CHAPTER XVI. MRS. BRENT'S STRANGE TEMPTATION.

 Now that Phil is fairly established in the city, circumstances require us to go back to the country town which he had once called home.

Mrs. Brent is sitting, engaged with her needle, in the same room where she had made the important revelation to Phil.

Jonas entered the house, stamping the snow from his boots.

“Is supper most ready, mother?” he asked.

“No, Jonas; it is only four o'clock,” replied Mrs. Brent.

“I'm as hungry as a bear. I guess it's the skating.”

“I wish you would go to the post-office before supper, Jonas. There might be a letter.”

“Do you expect to hear from Phil?”

“He said nothing about writing,” said Mrs. Brent indifferently. “He will do as he pleases about it.”

“I did'nt know but he would be writing for money,” chuckled¹ Jonas.

“If he did, I would send him some,” said Mrs. Brent.

“You would!” repeated Jonas, looking at his mother in surprise.

“Yes, I would send him a dollar or two, so that people needn't talk. It is always best to avoid gossip.”

“Are you expecting a letter from anybody, mother?” asked Jonas, after a pause.

“I dreamed last night I should receive an important letter,” said Mrs. Brent.

“With money in it?” asked Jonas eagerly.

“I don't know.”

“If any such letter comes, will you give me some of the money?”

“If you bring me a letter containing money,” said Mrs. Brent, “I will give you a dollar.”

“Enough said!” exclaimed Jonas, who was fond of money; “I'm off to the post-office at once.”

Mrs. Brent let the work fall into her lap and looked intently before her. A flush appeared on her pale face, and she showed signs of restlessness.

“It is strange,” she said to herself, “how I have allowed myself to be affected² by that dream. I am not superstitious³, but I cannot get over the idea that a letter will reach me to-night, and that it will have an important bearing upon my life. I have a feeling, too, that it will relate to the boy Philip.”

She rose from her seat and began to move about the room. It was a relief to her in the restless state of her mind. She went to the window to look for Jonas, and her excitement rose as she saw him approaching. When he saw his mother looking from the window, he held aloft a letter.

“The letter has come,” she said, her heart beating faster than its wont⁴. “It is an important letter. How slow Jonas is.”

And she was inclined to be vexed⁵ at the deliberation with which her son was advancing toward the house.

But he came at last.

“Well, mother, I've got a letter—a letter from Philadelphia,” he said. “It isn't from Phil, for I know his writing.”

“Give it to me, Jonas,” said his mother, outwardly calm, but inwardly excited.

“Do you know any one in Philadelphia, mother?”

“No.”

She cut open the envelope and withdrew the inclosed sheet.

“Is there any money in it?” asked Jonas eagerly.

“No.”

“Just my luck!” said Jonas sullenly⁶.

“Wait a minute,” said his mother. “If the letter is really important, I'll give you twenty-five cents.”

She read the letter, and her manner soon showed that she was deeply interested.

We will look over her shoulders and read it with her:

“CONTINENTAL HOTEL, PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5.

“DEAR MADAM:—

“I write to you on a matter of the greatest importance to my happiness, and shall most anxiously await your reply. I would come to you in person, but am laid up with an attack of rheumatism⁷, and my physician forbids me to travel.

“You are, as I have been informed, the widow of Gerald Brent, who thirteen years since kept a small hotel in the small village of Fultonville, in Ohio. At that date I one day registered myself as his guest. I was not alone. My only son, then a boy of three, accompanied me. My wife was dead, and my affections centered upon this child. Yet the next morning I left him under the charge of yourself and your husband, and pursued my journey. From that day to this I have not seen the boy, nor have I written to you or Mr. Brent. This seems strange, does it not? It requires an explanation, and that explanation I am ready to give.

