‘No! Nothing serious?’
‘Yes, it is serious.’ The parson informed him of the death of Sir Blount, and of the accidents which had hindered all knowledge of the same — accidents favoured by the estrangement2 of the pair and the cessation of correspondence between them for some time.
His listener received the news with the concern of a friend, Lady Constantine’s aspect in his eyes depending but little on her condition matrimonially.
‘There was no attempt to bring him home when he died?’
‘O no. The climate necessitates3 instant burial. We shall have more particulars in a day or two, doubtless.’
‘Poor Lady Constantine — so good and so sensitive as she is! I suppose she is quite prostrated5 by the bad news.’
‘Well, she is rather serious — not prostrated. The household is going into mourning.’
‘Ah, no, she would not be quite prostrated,’ murmured Swithin, recollecting6 himself. ‘He was unkind to her in many ways. Do you think she will go away from Welland?’
That the vicar could not tell. But he feared that Sir Blount’s affairs had been in a seriously involved condition, which might necessitate4 many and unexpected changes.
Time showed that Mr. Torkingham’s surmises7 were correct.
During the long weeks of early summer, through which the young man still lay imprisoned8, if not within his own chamber9, within the limits of the house and garden, news reached him that Sir Blount’s mismanagement and eccentric behaviour were resulting in serious consequences to Lady Constantine; nothing less, indeed, than her almost complete impoverishment10. His personalty was swallowed up in paying his debts, and the Welland estate was so heavily charged with annuities11 to his distant relatives that only a mere12 pittance13 was left for her. She was reducing the establishment to the narrowest compass compatible with decent gentility. The horses were sold one by one; the carriages also; the greater part of the house was shut up, and she resided in the smallest rooms. All that was allowed to remain of her former contingent14 of male servants were an odd man and a boy. Instead of using a carriage she now drove about in a donkey-chair, the said boy walking in front to clear the way and keep the animal in motion; while she wore, so his informants reported, not an ordinary widow’s cap or bonnet15, but something even plainer, the black material being drawn16 tightly round her face, giving her features a small, demure17, devout18 cast, very pleasing to the eye.
‘Now, what’s the most curious thing in this, Mr. San Cleeve,’ said Sammy Blore, who, in calling to inquire after Swithin’s health, had imparted some of the above particulars, ‘is that my lady seems not to mind being a pore woman half so much as we do at seeing her so. ’Tis a wonderful gift, Mr. San Cleeve, wonderful, to be able to guide yerself, and not let loose yer soul in blasting at such a misfortune. I should go and drink neat regular, as soon as I had swallered my breakfast, till my innerds was burnt out like a’ old copper19, if it had happened to me; but my lady’s plan is best. Though I only guess how one feels in such losses, to be sure, for I never had nothing to lose.’
Meanwhile the observatory20 was not forgotten; nor that visitant of singular shape and habits which had appeared in the sky from no one knew whence, trailing its luminous21 streamer, and proceeding22 on its way in the face of a wondering world, till it should choose to vanish as suddenly as it had come.
When, about a month after the above dialogue took place, Swithin was allowed to go about as usual, his first pilgrimage was to the Rings-Hill Speer. Here he studied at leisure what he had come to see.
On his return to the homestead, just after sunset, he found his grandmother and Hannah in a state of great concern. The former was looking out for him against the evening light, her face showing itself worn and rutted, like an old highway, by the passing of many days. Her information was that in his absence Lady Constantine had called in her driving-chair, to inquire for him. Her ladyship had wished to observe the comet through the great telescope, but had found the door locked when she applied23 at the tower. Would he kindly24 leave the door unfastened tomorrow, she had asked, that she might be able to go to the column on the following evening for the same purpose? She did not require him to attend.
During the next day he sent Hannah with the key to Welland House, not caring to leave the tower open. As evening advanced and the comet grew distinct, he doubted if Lady Constantine could handle the telescope alone with any pleasure or profit to herself. Unable, as a devotee to science, to rest under this misgiving25, he crossed the field in the furrow26 that he had used ever since the corn was sown, and entered the plantation27. His unpractised mind never once guessed that her stipulations against his coming might have existed along with a perverse28 hope that he would come.
On ascending29 he found her already there. She sat in the observing-chair: the warm light from the west, which flowed in through the opening of the dome30, brightened her face, and her face only, her robes of sable31 lawn rendering32 the remainder of her figure almost invisible.
‘You have come!’ she said with shy pleasure. ‘I did not require you. But never mind.’ She extended her hand cordially to him.
Before speaking he looked at her with a great new interest in his eye. It was the first time that he had seen her thus, and she was altered in more than dress. A soberly-sweet expression sat on her face. It was of a rare and peculiar33 shade — something that he had never seen before in woman.
‘Have you nothing to say?’ she continued. ‘Your footsteps were audible to me from the very bottom, and I knew they were yours. You look almost restored.’
‘I am almost restored,’ he replied, respectfully pressing her hand. ‘A reason for living arose, and I lived.’
‘What reason?’ she inquired, with a rapid blush.
He pointed34 to the rocket-like object in the western sky.
