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CHAPTER IX MISS POTTS COMES TO TEA
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 LOVEDAY had been gone more than a week, Geoffrey was nearly well again, and Priscilla was on the mend—the dreadful pain in her head had almost left her, so had her other aches and bruises1, but the broken arm bothered her a good deal, and she was very weak and languid, so that it was still necessary that she should be kept very quiet and not be allowed to exert herself.
 
She had reached the stage, though, when it becomes tiresome2 to keep still; when one wants to do things, yet feels one can’t; or others want one to do things, and one feels one cannot possibly do them, and altogether one is cross and teasy without knowing why.
 
To read made her head ache, and it was tiresome to hold up a book with only one hand, and to have none to turn the pages with; neither could she very well play with her dolls, or her bricks, or anything with but one hand. Her mother read to her sometimes, and talked to her; but, of course, she could not do so all the time, and Priscilla would have grown tired even if she could.
 
“Mother,” she said one day, after every one had tried to think of something to amuse her, “I know what I would like very, very much indeed!”
 
“Well, dear, tell me what it is?”
 
“I would like to ask Miss Potts to come and see me. I like her so much, and I think she must miss me, because I often went in to talk to her to cheer her up after I knew she was an ‘only’!”
 
“Very well, darling; I am going out presently, and I will ask her. I don’t quite know, though, how she could manage to leave her shop.”
 
“I don’t think it would matter much if she did—not if she came while the children are in school, ’cause there isn’t any one else to go and buy much—except on Saturdays.”
 
“I see. Well, I will go and talk to her about it, and see what she has to say.”
 
Priscilla had always felt drawn3 to Miss Potts, the quiet, lonely woman who lived in a world of toys now, yet looked as though she had never been a child or played with any; and ever since Miss Potts had told her she was alone in the world, Priscilla had had quite a motherly feeling for her. She felt quite excited and pleased at the prospect4 of her visitor.
 
She was so pleased, that she did not know how to wait until her mother came back with the answer to her message; and then she wished, oh so much, that she had asked if Miss Potts should be invited to tea with her. Never mind, she decided5, she would ask mother that when she came back with her news. This thought comforted and soothed6 her so much that she was able to lie still more contentedly7, and wait, and while she was waiting, her thoughts flew to Loveday. She tried to picture what she would be doing at that moment. Loveday was not, of course, able to write much, for she was very young, and she had only just begun to write real letters; but Bessie had written a good deal about her and Aaron, and the fun they had; and mother had told her all she possibly could about the place, and the house, and the sea, and shops, and the station and everything else she could think of, and now Priscilla was looking forward to the time when she and Geoffrey would go down to Porthcallis and join Loveday.
 
She was just picturing to herself the journey down, and Loveday waiting for them on the platform, when she heard the front door opened and closed again.
 
“Mother must have got back already!” she cried joyfully9. “I hope Miss Potts can come.”
 
Then she heard footsteps, and a moment later the door opened, and in came mother, followed by Miss Potts herself! Priscilla could scarcely believe her eyes.
 
“Here she is!” cried Mrs. Carlyon. “Here is your longed-for visitor. I would not let her stay even to put on her best bonnet10, or her mantle11, or anything.”
 
“No; oh dear, no! I don’t know what a sight I am looking, I am sure!” said Miss Potts nervously12. “But your dear ma whisked me off, so I’d no time to change my frock or do anything but pop on my old second-best bonnet and shawl. I hope you’ll excuse me——”
 
Poor Miss Potts chattered13 on volubly, not because she really minded much, but because she was shy and nervous, and sometimes shy and nervous people feel that they must keep on saying something.
 
Priscilla put out her hand to clasp Miss Potts’s hand, and then put up her face to be kissed. The tears came into Miss Potts’s faded, tired eyes as she stooped and kissed her.
 
“I think you are looking—oh, ever so nice!” said Priscilla warmly. “I like you in that bonnet better than any. I think it suits you better.”
 
