CHAPTER LIV. A DISCOVERY.

Hannah Martin had never been much of a traveller. It was years since she set her foot inside a railway carriage. She often boasted of her abnormal lack of nerves, but she was also heard to say that accidents by rail were fearful and common, and likely to happen at any moment. She sighed for the old coaching days, and hated the thought of all locomotives propelled by steam. Nevertheless, early in the morning of the day following her interview with Primrose¹, Hannah, in her usual neat print dress, was seen to enter the little railway station at Rosebury, was observed to purchase for herself a third-class return ticket, and after carefully selecting her carriage, to depart for London.

In the afternoon of that same day Hannah reached her destination, and securing the first porter whose attention she could arrest, she placed a bit of paper in his hand, and asked him to direct her to the address written upon it. The man screwed up his eyes, stared at the paper, and suggested that Hannah should place herself in a hansom, and direct the driver to take her to Park Lane. Hannah had not an idea what a hansom meant; she had never visited London since her early days. She stared with horror at the proposed vehicle, and finally selecting the creakiest and most uninviting of the four-wheelers, drove off to her destination.

Mrs. Ellsworthy was enjoying some very fragrant² tea in her little boudoir when a servant announced that a person of the name of Martin had come up from the country in a four-wheeler, and would be glad to see her as soon as possible.

"What kind of person, Henry?" asked the little lady. "I am very tired just now, and I must go out to dinner in less than two hours. A person from the country in a four-wheeler? What can she want with me?"

"She seems a respectable sort of body, ma'am," answered the footman, "but nervous and shaky, and mortal afraid to step out of the cab; the cabby and me we had both to lend her a hand in alighting, ma'am. She's sitting now in a chair in the hall, and I can see she's upset with her journey, but respectable; there's no word for the neatness of her person, ma'am."

"She is probably poor, and wants me to help her," replied Mrs. Ellsworthy. "I hate seeing beggars, for I find it absolutely impossible to say no to them. Show her up, Henry, and give her a hint that I'm going out to dinner, and can only spare her a very few moments."

Hannah could not certainly be accused when she entered Mrs. Ellsworthy's room, of any want of nerves. Her hands were shaking, her lips were tremulous, and her face, as she entered the room, became perfectly³ white.

"You'll excuse me, ma'am," she said. "I'm most sorry to trouble you, but I'm that anxious, I scarce know what I'm doing. I undertook a railway journey—which I don't think right—and I came here through most crowded streets in a dreadful vehicle, for I just wanted to ask you a single question, ma'am."

"Sit down, my poor woman," said Mrs. Ellsworthy, who, the moment she looked at Hannah, began to have a dim sort of idea that she had seen her before, and also became full of pity for her. "Sit down. How you tremble! I am sorry to see you are so nervous."

"Nervous, ma'am!" echoed Hannah. "That I should hear that said of me! No, ma'am, it ain't nervous I am, but I'm rather worried with the tremblings during the last few hours. I've come to ask you a plain question, ma'am, plain and direct. It's about the young man Mr. Noel. Have he, ma'am, or have he not, a mole⁴ on his left arm? I'd like yes or no, ma'am."

"A mole on his left arm!" echoed Mrs. Ellsworthy. "My good woman, what a very extraordinary question; you really quite startle me. Has Arthur Noel a mole on his left arm? Yes, of course he has; I used to notice it when he was a child. I suppose people don't outgrow⁵ moles⁶, so he probably has it still. Why, Mrs. Martin—I am told your name is Martin—how very white you are. Would you—would you like a glass of wine?"

"Thank you, ma'am—no wine, thank you, ma'am. I'm a bit upset. Yes, I'm a bit upset, for I believe Mr. Arthur Noel is my long-lost baby."

The footman downstairs had given Mrs. Martin careful directions not to occupy more than a moment or two of his mistress's valuable time; but though he waited on the stairs and lingered about in the entrance-hall, no bell summoned him to show out this remarkable⁷ visitor. An hour passed away, an hour and a half, and still Mrs. Martin remained in close conversation with Mrs. Ellsworthy. At the end of the hour and a half Henry looked earnestly at the clock, sighed, and felt that it was his duty to go into the room to let Mrs. Ellsworthy know that she would be late for her dinner-party. He found that good lady sitting by her writing-table with very flushed cheeks and tearful eyes, and Hannah standing⁸ in quite a familiar attitude by her side.

"Give this note to Mr. Ellsworthy when he comes in, Henry, and order the carriage to be brought round directly. I am not going to dine out to-night. I will just go upstairs to change my bonnet⁹. And Henry, take Mrs. Martin down to the servants' hall, and give her some dinner. She is coming out with me in the carriage, so be quick, please."

As Mrs. Ellsworthy stood before her glass re-arranging her toilet her maid saw her wiping some tears from her pretty eyes.

"Oh, my bonny Arthur," she said under her breath. "Oh, what your poor, poor mother must have suffered."

When the carriage came to the door Mrs. Ellsworthy gave the coachman Noel's address, and the two women drove there at once. They were fortunate in finding the young man within. He too was engaged to dine out that night, but he did not go. Hannah, Mrs. Ellsworthy, and he had a long conference, which lasted until late in the evening, and when Mr. Ellsworthy joined them he was told a very wonderful story. Hannah returned to Devonshire on the following morning very well pleased with her successful expedition.

"If there had been any doubt," she said to herself, as she was being whirled homewards in her third-class carriage, "if there had been any doubt after the sight of that mole on his dear, blessed arm, why, the little shirt which Mrs. Ellsworthy showed me, and which she took off his back herself after them horses had all but killed him, would prove that he's my own boy. Could I ever forget marking that shirt in cross-stitch, and making such a bungle¹⁰ over the A, and thinking I'd put Mainwaring in full, and then getting lazy, and only making the mark A.M.? Well, I was served out for that piece of laziness, for my boy might have been brought back to his mother but for it. Dear, dear! Well, there's no mistaking my own A.M., and when I peered close with my glasses on I could even see where I unpicked the A. and did it over again. Dear, dear, shall I ever forgive myself for not doing the surname in full—his poor, poor mother! Well, I mustn't think of that—it's a merciful Providence¹¹ that has led me to him now, and he's as darling and elegant a young man as ever I clapped eyes on, and as fond of the young ladies as can be even now.

"'I always felt somehow as if they were my sisters,' he said to me. Well, well, God be praised for his mercies."

1 primrose   

n.樱草，最佳部分，

参考例句：

• She is in the primrose of her life.她正处在她一生的最盛期。
• The primrose is set off by its nest of green.一窝绿叶衬托着一朵樱草花。

2 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

5 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。

6 moles   

防波堤( mole的名词复数 )； 鼹鼠； 痣； 间谍

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• Two moles of epoxy react with one mole of A-1100. 两个克分子环氧与一个克分子A－1100反应。

7 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

10 bungle   

v.搞糟；n.拙劣的工作

参考例句：

• If you bungle a job,you must do it again!要是你把这件事搞糟了，你得重做！
• That last stupid bungle of his is the end.他那最后一次愚蠢的错误使我再也无法容忍了。

11 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。