After one of these glances she said, in a tone which was not exactly hostile, but had a note of suspicion:
‘I’d give something to know why he’s going to marry Clara Hewett.’
‘Not the first time you’ve made that remark,’ returned Joseph, without looking up from his paper.
‘I suppose I can speak?’
‘Oh, yes. But I’d try to do so in a more lady-like way.’
Clem flashed at him a gleam of hatred8. He had become fond lately of drawing attention to her defects of breeding. Clem certainly did not keep up with his own progress in the matter of external refinement9; his comments had given her a sense of inferiority, which irritated her solely10 as meaning that she was not his equal in craft. She let a minute or two pass, then returned to the subject.
‘There’s something at the bottom of it; I know that. Of course you know more about it than you pretend.’
Joseph leaned back in his chair and regarded her with a smile of the loftiest scorn.
‘It never occurs to you to explain it in the simplest way, of course, If ever you hear of a marriage, the first thing you ask yourself is: What has he or she to gain by it? Natural enough — in you. Now do you really suppose that all marriages come about in the way that yours did — on your side, I mean?’
Clem was far too dull-witted to be capable of quick retort. She merely replied:
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Of course not. But let me assure you that people sometimes think of other things besides making profit when they get married. It’s a pity that you always show yourself so coarse-minded.’
Joseph was quite serious in administering this rebuke11. He really felt himself justified12 in holding the tone of moral superiority. The same phenomenon has often been remarked in persons conscious that their affairs are prospering13, and whose temptations to paltry14 meanness are on that account less frequent.
‘And what about yourself?’ asked his wife, having found her retort at length. ‘Why did you want to marry me, I’d like to know?’
‘Why? You are getting too modest. How could I live in the same house with such a good-looking and sweet-tempered and well-behaved —’
‘Oh, shut up!’ she exclaimed, in a voice such as one hears at the street-corner. ‘It was just because you thought we was goin’ to be fools enough to keep you in idleness. Who was the fool, after all?’
Joseph smiled, and returned to his newspaper. In satisfaction at having reduced him to silence, Clem laughed aloud and clattered15 with the knife on her plate. As she was doing so there came a knock at the door.
‘A gentleman wants to know if you’re in, sir,’ said the house-thrall, showing a smeary16 face. ‘Mr. Byass is the name.’
‘Mr. Byass? I’ll go down and see him.’
Clem’s face became alive with suspicion. In spite of her careless attire17 she intercepted18 Joseph, and bade the servant ask Mr. Byass to come upstairs. ‘How can you go down without a collar?’ she said to her husband.
He understood, and was somewhat uneasy, but made no resistance. Mr. Byass presented himself. He had a very long face, and obviously brought news of grave import. Joseph shook hands with him.
‘You don’t know my wife, I think. Mr. Byass, Clem. Nothing wrong, I hope?’
Samuel, having made his best City bow, swung back from his toes to his heels, and stood looking down into his hat. ‘I’m sorry to say,’ he began, with extreme gravity, ‘that Mr. Snowdon is rather ill — in fact, very ill. Miss Jane asked me to come as sharp as I could.’
‘Ill? In what way?’
‘I’m afraid it’s a stroke, or something in that line. He fell down without a word of warning, just before ten o’clock. He’s lying insensible.’
‘I’ll come at once,’ said Joseph. ‘They’ve got a doctor, I hope?’
‘Yes; the doctor had been summoned instantly.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ said Clem, in a tone of decision.
‘No, no; what’s the good? You’ll only be in the way.’
‘No, I shan’t. If he’s as bad as all that, I shall come.’
Both withdrew to prepare themselves. Mr. Byass, who was very nervous and perspiring19 freely, began to walk round and round the table, inspecting closely, in complete absence of mind, the objects that lay on it.
‘We’ll have a cab,’ cried Joseph, as he came forth20 equipped. ‘Poor Jane’s in a sad state, I’m afraid, oh?’
In a few minutes they were driving up Pentonville Road. Clem scarcely ever removed her eye from Joseph’s face; the latter held his lips close together and kept his brows wrinkled. Few words passed during the drive.
At the door of the house appeared Bessie, much agitated21. All turned into the parlour on the ground floor and spoke22 together for a few minutes. Michael had been laid on his bed; at present Jane only was with him, but the doctor would return shortly.
