CHAPTER XIV. CHESTNUTWOOD.

 WE must now change the scene to a fine estate in the interior of New York State, near one of the beautiful lakes which give such a charm to the surrounding landscape.

The estate was a large one, laid out in the English style, with a fine mansion¹ centrally located and elegantly furnished. Surely the owner of this fine domain² was worthy³ of envy, and ought to have been happy.

Let us enter the breakfast room and make acquaintance with him.

There he sits in an easy-chair, a white-haired, shrunken old man, his face deeply lined, and wearing a weary expression as if the world afforded him little satisfaction.

It was the same old man whom we last saw in the circus at Crampton. He had gone home with his nephew at once, having become weary of116 travel. It was wise, perhaps; for he was old, and to the old rest is welcome.

His nephew sat near by with a daily paper in his hand, from which he appeared to have been reading to his uncle.

"That will do, Hugo," said the old man. "I—I don't find any interest in the paper this morning."

"How are you feeling, uncle—as well as usual?"

"Well in health—that is, as well as I can expect to feel, but my life is empty. I have nothing to live for."

"Why don't you die then?" thought the nephew, but he did not express his thought. On the contrary, he said, "Surely, uncle, you have much to live for. You are rich, honored."

"But I have no one to love me, Hugo," said the old man, plaintively⁴, "no one of my own blood. My son is dead, and his son—do you know, Hugo," he continued in a different voice, "I cannot get out of my mind that boy we saw in the circus?"

Hugo shrugged⁵ his shoulder, but did not venture to express the annoyance⁶ he felt.

"You mean the—the O'Connor boy," he said indifferently.

117

"O'Connor!" replied his uncle, in surprise. "You told me his name was Oliver Brown."

"Did I?" said Hugo, flushing. "Oh, well, I had forgotten. The name didn't impress me. I thought he was an Irish boy."

"You said he was born in Montreal, and that his parents lived there now."

"Oh, well, no doubt you are right, uncle: you know I didn't take as much interest in him as you—"

"True, Hugo; but surely you could detect the wonderful resemblance to my son Julian."

"I can't say I did, uncle; but probably we looked at him with different eyes."

"That was natural. How much do you think they pay him in the circus, Hugo?"

"Really, uncle, I haven't the slightest idea. I never knew any circus people. Four or five dollars a week, perhaps."

"I have been thinking, Hugo, I should like to have that boy live with me."

"You can't be in earnest, uncle," said Hugo, very disagreeably surprised.

"Why not? He may not be akin⁷ to me; but he looks like my dead son, and for that resemblance118 I could come to love him. It would be a great comfort to me to see him every day, and have him come in and out. He might read to me, and so relieve you of some of your duties, Hugo."

"But I have never asked to be relieved of them, uncle," said Hugo, bashfully.

"I know that, Hugo, but he would be company for us both. I want you to go and bring him back with you. You can find out how much they pay him at the circus, and offer him more to come here. I will give him a chance to study, engage masters for him, and—"

"Make him your heir, I suppose," said Hugo to himself, with a dark frown, which his uncle did not see; "not if I am able to prevent it. My uncle must think I am a fool to bring into the house so dangerous a rival. After waiting so many weary years for Chestnutwood, does he think I am going to let it drift into the hands of an unknown boy simply because he looks like my cousin Julian?"

These thoughts passed through the mind of Hugo Richmond, but it is needless to say that he did not give utterance⁸ to them, or to anything119 like them. His course was not to oppose strongly any whim⁹ of his uncle, but to seemingly assent¹⁰, and then oppose it secretly, while the old man thought him to be promoting it.

Nevertheless Hugo was very much annoyed at the present caprice of his uncle, as he chose to style it.

"I wish I had never gone into that circus," he reflected, with annoyance. "Till then my uncle's mind was at rest, and he didn't trouble himself with the thought that Julian's son might still be alive. Now the mischief¹¹ has been done, and the sight of that boy has upset him and endangered my prospects¹². Who would have thought that such a chance visit would have led to such results? Well, well, it is going to give me some trouble, but I am master of the situation, and my uncle shall never again set eyes on that boy if I can prevent it."

Hugo took his hat and went out to look after some laborers¹³ who were at work in the rear of the lawn, when his attention was drawn¹⁴ to a rather shabby-looking figure approaching the house.

1 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

2 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

3 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

4 plaintively   

adv.悲哀地，哀怨地

参考例句：

• The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

7 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

8 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

9 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

10 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

11 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

12 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

13 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。