But Mistress Betty had the soul of a martyr9; she had resigned herself to sinking down into the star of cousin Ward10's set, who went on holidays to the play—mostly honest, fat and fatuous11, or jaunty13 and egotistical folk, who admired the scenery and the dresses, but could no more have made a play to themselves than they could have [Page 91]drawn the cartoons. She helped cousin Ward, not only with her purse, but with a kinswoman's concern in her and hers: she assisted to wash and dress the children of a morning; she took a turn at cooking in the middle of the day; she helped to detain Master Ward at the tea-table, and to keep his wig14 and knee-buckles from too early an appearance and too thorough a soaking of his self-conceit and wilfulness15 at his tavern16; and she heard the lads their lessons, while she darned their frills before supper.
Then arrived the summons, over which Mistress Betty, a little worn by voluntary adversity, shed "a power" of joyful17 tears. To travel down into Somersetshire, and stroll among the grass in the meadows, and the gorse on the commons, which she had not seen for twelve months; to feed the calves18, and milk the cows, and gather the eggs, and ride Dapple, and tie up the woodbine, and eat syllabub in a bower19; to present "great frieze20 coats" and "riding-hoods" to a dozen of the poorest old men and women in the parish; to hear prayers in a little grey church, through whose open windows ivy21 nodded, and before whose doors trees arched in vistas22; to see her sweet little Prissy and Fiddy, who had taken such a fancy to her, and the vicar, and madam, and granny, and find them all perfectly23 agreeable, and not slighting her or doubting her because she had been a woman of fashion and an actress; and Master Rowland well disposed of elsewhere; Larks24' Hall deserted25 by its master—the brave, generous, enamoured squire—heigho! Mistress Betty, for all her candour, good humour, and cordiality, had her decent pride, and would not have thrown herself at any man's head.
[Page 92]Somersetshire, in spite of Bath, was as antediluvian26 a hundred and fifty years ago as the lanes and coombes of Devonshire. Larks' Hall, Foxholes27, Bearwood, the Vicarage of Mosely, and their outlying acquaintances, their yeomen and their labourers, lived as old-fashioned and hearty28 a life as if the battle of Sedgemoor had never been fought.
Down in Somersetshire, among its orchards29, nutteries, and blackberry thickets30, poor little Mistress Fiddy was drooping31, as girls would pine sometimes, even in the days of Will Shakspeare, ere cloth-yard shafts32 were abolished from merry England, when there were still mayings among the hyacinths, and milkmaids' dances under the thorns, and mummings when the snow fell. And Dick Ashbridge shot and fished in the most disconsolate33 abandonment, though the girl yet ran past him "like a ghost" when the beetle34 and bat were abroad, and he was still mooning about the vicarage meadows.
Neither of them knew for certain, and nobody could predict exactly, that she would live to wed35 Dick, bear him children, and leave him a sorrowful widower36, whose heart was chastened—not torn. No; nor could the good folk in Somersetshire understand how closely Lady Betty and little Fiddy were bound up together, and how little Fiddy was to return Lady Betty's kindness, in the days when the little girl should be the teacher, and the fine woman the scholar, and the lesson to be learnt came from regions beyond the stars.
In the meantime, Fiddy was a sick, capricious, caressed37 darling in a cambric cap and silk shawl, on whom fond [Page 93]friends were waiting lovingly: whom nobody in the world, not even the doctor, the parish clerk, or the housekeeper38 at Larks' Hall, dreamt of subjecting to the wholesome39 medicine of contradiction—unless it might be Granny, when she came in with her staff in her hand. She would laugh at their excess of care, and order them to leave off spoiling that child; but even Granny herself would let fall a tear from her dim eyes when she read the register of the child's age in the family Bible.
"Ah!" sighs whimsical little Mistress Fiddy, "if only Lady Betty were here—great, good, kind, clever, funny, beautiful Lady Betty—who cured me that night at Bath, papa and mamma, I would be well again. She knows the complaint; she has had it herself; and her face is so cheering, her wit so enlivening, and she reads the lessons so solemnly and sweetly. O mamma! send for Mistress Betty; she will come at once; she does not play now; the prints say so. She will be the better of the country air too. Send for Mistress Betty to Mosely."
Madam was in a difficulty. An actress at the vicarage! And Master Rowland had been so rash. He had dropped hints, which, along with his hurried visit to London, had instilled40 dim, dark suspicions into the minds of his appalled41 relations of the whirlpool he had just coasted, they knew not how: they could not believe the only plain palpable solution of the fact. And Granny had inveighed42 against women of fashion and all public characters, ever since Uncle Rowland took that jaunt12 to town, whence he returned so glum43 and dogged. But then, again, how could the mother deny her ailing44 Fiddy? And this brilliant Mistress [Page 94]Betty from the gay world might possess some talisman45 unguessed by the quiet folks at home. Little Fiddy had no real disease, no settled pain: she only wanted change, pleasant company, and diversion, and would be plump and strong again in no time. And Mistress Betty had retired46 from the stage now; she was no longer a marked person: she might pass anywhere as Mistress Lumley, who had acted with success and celebrity47, and withdrawn48 at the proper moment, with the greatest dignity and discretion49. And Master Rowland was arranging his affairs to make the grand tour in the prime of life: his absence would clear away a monstrous50 objection. What would the Vicar say? What would Granny say?
The Vicar ruled his parish, and lectured in the church; but in the parsonage he thought very much as madam did, and was only posed when old madam and young madam pulled him different ways.
