Tom Sedley paid a visit that day at Hazelden, and was depressed2, and dull, and absent to such a degree, that Miss Charity Etherage, after he had gone away, canvassed3 the matter very earnestly, and wondered whether he was quite well, and hoped he had not had bad news from London.
I don’t know how Tom got over all that day; but at about four o’clock, having paid his penny at the toll-gate of the pier5 of Cardyllian, he was pacing up and down that breezy platform, and discussing with himself the possibility of remaining for another Sunday, on the chance of again seeing the Malory ladies in church. Lifting up his eyes, in his meditation6, he saw a cutter less than a mile away, making swiftly for the pierhead, stooping to the breeze as she flew, and beating up the spray in sparkling clouds from her bows. His practised eye recognised at a glance the Wave, the victorious7 yacht of Cleve Verney. With this breeze it was a run without a tack8 from Ware9 jetty.
In less than five minutes she furled her sails, and dropped anchor close to the pier stair, and Cleve Verney in another minute stepped upon it from his punt.
“You’re to come back in her, to Ware, this evening,” said he, as they shook hands. “I’m so glad I’ve found you. I’ve to meet a friend at the Verney Arms, but our talk won’t take very long; and how have you been amusing yourself all day? Rather slow, isn’t it?”
Tom Sedley told his story.
“Well, and what’s the name?” inquired Cleve.
“I can’t tell; they don’t know at the hotel; the Etherages don’t know. I asked Castle Edwards, and he doesn’t know either,” said Sedley.
“Yes, but the fellow, the servant, who turned you out at Malory ——”
“He did not turn me out. I was going,” interrupted Tom Sedley.
“Well, who saw you out? You made him a present; he’d have told you, of course. Did he?”
“I didn’t ask him.”
“Come, that’s being very delicate indeed! All I can say is, if I were as spoony as you are, on that girl, I’d have learned all about her long ago. It’s nothing to me; but if you find out her name, I know two or three fellows in town who know everything about everybody, and I’ll make out the whole story — that is, if she’s anybody.”
“By Jove! that’s very odd. There he is, just gone into the Golden Lion, that groom10, that servant, that Malory man,” exclaimed Tom Sedley very eagerly, and staring hard at the open door of the quaint11 little pot-house.
“Well, go; give him a pound, it’s well worth it,” laughed Cleve. “I’m serious, if you want to learn it; no fellow like that can resist a pound; and if you tell me the name, I’ll make you out all the rest, I really will, when we get to town. There, don’t let him get off, and you’ll find me at the Verney Arms.”
So saying, Cleve nodding his irresolute12 friend toward the Golden Lion, walked swiftly away to meet the Reverend Isaac Dixie. But Dixie was not at the Chancery; only a letter, to say that “most unhappily” that morning, Clay Rectory was to undergo an inspection13 by a Commissioner14 of Dilapidations; but that, D.V., he would place himself next day, at the appointed hour, at his honoured pupil’s disposal.
“Those shovel-hatted martinets! they never allow a minute for common sense, or anything useful — always pottering over their clerical drill and pipe-clay,” said Cleve, who, when an idea once entered his mind, pursued it with a terrible concentration, and hated an hour’s delay.
So out he came disappointed, and joined Sedley near the Golden Lion.
They said little for a time, but walked on, side by side, and found themselves sauntering along the road toward Malory together.
“Well, Sedley, I forgot — what about the man? Did he tell you anything?”
“I do believe if a fellow once allows a girl to get into his head, ever so little, he’s in a sort of way drunk — worse than drunk — systematically16 foolish,” said honest Sedley, philosophizing. “I’ve been doing nothing but idiotic17 things ever since church time yesterday.”
“Well, but what did he say?”
“He took the pound, and devil a thing he said. He wouldn’t tell anything about them. I give you leave to laugh at me. I know I’m the greatest ass4 on earth, and I think he’s the ugliest brute18 I ever saw, and the most uncivil; and, by Jove, if I stay here much longer, I think he’ll get all my money from me. He doesn’t ask for it, but I go on giving it to him; I can’t help it; the beast!”
“Isn’t there a saying about a sage19, or something and his money being soon parted?” asked Cleve. “I think if I were so much gone about a girl as you are, and on such easy terms with that fellow, and tipped him so handsomely, I’d have learned her name, at least, before now.”
“I can’t; everything goes wrong with me. Why should I risk my reason, and fall in love with the moon? The girl wouldn’t look at me; by Jove, she’ll never even see me; and it’s much better so, for nothing can possibly come of it, but pain to me, and fun to every one else. The late train does not stop at our station. I can’t go to-night; but, by Jove, I’ll be off in the morning. I will. Don’t you think I’m right, Cleve?”
Tom Sedley stopped short, and faced his friend — who was, in most matters, his oracle20 — earnestly laying his hand upon his arm. Cleve laughed at his vehemence21, for he knew Tom’s impulsive22 nature, his generous follies23, and terrible impetuosity, and, said he —“Right, Tom; always a philosopher! Nothing like the radical24 cure, in such a case, absence. If the cards won’t answer, try the dice25, if they won’t do, try the balls. I’m afraid this is a bad venture; put your heart to sea in a sieve26! No, Tom, that precious freightage is for a more substantial craft. I suppose you have seen your last of the young lady, and it would be a barren fib of friendship to say that I believe you have made any impression. Therefore, save yourself, fly, and try what absence will do, and work and play, and eating and drinking, and sleeping abundantly in a distant scene, to dissipate the fumes27 of your intoxication28, steal you away from the enchantress, and restore you to yourself. Therefore I echo — go.”