“Do you really now, missie?” said Miss Potts, evidently relieved and pleased. “And how are you, dearie? Are you better?”
 
“Oh yes, thank you,” said Priscilla—“ever so much! I think I shall be quite well soon, and then we are going to Porthcallis.”
 
“Dear, dear,” cried Miss Potts, “that will be nice. Nobody could help getting well down there in the sunshine and sea-breezes.”
 
“Do you like the sea?” asked Priscilla. “Did you ever stay by it when you were a little girl?”
 
“Indeed, I did,” said Miss Potts. “I was born by it, and grew up by it till I was turned twenty.”
 
“You were born by the sea!” cried Priscilla. “Oh, how lovely—and I never knew it!”
 
Miss Potts at once became more interesting than ever. Priscilla tried to picture her digging in the sands and wading14 through the pools.
 
“But how could you bear to come away?” she cried. “I am sure I should never leave the sea if I could help it!”
 
“Ah, my dear, it all depends!” said Miss Potts, with a sad shake of the head. “I haven’t set eyes on the sea since I left it, and I—I hope I never do again. I couldn’t bear it, even now.”
 
“Oh, how sad!” said Priscilla, looking at her with wide eyes full of sympathetic interest. “Did your little brothers and sisters live there too?” she asked gently.
 
“Yes, missie, and died there,” said Miss Potts sadly. “Every one of us but mother and me; that’s why I’ve never looked on it since. To me it is like a great, sly, deceitful monster, always sighing and moaning for somebody, or foaming15 and storming in rage. We came away, mother and me, after the last was drowned; we couldn’t bear it any longer.”
 
“Poor Miss Potts!” said little Priscilla, laying her hand on Miss Potts’s worn ones, moving so restlessly in her lap.
 
Mrs. Carlyon had gone away and left them together, and Miss Potts had dropped into a chair close to Priscilla’s sofa.
 
“You don’t think the sea will roar for Loveday, and swallow her up, do you?” asked Priscilla, in a very anxious voice.
 
“Oh no, my dear; Porthcallis is a very safe place!” said Miss Potts emphatically. “P’r’aps I shouldn’t have told you anything about—about my experience. But where we lived it was very wild and rocky, and my folk were all seafaring; ’twas their work to go to sea. Out of all my family that lies in the burying-ground, only two of them are men; all the rest of our men-folk lies at the bottom of the sea.”
 
“But you had sisters, hadn’t you, Miss Potts?”
 
“Yes, dear, two; but the sea had them as well. One of them, Annie—she was the youngest—was out shrimping by herself one day, when the tide caught her and carried her out. Hettie saw her, and ran into the sea to save her, but——”
 
“Yes?” whispered Priscilla softly, her eyes full of tears. “Couldn’t she reach her?”
 
“Yes, she reached her. Father, coming home that night from the fishing, found them clasped together, and brought them home,” said poor Miss Potts. “I never saw a smile on his face from that day till just a year later, when the sea claimed him too.”
 
“Oh, how dreadful! I shall never like the sea again,” said Priscilla, wiping away her tears. “I don’t wonder you came away. Did you come straight to Trelint?”
 
“Yes,” said Miss Potts more cheerfully; “and I felt at home here at once. I shouldn’t care to live anywhere else now.”
 
“Neither should I,” said Priscilla. “I love home, and Trelint, and—oh, everything; and I would rather live here than by the sea, after all.”
 
Mrs. Carlyon opened the door, and put her head in.
 
“Alma is going to bring you some tea presently,” she said brightly. “Miss Potts said she could stay and have some with you. I am sorry to say I have to go out, but I know you will take care of each other. Good-bye, darling, for the time.”
 
Priscilla beamed with pleasure.
 
“That is just what I was wanting. I am so glad you can stay, Miss Potts. I don’t s’pose any one will go to the shop, do you?”
 
She did not for a moment mean to be rude or unkind.
 
“No, I expect not,” said Miss Potts a little sadly.
 
