Chapter 19. Ellen’s Flight.

After all the fatigues¹ and adventures of the day before, Charles slept well — long pleasant dreams of roaming in sunny places on summer days fell to his happy lot — and so he was not pleased when he found himself shaken by the shoulder.

It was William come to wake him. Charles was at once alarmed to see him there, and started up, saying —

“Is anything the matter, Will? is my father ill?”

“The master’s well, I trust, Master Charles. I want to tell you something that I want others to find out for themselves.”

“What is it?” said Charles, seriously alarmed, for he had had his suspicions lately, though he had dreaded³ to give them a name.

“Ellen is gone!”

“My dear lad,” said Charles hurriedly, “what makes you think so? Since when have you missed her?”

“Since yesterday afternoon.”

“Have you been in her room?”

“Yes. She has not been to bed, and the window is open just as it was yesterday morning at bed-making time.”

“Hush — wait! There may be time yet. Go down and saddle two horses at once. I will tell you what I know as we ride, but there is not time now. Tell me only one thing, Is there any one she would be likely to go to at Coombe?”

“No one that I know of.”

William departed to get the horses. Charles had suddenly thought of the solitary⁴ female figure he had seen passing along the dizzy sheep-path the day before, and he determined⁵ to follow that till he lost sight of it.

“For the poor dear girl’s sake — for the honour of the old house — I wonder who is at the bottom of all this? I must tell Marston,” he said, when he was out on the landing. “George, tell them to get me some coffee instantly. I am going out hunting.”

Marston thought as Charles did. The right thing to do would be to follow her, see that she wanted for nothing, and leave her brother with her for a time. “He won’t quarrel with her now, you’ll see. He is a good fellow, mind you, Charles, though he did lose his temper with her that night.”

So they rode forth⁶ side by side into the wild winter’s morning. The rain had ceased for a time, but the low dark clouds were hurrying swiftly before the blast, and eddying⁷ among the loftier tors and summits. The wind was behind them, and their way was east, across the lofty downs.

“William,” said Charles at last, “who is at the bottom of this?”

“I don’t know. Master Charles. If I did there would be mischief⁸, unless it was one of two.”

“Ay, Will, but it ain’t. You don’t think it is Cuthbert?”

“No, no! He, forsooth! Father Mackworth knows, I believe, more than we do. You do not suspect him?”

“Certainly not. I did, but I don’t now. I suspect he knows, as I said, more than we do. He has been speaking harshly to her about it.”

They had arrived at the hill round which Charles suspected he had seen her pass the day before. It was impossible to pass round the promontory⁹ on horseback in the best of weathers; now doubly so. They would have to pass inland of it. They both pulled up their horses and looked. The steep slope of turf, the top of winch, close over head, was hid by flying mists, trended suddenly downwards¹⁰, and disappeared. Eight hundred feet below was the raging sea.

As they stood there, the same thought came across both of them. It was a dreadful place. They neither spoke¹¹ at all, but spurred on faster, till the little grey village of Coombe, down at their feet, sheltered from the storm by the lofty hills around, opened to their view; and they pushed on down the steep rocky path.

No. No one had seen her yesterday at such a time. The streets would have been full of the miners coming from work; or, if she had come earlier, there would have been plenty of people to see her. It was a small place, nd no stranger, they said, could eve)— pass through it unnoticed.

And, though they scoured¹² the country far and wide, and though for months after the fishermen fished among the quiet bays beneath the cliffs in fear, lest they should find there something which should be carried in silent awe¹³ up the village, and laid quietly in the old churchyard, beneath the elm: yet Ellen was gone — gone from their ken² like a summer cloud. They thought it a pious¹⁴ fraud to tell Densil that she was gone — with some excuse, I forget what, but which satisfied him. In a conclave¹⁵ held over the matter, Cuthbert seemed only surprised and shocked, but evidently knew nothing of the matter. Father Mackworth said that he expected something of the kind for some little time, and William held his peace. The gossips in the village laid their heads together, and shook them. There was but one opinion there.

“Never again shall she put garland on;

Instead of it she’ll wear sad cypress¹⁶ now,

And bitter elder broken from the bough¹⁷.”

Nora — poor old Nora — took to her bed. Father Mackworth was with her continually, but she sank and sank. Father Mackworth was called away across the moors¹⁸, one afternoon, to an outlying Catholic tenant’s family; and, during his absence, William was sent to Charles to pray him to come, in God’s name, to his mother. Charles ran across at once, but Nora was speechless. She had something to say to Charles; but the great

Sower, which shall sow us all in the ground, and tread us down, had his hand heavy on her, and she could not speak. In the morning; when the gale¹⁹ had broken, and the white seahirds were soaring and skimming between the blue sky and the noble green rolling sea, and the ships were running up channel, and the fishing-boats were putting out gaily²⁰ from the pier²¹, and all nature was brilliant and beautiful, old Nora lay dead, and her secret with her.

“Master Charles,” said William, as they stood on the shore together, “she knew something, and Ellen knows it too, I very much suspect. The time will come, Master Charles, when we shall have to hunt her through the world, and get the secret from her.”

“William, I would go many weary journeys to bring poor Ellen back into the ways of peace. The fact of her being your sister would be enough to make me do that.”

1 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

4 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 eddying   

涡流，涡流的形成

参考例句：

• The Rhine flowed on, swirling and eddying, at six or seven miles an hour. 莱茵河不断以每小时六、七哩的速度，滔滔滚流，波涛起伏。

8 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

9 promontory   

n.海角；岬

参考例句：

• Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite.天才是茫茫大地突出的岬角。
• On the map that promontory looks like a nose,naughtily turned up.从地图上面，那个海角就像一只调皮地翘起来的鼻子。

10 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

11 spoke   

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。

12 scoured   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• We scoured the area for somewhere to pitch our tent. 我们四处查看，想找一个搭帐篷的地方。
• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。

13 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

14 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 conclave   

n.秘密会议，红衣主教团

参考例句：

• Signore,I ask and I prey,that you break this conclave.各位阁下，我请求，并祈祷，你们能停止这次秘密会议。
• I met my partner at that conclave and my life moved into a huge shift.我就是在那次大会上遇到了我的伴侣的，而我的生活就转向了一个巨大的改变。

16 cypress   

n.柏树

参考例句：

• The towering pine and cypress trees defy frost and snow.松柏参天傲霜雪。
• The pine and the cypress remain green all the year round.苍松翠柏，常绿不凋。

17 bough   

n.大树枝，主枝

参考例句：

• I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
• Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。

18 moors   

v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
• They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

20 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

21 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。