“I’m sure you think it, though you’re half joking,” said Tom Sedley.
“Well, let us come on. I’ve half a mind to go up myself and have a peep at the refectory,” said Cleve.
“To what purpose?”
“Arch?ology,” said Cleve.
“If you go in there, after what occurred this morning, by Jove, I’ll not wait for you,” said Sedley.
“Well, come along; there’s no harm, I suppose, in passing by. The Queen’s highway, I hope, isn’t shut up,” answered Verney.
Sedley sighed, looked towards Malory, and not being in a mood to resist, walked on toward the enchanted29 forest and castle, by his companion’s side.
When they came by the dark and narrow cross-road that skirts the southern side of Malory to the farmyard gate, nailed on its pier, on a square bit of board, in fresh black and white paint, they read the following words:—
NOTICE.
No admission at this gate to any but servants or others employed at Malory.
Any person found trespassing30 within the walls will be prosecuted31 according to law.
— September, 18 —.
When the young men, in a momentary32 silence, read this warning, the ingenuous33 countenance34 of Tom Sedley flushed crimson35 to the very roots of his hair, and Cleve Verney was seized with a fit of laughter that grew more and more violent the more grave and reproachful grew Tom Sedley’s aspect.
“Well, Tom, I think, if we have any dignity left, we had better turn our backs upon this inhospitable refectory, and seek comfort elsewhere. By Jove! a pretty row you must have made up there this morning to oblige the governor to declare the place in a state of siege, and mount his artillery36.”
“Come away, Cleve; that is, as soon as you’ve done laughing at that board. Of course, you knew as well as I do, that my coming in, and looking as, I hope, any gentleman might, at that stupid old barn, this morning, could not possibly be the cause of that offensive notice. If you think it is pointed15 at me, of course, it’s more amusing, but if not, hang me if I can see the joke.”
Tom Sedley was out of spirits, and a little testy37, and very silent all the way back to Cardyllian. He refused Cleve’s invitation to Ware. He made up his mind to return to London in the morning; and this being his last evening in this part of the world, he must spend it at Hazelden.
So these young gentlemen dined together at the Verney Arms, and it grew dark as they sat by the open window at their wine, and the moon got up and silvered the distant peaks of shadowy mountains, and these companions grew silent and dreamy as they might in the spell of distant music.
But the people of Hazelden kept early hours, and Tom Sedley suddenly recollected38 that he must go. They parted, therefore, excellent friends, for Sedley had no suspicion that Cleve was his rival, and Cleve could afford to be amused at Sedley’s rivalry39.
When Verney got on board there was a light breeze. “We’ll run down toward Penruthyn Priory,” said he; and round went the cutter, leaning with the breeze, and hissing40 and snorting through the gentle swell41 as she flew on towards the headland on which stands that pretty monastic ruin.
She glided42 into the black shadow cast by the solemn wall of cloud that now hid the moon from sight, away from the hundred star-like lights of Cardyllian, flying swiftly backward on the left, close under the shapeless blackness of the hill, that rises precipitously from the sea, and over which lies the path from the town to Malory, and onward43 by the wooded grounds of that old mansion44, now an indistinguishable mass of darkness, whose outline was hardly visible against the sky.
I dare say, the thought of crossing the lights of these windows, had its share in prompting this nautical45 freak, and towards these Cleve’s gaze was turned, when, on a sudden, the man looking out at the bows shouted “Starboard;” but before the boat had time to feel the helm, the end of the cutter’s boom struck the mast of a small boat; a shout from several voices rose suddenly, and was almost instantaneously far behind. Round went the yacht; they hailed the boat.
“She’s lost her mast, I think,” said one of Cleve’s men.
“D—— you, where are your lights?” shouted a stern, fierce voice.
“No one overboard?” cried Cleve.
“No, no. You’ll be the Wave, sure? Mr. Cleve Verney, from Ware?” replied a different voice.
“Who are these fellows, do you know?” asked Cleve of his men.
“That will be Christmass Owen, sir.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Cleve. “And the other’s the old gentleman from Malory?”
“Well, I think ’twill be him, sure.”
In another minute the punt of the yacht was alongside the boat, with a message from Cleve, inviting46 the old gentleman on board, and offering to put him ashore47 wherever he liked best.
Shortly and grimly the courtesy was refused. The wrath48 of the old man, however, seemed to have subsided49, and he gathered himself within the folds of his silence again. All had passed in a darkness like that of Styx. A dense50 screen of cloud had entirely51 hid the moon; and though so near, Cleve could not see the old man of Malory, about whom he was curious, with a strange and even tender sort of curiosity, which, certainly, no particular graciousness on his part had invited. In a few minutes more the boat, with the aid of another spar, was on her course again, and the Wave more than a mile away on hers.
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1
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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3
canvassed
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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4
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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6
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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7
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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8
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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9
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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10
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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11
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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12
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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13
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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14
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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15
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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16
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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17
idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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18
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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19
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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20
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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21
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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22
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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23
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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24
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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25
dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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26
sieve
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| n.筛，滤器，漏勺 | |
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27
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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28
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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29
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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30
trespassing
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| [法]非法入侵 | |
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31
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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32
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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33
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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34
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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35
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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36
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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37
testy
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| adj.易怒的；暴躁的 | |
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38
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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40
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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41
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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42
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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43
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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44
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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45
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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46
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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47
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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48
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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49
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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50
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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51
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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