But in a moment or two the door opened again, and in walked Geoffrey. At sight of Miss Potts he drew up, and stepped back towards the door as though thunderstruck.
 
“Ah!” he cried, in a hollow, melodramatic voice, “here she is! False woman, I have found you. For ten minutes and more have I been kicking your door with my noble toes——”
 
Miss Potts groaned16.
 
“And the paint but just dry!” she murmured.
 
“But no answer could I get,” went on Geoffrey, “and at last”—lowering his voice and continuing in a tragic17 whisper—“at last I dropped my ha’penny back into my pocket and came away. ‘I must lay it out elsewhere,’ I moaned. But when I reached Ma Tickell’s shop, Pa Tickell was behind the door, and in his eye I read that he was going to request me to say my ‘twelve times’ backwards18, and I knew he would not believe that my illness alone had made me forget it, so I crossed over and gazed in sadly at Ma Wall’s, but Ma Wall looked at me so scornfully that I came home; and here I find you gossip, gossip, gossip, and my ha’penny burning a hole in my pocket all the time. You know, Miss Potts, it is not the way to do business.”
 
“I know,” said Miss Potts, laughing; “but if you can tell me what you wanted particularly I’ll send it up as soon as I get home.”
 
“I couldn’t,” said Geoffrey solemnly; “I must see things before I can lay out my money to the best advantage.”
 
“Well, I promise not to be very long, Master Geoffrey, and then you shall go back with me, if you will, and choose what you like.”
 
“What is this nice little parcel?” asked Geoffrey, touching19 one that had been lying on the table ever since Miss Potts came in.
 
“Oh,” cried Miss Potts, jumping up with a little scream—“oh, how foolish of me! Why, that’s something I brought for Miss Priscilla, if she’ll accept it; and with talking so much, and being so glad to see her, it had clean gone out of my head;” and she placed the nice-looking little parcel in Priscilla’s hands.
 
“Well,” exclaimed Geoffrey, pretending to be deeply hurt, “I think you might have thought of my feelings, and waited till I had gone away. I felt certain it was for me, and now——”
 
Poor Miss Potts looked quite troubled, but Priscilla’s joyful8 cry rang out before she could speak.
 
“Oh, how lovely! Oh, you dear, kind Miss Potts! Look, Geoffrey; we can both use it. Isn’t it lovely?” and Priscilla held out a box of paints, just such another as they had bought for Loveday. “And they are sans poison, too.”
 
“Good!” cried Geoffrey. “Now I’ll be able to paint for you while you look on. Miss Potts, you are a dear; you understand a fellow’s feelings before he understands them himself.”
 
Priscilla leaned up to kiss her thanks.
 
“I wonder how you always know exactly what people want?” she said gravely.
 
“P’r’aps it’s through my having a pretty good memory,” said Miss Potts, flushing and smiling with pleasure. “I seem able to remember what I used to think I’d like when I was little myself.”
 
“And then, were you very glad—as glad as I am—when you got what you’d been thinking about?” asked Priscilla.
 
“I never got it, my dear,” said Miss Potts; “’twas all in my thoughts, and never got beyond. But I had a fine lot of pleasure that way; ’twas almost as good as having the things themselves, I think.”
 
“Oh no, not quite,” said Priscilla, turning to her paint-box again.
 
Then Nurse came in with the tea, and laid it on a table close to Priscilla’s sofa. Miss Potts seemed rather nervous and fluttery at having tea there with the children, but very pleased; and Nurse smiled on her, and admired the paint-box, and brought in some especial cakes, because she remembered Miss Potts liked them, and everything and everybody was as nice as nice could be.
 
It was a beautiful tea that they had—at least, to them it seemed so, and Miss Potts often afterwards spoke20 of it, and sat and thought about it in the long, quiet evenings she spent alone in the dark little parlour behind her shop. They did not hurry over the meal—in fact, they lingered so long that Mrs. Carlyon returned before they had done, and presently the carriage drove up, bringing back Dr. Carlyon from his afternoon rounds.
 
