His companions were awaiting the return of their leader, Morgana, who had been absent since the preceding day, and who had departed on Plantagenet’s pony6. Most of them were lounging or strolling in the vicinity of their tents; the children were playing; the old woman was cooking at the fire; and altogether, save that the hour was not so late, the scene presented much the same aspect as when Cadurcis had first beheld7 it. As for his present occupation, Beruna was giving him a lesson in the gipsy language, which he was acquiring with a rapid facility, which quite exceeded all his previous efforts in such acquisitions.
Suddenly a scout8 sang out that a party was in sight. The men instantly disappeared; the women were on the alert; and one ran forward as a spy, on pretence9 of telling fortunes. This bright-eyed professor of palmistry soon, however, returned running, and out of breath, yet chatting all the time with inconceivable rapidity, and accompanying the startling communication she was evidently making with the most animated10 gestures. Beruna started up, and, leaving the astonished Cadurcis, joined them. She seemed alarmed. Cadurcis was soon convinced there was consternation11 in the camp.
Suddenly a horseman galloped12 up, and was immediately followed by a companion. They called out, as if encouraging followers13, and one of them immediately galloped away again, as if to detail the results of their reconnaissance. Before Cadurcis could well rise and make inquiries14 as to what was going on, a light cart, containing several men, drove up, and in it, a prisoner, he detected Morgana. The branches of the trees concealed15 for a moment two other horsemen who followed the cart; but Cadurcis, to his infinite alarm and mortification17, soon recognised Dr. Masham and Peter.
When the gipsies found their leader was captive, they no longer attempted to conceal16 themselves; they all came forward, and would have clustered round the cart, had not the riders, as well as those who more immediately guarded the prisoner, prevented them. Morgana spoke18 some words in a loud voice to the gipsies, and they immediately appeared less agitated19; then turning to Dr. Masham, he said in English, ‘Behold your child!’
Instantly two gipsy men seized Cadurcis, and led him to the Doctor.
‘How now, my lord!’ said the worthy20 Rector, in a stern voice, ‘is this your duty to your mother and your friends?’
Cadurcis looked down, but rather dogged than ashamed.
‘You have brought an innocent man into great peril,’ continued the Doctor. ‘This person, no longer a prisoner, has been arrested on suspicion of robbery, and even murder, through your freak. Morgana, or whatever your name may be, here is some reward for your treatment of this child, and some compensation for your detention21. Mount your pony, Lord Cadurcis, and return to your home with me.’
‘This is my home, sir,’ said Plantagenet.
‘Lord Cadurcis, this childish nonsense must cease; it has already endangered the life of your mother, nor can I answer for her safety, if you lose a moment in returning.’
‘Child, you must return,’ said Morgana.
‘Child!’ said Plantagenet, and he walked some steps away, and leant against a tree. ‘You promised that I should remain,’ said he, addressing himself reproachfully to Morgana.
‘You are not your own master,’ said the gipsy; ‘your remaining here will only endanger and disturb us. Fortunately we have nothing to fear from laws we have never outraged22; but had there been a judge less wise and gentle than the master here, our peaceful family might have been all harassed23 and hunted to the very death.’
He waved his hand, and addressed some words to his tribe, whereupon two brawny24 fellows seized Cadurcis, and placed him again, in spite of his struggling, upon his pony, with the same irresistible25 facility with which they had a few nights before dismounted him. The little lord looked very sulky, but his position was beginning to get ludicrous. Morgana, pocketing his five guineas, leaped over the side of the cart, and offered to guide the Doctor and his attendants through the forest. They moved on accordingly. It was the work of an instant, and Cadurcis suddenly found himself returning home between the Rector and Peter. Not a word, however, escaped his lips; once only he moved; the light branch of a tree, aimed with delicate precision, touched his back; he looked round; it was Beruna. She kissed her hand to him, and a tear stole down his pale, sullen26 cheek, as, taking from his breast his handkerchief, he threw it behind him, unperceived, that she might pick it up, and keep it for his sake.
After proceeding27 two or three miles under the guidance of Morgana, the equestrians28 gained the road, though it still ran through the forest. Here the Doctor dismissed the gipsy-man, with whom he had occasionally conversed29 during their progress; but not a sound ever escaped from the mouth of Cadurcis, or rather, the captive, who was now substituted in Morgana’s stead. The Doctor, now addressing himself to Plantagenet, informed him that it was of importance that they should make the best of their way, and so he put spurs to his mare30, and Cadurcis sullenly31 complied with the intimation. At this rate, in the course of little more than another hour, they arrived in sight of the demesne32 of Cadurcis, where they pulled up their steeds.