“To be brief, then, I was fleeing from undeserved suspicion. Circumstances which I need not detail had connected my name with the mysterious disappearance⁸ of a near friend, and the fact that a trifling⁹ dispute between us had taken place in the presence of witnesses had strengthened their suspicions. Knowing myself to be innocent, but unable to prove it, I fled, taking my child with me. When I reached Fultonville, I became alive to the ease with which I might be traced, through the child's companionship. There was no resource but to leave him. Your husband and yourself impressed me as kind and warm-hearted. I was specially¹⁰ impressed by the gentleness with which you treated my little Philip, and I felt that to you I could safely trust him. I did not, however, dare to confide¹¹ my secret to any one. I simply said I would leave the boy with you till he should recover from his temporary indisposition, and then, with outward calmness but inward anguish¹², I left my darling, knowing not if I should ever see him again.

“Well, time passed. I went to Nevada, changed my name, invested the slender sum I had with me in mining, and, after varying fortune, made a large fortune at last. But better fortune still awaited me. In a poor mining hut, two months since, I came across a man who confessed that he was guilty of the murder of which I had been suspected. His confession¹³ was reduced in writing, sworn to before a magistrate¹⁴, and now at last I feel myself a free man. No one now could charge me with a crime from which my soul revolted.

“When this matter was concluded, my first thought was of the boy whom I had not seen for thirteen long years. I could claim him now before all the world; I could endow him with the gifts of fortune; I could bring him up in luxury, and I could satisfy a father's affectionate longing¹⁵. I could not immediately ascertain¹⁶ where you were. I wrote to Fultonville, to the postmaster, and learned that you and Mr. Brent had moved away and settled down in Gresham, in the State of New York. I learned also that my Philip was still living, but other details I did not learn. But I cared not, so long as my boy still lived.

“And now you may guess my wish and my intention. I shall pay you handsomely for your kind care of Philip, but I must have my boy back again. We have been separated too long. I can well understand that you are attached to him, and I will find a home for you and Mr. Brent near my own, where you can see as often as you like the boy whom you have so tenderly reared. Will you do me the favor to come at once, and bring the boy with you? The expenses of your journey shall, of course, be reimbursed¹⁷, and I will take care that the pecuniary¹⁸ part of my obligations to you shall be amply repaid. I have already explained why I cannot come in person to claim my dear child.

“Telegraph to me when you will reach Philadelphia, and I will engage a room for you. Philip will stay with me.

“Yours gratefully,

“OSCAR GRANVILLE.”

“Mother, here is a slip of paper that has dropped from the letter,” said Jonas.

He picked up and handed to his mother a check on a Philadelphia bank for the sum of one hundred dollars.

“Why, that's the same as money, isn't it?” asked Jonas.

“Yes, Jonas.”

“Then you'll keep your promise, won't you?”

Mrs. Brent silently drew from her pocket-book a two-dollar bill and handed it to Jonas.

“Jonas,” she said, “if you won't breathe a word of it, I will tell you a secret.”

“All right, mother.”

“We start for Philadelphia to-morrow.”

“By gosh! that's jolly,” exclaimed Jonas, overjoyed. “I'll keep mum. What was in the letter, mother?”

“I will not tell you just now. You shall know very soon.”

Mrs. Brent did not sleep much that night. Her mind was intent upon a daring scheme of imposture¹⁹. Mr. Granville was immensely wealthy, no doubt. Why should she not pass off Jonas upon him as his son Philip, and thus secure a fortune for her own child?

1 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

4 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

5 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

7 rheumatism   

n.风湿病

参考例句：

• The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

10 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

11 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

12 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

13 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

14 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

15 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

16 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

17 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 pecuniary   

adj.金钱的；金钱上的

参考例句：

• She denies obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.她否认通过欺骗手段获得经济利益。
• She is so independent that she refused all pecuniary aid.她很独立，所以拒绝一切金钱上的资助。

19 imposture   

n.冒名顶替，欺骗

参考例句：

• Soiled by her imposture she remains silent.她背着冒名顶替者的黑锅却一直沉默。
• If they knew,they would see through his imposture straight away.要是他们知道，他们会立即识破他的招摇撞骗行为。