And Granny! Why, to madam's wonder, Granny required no wheedling51, but—apprised of the deliberation, by the little minx Prissy, who in Fiddy's illness attended on Granny—she sent for madam before madam even knew that the proposal had been so much as mooted52 to her, and struck her stick on the ground in her determined53 way, and insisted that Mistress Betty should be writ54 for forthwith and placed at the head of the child's society. Granny, who had soundly rated fine ladies and literary women not two days before! It was very extraordinary; but Granny must have her way. The children paid her affectionate duty, young madam did her half-grateful, half-vexed homage55, the Vicar and Master Rowland deferred56 to her in [Page 95]her widowhood and dependence57, and with little less grace and reverence58 than what she had taught them to practise when they were lads under tutelage. She was, in fact, the fully59 accredited60 mistress of Larks' Hall.
And Granny, in reality, presided at the vicarage; not oppressively, for she was one of those sagacious magnates who are satisfied with the substance of power without loving its show. Notwithstanding, she prevented the publication of more than two calf-skin volumes at a time of the Vicar's sermons; she turned madam aside when she would have hung the parlour with gilt61 leather, in imitation of Foxholes; and she restricted the little girls to fresh ribbons once a month, and stomachers of their own working. And so, when Granny decreed that Mistress Betty was to be invited down to Mosely, there was no more question of the propriety62 of the measure that there would have been of an Act of Council given under the Tudors; the only things left to order were the airing of the best bedroom, the dusting of the ebony furniture, and the bleaching63 on the daisies of old madam's diamond quilt.
Down to Somersetshire went Mistress Betty, consoling cousin Ward with the gift of a bran-new mantua and a promise of a speedy return, and braving those highwaymen who were for ever robbing King George's mail; but the long, light midsummer nights were in their favour, and their mounted escort had to encounter no paladins of the road in scarlet64 coats and feathered hats.
Mistress Betty's buoyant spirit rose with the fresh air, the green fields, and the sunshine. She was so obliging and entertaining to an invalid65 couple among her fellow-[Page 96]travellers, an orange nabob from India and his splendid wife, that they declared she had done them more good than they would derive66 from the Pump-room, the music, and the cards, to which they were bound. They asked her address, and pressed her to pay them a visit; when they would have certainly adopted her, and bequeathed to her their plum. As it was, half-a-dozen years later, when, to her remorse67, she had clean forgotten their existence, they astounded68 her by leaving her a handsome legacy69; which, with the consent of another party concerned—one who greatly relished70 the mere71 name of the bequest72, as a proof that nobody could ever resist Lady Betty—she shared with a cross-grained grand-nephew whom the autocratic pair had cut off with a shilling.
点击收听单词发音
1 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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2 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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3 villas | |
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅 | |
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4 grottos | |
n.(吸引人的)岩洞,洞穴,(人挖的)洞室( grotto的名词复数 ) | |
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5 harpsichords | |
n.有键竖琴,羽管键琴,大键琴( harpsichord的名词复数 ) | |
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6 orphan | |
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的 | |
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7 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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8 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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9 martyr | |
n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲 | |
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10 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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11 fatuous | |
adj.愚昧的;昏庸的 | |
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12 jaunt | |
v.短程旅游;n.游览 | |
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13 jaunty | |
adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意 | |
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14 wig | |
n.假发 | |
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15 wilfulness | |
任性;倔强 | |
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16 tavern | |
n.小旅馆,客栈;小酒店 | |
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17 joyful | |
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的 | |
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18 calves | |
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解 | |
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19 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
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20 frieze | |
n.(墙上的)横饰带,雕带 | |
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21 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
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22 vistas | |
长条形景色( vista的名词复数 ); 回顾; 展望; (未来可能发生的)一系列情景 | |
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23 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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24 larks | |
n.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的名词复数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了v.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的第三人称单数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了 | |
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25 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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26 antediluvian | |
adj.史前的,陈旧的 | |
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27 foxholes | |
n.散兵坑( foxhole的名词复数 ) | |
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28 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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29 orchards | |
(通常指围起来的)果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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30 thickets | |
n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 );丛状物 | |
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31 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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32 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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33 disconsolate | |
adj.忧郁的,不快的 | |
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34 beetle | |
n.甲虫,近视眼的人 | |
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35 wed | |
v.娶,嫁,与…结婚 | |
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36 widower | |
n.鳏夫 | |
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37 caressed | |
爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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39 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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40 instilled | |
v.逐渐使某人获得(某种可取的品质),逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 appalled | |
v.使惊骇,使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的;丧胆的 | |
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42 inveighed | |
v.猛烈抨击,痛骂,谩骂( inveigh的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 glum | |
adj.闷闷不乐的,阴郁的 | |
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44 ailing | |
v.生病 | |
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45 talisman | |
n.避邪物,护身符 | |
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46 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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47 celebrity | |
n.名人,名流;著名,名声,名望 | |
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48 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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49 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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50 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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51 wheedling | |
v.骗取(某物),哄骗(某人干某事)( wheedle的现在分词 ) | |
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52 mooted | |
adj.未决定的,有争议的,有疑问的v.提出…供讨论( moot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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54 writ | |
n.命令状,书面命令 | |
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55 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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56 deferred | |
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从 | |
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57 dependence | |
n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属 | |
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58 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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59 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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60 accredited | |
adj.可接受的;可信任的;公认的;质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 );委托;委任;把…归结于 | |
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61 gilt | |
adj.镀金的;n.金边证券 | |
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62 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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63 bleaching | |
漂白法,漂白 | |
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64 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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65 invalid | |
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的 | |
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66 derive | |
v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自 | |
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67 remorse | |
n.痛恨,悔恨,自责 | |
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68 astounded | |
v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词);愕然;愕;惊讶 | |
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69 legacy | |
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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70 relished | |
v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 );从…获得乐趣;渴望 | |
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71 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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72 bequest | |
n.遗赠;遗产,遗物 | |
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