‘Will you tell her I’m here?’ said Joseph to Mrs. Byass. ‘I’ll see her in the sitting-room23.’
He went up and waited. Throughout the house prevailed that unnatural24, nerve-distressing quietude which tells the presence of calamity25. The church bells had ceased ringing, and Sunday’s silence in the street enhanced the effect of blankness and alarming expectancy26. Joseph could not keep still; he strained his ears in attention to any slight sound that might come from the floor above, and his heart beat painfully when at length the door opened.
Jane fixed27 her eyes on him and came silently forward.
‘Does he show any signs of coming round?’ her father inquired.
‘No. He hasn’t once moved.’
She spoke only just above a whisper. The shock kept her still trembling and her face bloodless.
‘Tell me how it happened, Jane.’
‘He’d just got up. I’d taken him his breakfast, and we were talking. All at once he began to turn round, and then he fell down — before I could reach him.’
‘I’ll go upstairs, shall I?’
Jane could not overcome her fear; at the door of the bedroom she drew back, involuntarily, that her father might enter before her. When she forced herself to follow, the first glimpse of the motionless form shook her from head to foot. The thought of death was dreadful to her, and death seemed to lurk29 invisibly in this quiet room. The pale sunlight affected30 her as a mockery of hope.
‘You won’t go away again, father?’ she whispered.
He shook his head.
In the meantime Bessie and Clem were conversing31. On the single previous occasion of Clem’s visit to the house they had not met. They examined each other’s looks with curiosity. Clem wished it were possible to get at the secrets of which Mrs. Byass was doubtless in possession; Bessie on her side was reserved, circumspect32.
‘Will he get over it?’ the former inquired, with native brutality33.
‘I’m sure I don’t know; I hope he may.’
The medical man arrived, and when he came downstairs again Joseph accompanied him. Clem, when she found that nothing definite could be learned, and that her husband had no intention of leaving, expressed her wish to walk round to Clerkenwell Close and see her mother. Joseph approved.
‘You’d better have dinner there,’ he said to her privately34. ‘We can’t both of us come down on the Byasses.’
She nodded, and with a parting glance of hostile suspicion set forth. When she had crossed City Road, Clem’s foot was on her native soil; she bore herself with conscious importance, hoping to meet some acquaintance who would be impressed by her attire and demeanour. Nothing of the kind happened, however. It was the dead hour of Sunday morning, midway in service-time, and long before the opening of public-houses. In the neighbourhood of those places of refreshment35 were occasionally found small groups of men and boys, standing36 with their hands in their pockets, dispirited, seldom caring even to smoke; they kicked their heels against the kerbstone and sighed for one o’clock. Clem went by them with a haughty37 balance of her head.
As she entered by the open front door and began to descend38 the kitchen steps, familiar sounds were audible. Mrs. Peckover’s voice was raised in dispute with some one; it proved to be a quarrel with a female lodger39 respecting the sum of threepence-farthing, alleged40 by the landlady41 to be owing on some account or other. The two women had already reached the point of calling each other liar4 and thief. Clem, having no acquaintance with the lodger, walked into the kitchen with an air of contemptuous indifference42. The quarrel continued for another ten minutes — if the head of either had been suddenly cut off it would assuredly have gone on railing for an appreciable43 time — and Clem waited, sitting before the fire. At last the lodger had departed, and the last note of her virulence44 died away.
‘And what do you want?’ asked Mrs. Peckover, turning sharply upon her daughter.
‘I suppose I can come to see you, can’t I?’
‘Come to see me! Likely! When did you come last? You’re a ungrateful beast, that’s what you are!’
‘All right. Go a’ead! Anything else you’d like to call me?’
Mrs. Peckover was hurt by the completeness with which Clem had established her independence. To do the woman justice, she had been actuated, in her design of capturing Joseph Snowdon, at least as much by a wish to establish her daughter satisfactorily as by the ever-wakeful instinct which bade her seize whenever gain lay near her clutches. Clem was proving disloyal, had grown secretive. Mrs. Peckover did not look for any direct profit worth speaking of from the marriage she had brought about, but she did desire the joy of continuing to plot against Joseph with his wife. Moreover, she knew that Clem was a bungler45, altogether lacking in astuteness46, and her soul was pained by the thought of chances being missed. Her encounter with the lodger had wrought47 her up to the point at which she could discuss matters with Clem frankly48. The two abused each other for a while, but Clem really desired to communicate her news, so that calmer dialogue presently ensued.
