall not forget, in the happiness of the present, the poverty of the past. I hope we shall use His gift as He would have us.”
“Dear Helen, I am sure you will.”
“And you will come and live with me? I should be very lonely in this large house without a friend to lean upon. Dear Martha, it shall not be my fault if your future is not as sunny as your past has been dark.”
“How much happiness I shall owe you!” said Martha, with grateful tears.
“Hush, Martha,” said Helen, softly. “Do not thank me, for my happiness will be no less.”
That evening the household at Mother Morton’s was electrified28 by the announcement that Helen Ford had turned out a great heiress, and that Martha Grey was going to live with her. On the morrow Helen and her father transferred their home from their humble lodgings to Twenty-second Street.
“If I had only known,” thought M’lle Fanchette, regretfully, “I might have been in that sickly Martha Grey’s place. But who could ever have imagined that Helen Ford would turn out a rich woman? Well, it’s too late now!”
And M’lle Fanchette had to content herself with this philosophical29 reflection.
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1
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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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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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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suavity
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| n.温和；殷勤 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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palatial
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| adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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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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auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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28
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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