‘Oh, you mean the comet. Well, you will never make a courtier! You know, of course, what has happened to me; that I have no longer a husband — have had none for a year and a half. Have you also heard that I am now quite a poor woman? Tell me what you think of it.’
‘I have thought very little of it since I heard that you seemed to mind poverty but little. There is even this good in it, that I may now be able to show you some little kindness for all those you have done me, my dear lady.’
‘Unless for economy’s sake, I go and live abroad, at Dinan, Versailles, or Boulogne.’
Swithin, who had never thought of such a contingency35, was earnest in his regrets; without, however, showing more than a sincere friend’s disappointment.
‘I did not say it was absolutely necessary,’ she continued. ‘I have, in fact, grown so homely36 and home-loving, I am so interested in the place and the people here, that, in spite of advice, I have almost determined37 not to let the house; but to continue the less business-like but pleasanter alternative of living humbly38 in a part of it, and shutting up the rest.’
‘Your love of astronomy is getting as strong as mine!’ he said ardently39. ‘You could not tear yourself away from the observatory!’
‘You might have supposed me capable of a little human feeling as well as scientific, in connection with the observatory.’
‘Dear Lady Constantine, by admitting that your astronomer40 has also a part of your interest —’
‘Ah, you did not find it out without my telling!’ she said, with a playfulness which was scarcely playful, a new accession of pinkness being visible in her face. ‘I diminish myself in your esteem41 by reminding you.’
‘You might do anything in this world without diminishing yourself in my esteem, after the goodness you have shown. And more than that, no misrepresentation, no rumour42, no damning appearance whatever would ever shake my loyalty43 to you.’
‘But you put a very matter-of-fact construction on my motives44 sometimes. You see me in such a hard light that I have to drop hints in quite a manoeuvring manner to let you know I am as sympathetic as other people. I sometimes think you would rather have me die than have your equatorial stolen. Confess that your admiration45 for me was based on my house and position in the county! Now I am shorn of all that glory, such as it was, and am a widow, and am poorer than my tenants46, and can no longer buy telescopes, and am unable, from the narrowness of my circumstances, to mix in circles that people formerly47 said I adorned48, I fear I have lost the little hold I once had over you.’
‘You are as unjust now as you have been generous hitherto,’ said St. Cleeve, with tears in his eyes at the gentle banter49 of the lady, which he, poor innocent, read as her real opinions. Seizing her hand he continued, in tones between reproach and anger, ‘I swear to you that I have but two devotions, two thoughts, two hopes, and two blessings50 in this world, and that one of them is yourself!’
‘And the other?’
‘The pursuit of astronomy.’
‘And astronomy stands first.’
‘I have never ordinated two such dissimilar ideas. And why should you deplore51 your altered circumstances, my dear lady? Your widowhood, if I may take the liberty to speak on such a subject, is, though I suppose a sadness, not perhaps an unmixed evil. For though your pecuniary52 troubles have been discovered to the world and yourself by it, your happiness in marriage was, as you have confided53 to me, not great; and you are now left free as a bird to follow your own hobbies.’
‘I wonder you recognize that.’
‘But perhaps,’ he added, with a sigh of regret, ‘you will again fall a prey54 to some man, some uninteresting country squire55 or other, and be lost to the scientific world after all.’
‘If I fall a prey to any man, it will not be to a country squire. But don’t go on with this, for heaven’s sake! You may think what you like in silence.’
‘We are forgetting the comet,’ said St. Cleeve. He turned, and set the instrument in order for observation, and wheeled round the dome.
While she was looking at the nucleus56 of the fiery57 plume58, that now filled so large a space of the sky as completely to dominate it, Swithin dropped his gaze upon the field, and beheld59 in the dying light a number of labourers crossing directly towards the column.
‘What do you see?’ Lady Constantine asked, without ceasing to observe the comet.
‘Some of the work-folk are coming this way. I know what they are coming for — I promised to let them look at the comet through the glass.’
‘They must not come up here,’ she said decisively.
‘They shall await your time.’
‘I have a special reason for wishing them not to see me here. If you ask why, I can tell you. They mistakenly suspect my interest to be less in astronomy than in the astronomer, and they must have no showing for such a wild notion. What can you do to keep them out?’
‘I’ll lock the door,’ said Swithin. ‘They will then think I am away.’ He ran down the staircase, and she could hear him hastily turning the key. Lady Constantine sighed.
‘What weakness, what weakness!’ she said to herself. ‘That envied power of self-control, where is it? That power of concealment60 which a woman should have — where? To run such risks, to come here alone,- -oh, if it were known! But I was always so — always!’
She jumped up, and followed him downstairs.
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1
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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estrangement
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| n.疏远，失和，不和 | |
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necessitates
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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impoverishment
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| n.贫穷，穷困；贫化 | |
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annuities
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| n.养老金；年金( annuity的名词复数 )；（每年的）养老金；年金保险；年金保险投资 | |
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12
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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41
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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42
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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43
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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44
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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48
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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50
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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51
deplore
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| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
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52
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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53
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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54
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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55
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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56
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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58
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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59
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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60
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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