‘Old Snowdon’s had a stroke, if you’d like to know, and it’s my belief he won’t get over it.’
‘Your belief! And what’s your belief worth? Had a stroke, has he? Who told you?’
‘I’ve just come from the ’ouse. Jo’s stoppin’ there.’
They discussed the situation in all its aspects, but Mrs. Peckover gave it clearly to be understood that, from her point of view, ‘the game was spoilt.’ As long as Joseph continued living under her roof she could in a measure direct the course of events; Clem had chosen to abet49 him in his desire for removal, and if ill came of it she had only herself to blame.
‘I can look out for myself,’ said Clem.
‘Can you? I’m glad to hear it.’
And Mrs. Peckover sniffed50 the air, scornfully. The affectionate pair dined together, each imbibing51 a pint52 and a half of ‘mild and bitter,’ and Clem returned to Hanover Street. From Joseph she could derive53 no information as to the state of the patient.
‘If you will stay here, where you can do no good,’ he said, ‘sit down and keep quiet.’
‘Certainly I shall stay,’ said his wife, ‘because I know you want to get rid of me.’
Joseph left her in the sitting-room, and went upstairs again to keep his daughter company. Jane would not leave the bedside. To enter the room, after an interval54 elsewhere, wrung55 her feelings too painfully; better to keep her eyes fixed on the unmoving form, to overcome the dread28 by facing it.
She and her father seldom exchanged a word. The latter was experiencing human emotion, but at the same time he had no little anxiety regarding his material interests. It was ten days since he had learnt that there was no longer the least fear of a marriage between Jane and Sidney, seeing that Kirkwood was going to marry some one else — a piece of news which greatly astonished him, and confirmed him in his judgment56 that he had been on the wrong tack57 in judging Kirkwood’s character. At the same time he had been privily58 informed by Scawthorne of an event which had ever since kept him very uneasy — Michael’s withdrawal59 of his will from the hands of the solicitors60. With what purpose this had been done Scawthorne could not conjecture61; Mr. Percival had made no comment in his hearing. In all likelihood the will was now in this very room. Joseph surveyed every object again and again. He wondered whether Jane knew anything of the matter, but not all his cynicism could persuade him that at the present time her thoughts were taking the same direction as his own.
The day waned62. Its sombre close was unspeakably mournful in this haunted chamber63. Jane could not bear it; she hid her face and wept.
When the doctor came again, at six o’clock, he whispered to Joseph that the end was nearer than he had anticipated. Near, indeed; less than ten minutes after the warning had been given Michael ceased to breathe.
Jane knelt by the bed, convulsed with grief, unable to hear the words her father addressed to her. He sat for five minutes, then again spoke. She rose and replied.
‘Will you come with us, Jane, or would rather stay with Mrs. Byass?’
‘I will stay, please, father.’
He hesitated, but the thought that rose was even for him too ignoble64 to be entertained.
‘As you please, my dear. Of course no one must enter your rooms but Mrs. Byass. I must go now, but I shall look in again to-night.’
‘Yes, father.’
She spoke mechanically. He had to lead her from the room, and, on quitting the house, left her all but unconscious in Bessie’s arms.
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1
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
exuded
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| v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的过去式和过去分词 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情 | |
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7
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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8
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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10
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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13
prospering
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 ) | |
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14
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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15
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
smeary
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| 弄脏的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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18
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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19
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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20
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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21
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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22
spoke
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| 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 | |
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23
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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24
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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25
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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28
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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29
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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30
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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31
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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32
circumspect
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| adj.慎重的，谨慎的 | |
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33
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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34
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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36
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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38
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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lodger
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| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
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40
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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41
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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42
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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43
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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44
virulence
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| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
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45
Bungler
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| n.笨拙者，经验不够的人 | |
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46
astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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47
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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48
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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49
abet
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| v.教唆，鼓励帮助 | |
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50
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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51
imbibing
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| v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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52
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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53
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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54
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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55
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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56
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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57
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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58
privily
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| adv.暗中，秘密地 | |
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59
withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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60
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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61
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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62
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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63
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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