Need we remark that there was a great deal of embracing on the part of Di and her nurse when the former returned home? The child was an affectionate creature as well as passionate2. The nurse, Mrs Screwbury, was also affectionate without being passionate. Poor Diana had never known a mother’s love or care; but good, steady, stout3 Mrs Screwbury did what in her lay to fill the place of mother.
Sir Richard filled the place of father pretty much as a lamp-post might have done had it owned a child. He illuminated4 her to some extent—explained things in general, stiffly, and shed a feeble ray around himself; but his light did not extend far. He was proud of her, however, and very fond of her—when good. When not good, he was—or rather had been—in the habit of dismissing her to the nursery.
Nevertheless, the child exercised very considerable and ever-increasing influence over her father; for, although stiff, the knight5 was by no means destitute6 of natural affection, and sometimes observed, with moist eyes, strong traces of resemblance to his lost wife in the beautiful child. Indeed, as years advanced, he became a more and more obedient father, and was obviously on the high road to abject7 slavery.
“Papa,” said Di, while they were at luncheon8 that day, not long after the accident, “I am so sorry for that poor policeman. It seems such a dreadful thing to have actually jumped upon him! and oh! you should have heard his poor head hit the pavement, and seen his pretty helmet go spinning along like a boy’s top, ever so far. I wonder it didn’t kill him. I’m so sorry.”
Di emphasised her sorrow by laughing, for she had a keen sense of the ludicrous, and the memory of the spinning helmet was strong upon her just then.
“It must indeed have been an unpleasant blow,” replied Sir Richard, gravely, “but then, dear, you couldn’t help it, you know—and I dare say he is none the worse for it now. Men like him are not easily injured. I fear we cannot say as much for the boy who was holding the pony9.”
“Oh! I quite forgot about him,” exclaimed Di; “the naughty boy! he wouldn’t let go the pony’s reins10 when I bid him, but I saw he tumbled down when we set off.”
“Yes, he has been somewhat severely11 punished, I fear, for his disobedience. His leg had been broken. Is it not so, Balls?”
“Yes, sir,” replied the butler, “’e ’as ’ad ’is—”
Balls got no farther, for Diana, who had been struck dumb for the moment by the news, recovered herself.
“His leg broken!” she exclaimed with a look of consternation12; “Oh! the poor, poor boy!—the dear boy! and it was me did that too, as well as knocking down the poor policeman!”
There is no saying to what lengths the remorseful13 child would have gone in the way of self-condemnation if her father had not turned her thoughts from herself by asking what had been done for the boy.
“We sent ’im ’ome, sir, in a cab.”
“I’m afraid that was a little too prompt,” returned the knight thoughtfully. “A broken leg requires careful treatment, I suppose. You should have had him into the house, and sent for a doctor.”
Balls coughed. He was slightly chagrined15 to find that the violation16 of his own humane17 feelings had been needless, and that his attempt to do as he thought his master would have wished was in vain.
“I thought, Sir Richard, that you didn’t like the lower orders to go about the ’ouse more—”
Again little Di interrupted the butler by asking excitedly where the boy’s home was.
“In the neighbour’ood of W’itechapel, Miss Di.”
“Then, papa, we will go straight off to see him,” said the child, in the tone of one whose mind is fully14 made up. “You and I shall go together—won’t we? good papa!”
“That will do, Balls, you may go. No, my dear Di, I think we had better not. I will write to one of the city missionaries18 whom I know, and ask him to—”
“No, but, papa—dear papa, we must go. The city missionary19 could never say how very, very sorry I am that he should have broken his leg while helping20 me. And then I should so like to sit by him and tell him stories, and give him his soup and gruel21, and read to him. Poor, poor boy, we must go, papa, won’t you?”
“Not to-day, dear. It is impossible to go to-day. There, now, don’t begin to cry. Perhaps—perhaps to-morrow—but think, my love; you have no idea how dirty—how very nasty—the places are in which our lower orders live.”
“Oh! yes I have,” said Di eagerly. “Haven’t I seen our nursery on cleaning days?”
A faint flicker22 of a smile passed over the knight’s countenance23.
“True, darling, but the places are far, far dirtier than that. Then the smells. Oh! they are very dreadful—”
“What—worse than we have when there’s cabbage for dinner?”
“Yes, much worse than that.”
“I don’t care, papa. We must go to see the boy—the poor, poor boy, in spite of dirt and smells. And then, you know—let me up on your knee and I’ll tell you all about it. There! Well, then, you know, I’d tidy the room up, and even wash it a little. Oh, you can’t think how nicely I washed up my doll’s room—her corner, you know,—that day when I spilt all her soup in trying to feed her, and then, while trying to wipe it up, I accidentally burst her, and all her inside came out—the sawdust, I mean. It was the worst mess I ever made, but I cleaned it up as well as Jessie herself could have done—so nurse said.”
“But the messes down in Whitechapel are much worse than you have described, dear,” expostulated the parent, who felt that his powers of resistance were going.
“So much the better, papa,” replied Di, kissing her sire’s lethargic24 visage. “I should like so much to try if I could clean up something worse than my doll’s room. And you’ve promised, you know.”
“No—only said ‘perhaps,’” returned Sir Richard quickly.
“Well, that’s the same thing; and now that it’s all nicely settled, I’ll go and see nurse. Good-bye, papa.”
“Good-bye, dear,” returned the knight, resigning himself to his fate and the newspaper.
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收听单词发音
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1
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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2
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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4
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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5
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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6
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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7
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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8
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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9
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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10
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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11
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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12
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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13
remorseful
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| adj.悔恨的 | |
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14
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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15
chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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17
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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18
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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19
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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20
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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21
gruel
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| n.稀饭，粥 | |
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22
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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23
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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