When Mrs. Carlyon stooped over her little daughter to kiss her, Prissy put her one arm round her mother’s neck and drew her face down close. She knew it was not polite to whisper in company, but she wanted very much to ask a very, very important question, and she would have no other opportunity; and as Miss Potts was talking to Geoffrey, and Nurse was rattling21 the tea-things, she thought no one would notice that she was doing more than return her mother’s kiss.
 
Mrs. Carlyon quickly heard the whispered request, and, going out of the room under the pretence22 of removing her hat, soon returned with a thin, large envelope, which she slipped under Priscilla’s sofa-pillow. Then Miss Potts got up to go.
 
“I hope you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Carlyon, for staying so long. I didn’t mean to be more than a minute, and I’ve been the best part of two hours.”
 
She went over to Priscilla to say “Good-bye.” It was quite an ordeal23 to her to make her farewells and leave the room under the eyes of so many. She wanted to express her gratitude24, but she was afraid of saying too much; she was also afraid of saying too little and seeming ungrateful.
 
“Good-bye, Miss Priscilla,” she said. “I—I hope you will soon be well and able to run about again.”
 
“Thank you,” said Priscilla politely. She was rather nervous and excited too, and her eyes were bright and eager. “I shall come to see you before I go to Porthcallis, and—and here is something I’ve got for you, but you mustn’t look at it until you get home. It is something to keep you from feeling quite so lonely when you are in your little parlour by yourself after the shop is shut.”
 
“Thank you, missie, I am sure,” said Miss Potts gratefully.
 
And whether she guessed what was in the packet no one ever knew, but she seemed very pleased and overcome. And when the poor lonely woman got back, as Priscilla said, to her lonely parlour behind the closed shop, and, opening the envelope, looked on the three bright faces in the photograph, her tears really did overflow—tears of pleasure and gratitude for the beautiful photograph, but most of all for the kind thought and affection which had prompted the gift.
 
“Dear little lady,” she said, gazing affectionately at Priscilla’s eager, serious face and wondering eyes; “she’s got a heart of gold; while as for that dear boy, why, I love every hair of his head and every tone of his voice, and the more he tries to tease me the more I love him, I think; and as for little Miss Loveday, why, no one could help loving her if one tried to.”
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bruises bruises     
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来,摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
3 drawn MuXzIi     
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。
4 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 soothed 509169542d21da19b0b0bd232848b963     
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦
参考例句:
  • The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
  • The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
7 contentedly a0af12176ca79b27d4028fdbaf1b5f64     
adv.心满意足地
参考例句:
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
  • "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.
8 joyful N3Fx0     
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的
参考例句:
  • She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
  • They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。
9 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句:
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着,脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里,她干得很高兴。
10 bonnet AtSzQ     
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。
11 mantle Y7tzs     
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红
参考例句:
  • The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
  • The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。
12 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
13 chattered 0230d885b9f6d176177681b6eaf4b86f     
(人)喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 ); 唠叨; (牙齿)打战; (机器)震颤
参考例句:
  • They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
  • We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天,像两个十多岁的孩子。
14 wading 0fd83283f7380e84316a66c449c69658     
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子,准备涉水。
  • The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。
15 foaming 08d4476ae4071ba83dfdbdb73d41cae6     
adj.布满泡沫的;发泡
参考例句:
  • He looked like a madman, foaming at the mouth. 他口吐白沫,看上去像个疯子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He is foaming at the mouth about the committee's decision. 他正为委员会的决定大发其火。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
18 backwards BP9ya     
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地
参考例句:
  • He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
  • All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。
19 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
20 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
21 rattling 7b0e25ab43c3cc912945aafbb80e7dfd     
adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词
参考例句:
  • This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
  • At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时,一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来,把窗玻璃震得当当地响。
22 pretence pretence     
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰
参考例句:
  • The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
  • He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。
23 ordeal B4Pzs     
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验
参考例句:
  • She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
  • Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。
24 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。


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