They entered the park, they approached the portal of the abbey; at length they dismounted. Their coming was announced by a servant, who had recognised his lord at a distance, and had ran on before with the tidings. When they entered the abbey, they were met by Lady Annabel in the cloisters33; her countenance35 was very serious. She shook hands with Dr. Masham, but did not speak, and immediately led him aside. Cadurcis remained standing36 in the very spot where Doctor Masham left him, as if he were quite a stranger in the place, and was no longer master of his own conduct. Suddenly Doctor Masham, who was at the end of the cloister34, while Lady Annabel was mounting the staircase, looked round with a pale face, and said in an agitated voice, ‘Lord Cadurcis, Lady Annabel wishes to speak to you in the saloon.’
Cadurcis immediately, but slowly, repaired to the saloon. Lady Annabel was walking up and down in it. She seemed greatly disturbed. When she saw him, she put her arm round his neck affectionately, and said in a low voice, ‘My dearest Plantagenet, it has devolved upon me to communicate to you some distressing37 intelligence.’ Her voice faltered38, and the tears stole down her cheek.
‘My mother, then, is dangerously ill?’ he inquired in a calm but softened39 tone.
‘It is even sadder news than that, dear child.’
Cadurcis looked about him wildly, and then with an inquiring glance at Lady Annabel:
‘There can be but one thing worse than that,’ he at length said.
‘What if it have happened?’ said Lady Annabel.
He threw himself into a chair, and covered his face with his hands. After a few minutes he looked up and said, in a low but distinct voice, ‘It is too terrible to think of; it is too terrible to mention; but, if it have happened, let me be alone.’
Lady Annabel approached him with a light step; she embraced him, and, whispering that she should be found in the next room, she quitted the apartment.
Cadurcis remained seated for more than half an hour without changing in the slightest degree his position. The twilight40 died away; it grew quite dark; he looked up with a slight shiver, and then quitted the apartment.
In the adjoining room, Lady Annabel was seated with Doctor Masham, and giving him the details of the fatal event. It had occurred that morning. Mrs. Cadurcis, who had never slept a wink41 since her knowledge of her son’s undoubted departure, and scarcely for an hour been free from violent epileptic fits, had fallen early in the morning into a doze42, which lasted about half an hour, and from which her medical attendant, who with Pauncefort had sat up with her during the night, augured43 the most favourable consequences. About half-past six o’clock she woke, and inquired whether Plantagenet had returned. They answered her that Doctor Masham had not yet arrived, but would probably be at the abbey in the course of the morning. She said it would be too late. They endeavoured to encourage her, but she asked to see Lady Annabel, who was immediately called, and lost no time in repairing to her. When Mrs. Cadurcis recognised her, she held out her hand, and said in a dying tone, ‘It was my fault; it was ever my fault; it is too late now; let him find a mother in you.’ She never spoke again, and in the course of an hour expired.
While Lady Annabel and the Doctor were dwelling44 on these sad circumstances, and debating whether he should venture to approach Plantagenet, and attempt to console him, for the evening was now far advanced, and nearly three hours had elapsed since the fatal communication had been made to him, it happened that Mistress Pauncefort chanced to pass Mrs. Cadurcis’ room, and as she did so she heard some one violently sobbing45. She listened, and hearing the sounds frequently repeated, she entered the room, which, but for her candle, would have been quite dark, and there she found Lord Cadurcis kneeling and weeping by his mother’s bedside. He seemed annoyed at being seen and disturbed, but his spirit was too broken to murmur46. ‘La! my lord,’ said Mistress Pauncefort, ‘you must not take on so; you must not indeed. I am sure this dark room is enough to put any one in low spirits. Now do go downstairs, and sit with my lady and the Doctor, and try to be cheerful; that is a dear good young gentleman. I wish Miss Venetia were here, and then she would amuse you. But you must not take on, because there is no use in it. You must exert yourself, for what is done cannot be undone47; and, as the Doctor told us last Sunday, we must all die; and well for those who die with a good conscience; and I am sure the poor dear lady that is gone must have had a good conscience, because she had a good heart, and I never heard any one say the contrary. Now do exert yourself, my dear lord, and try to be cheerful, do; for there is nothing like a little exertion48 in these cases, for God’s will must be done, and it is not for us to say yea or nay49, and taking on is a murmuring against God’s providence50.’ And so Mistress Pauncefort would have continued urging the usual topics of coarse and common-place consolation51; but Cadurcis only answered with a sigh that came from the bottom of his heart, and said with streaming eyes, ‘Ah! Mrs. Pauncefort, God had only given me one friend in this world, and there she lies.’
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1
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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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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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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shackles
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| 手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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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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8
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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9
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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12
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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13
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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15
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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17
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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18
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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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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24
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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27
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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28
equestrians
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| n.骑手（equestrian的复数形式） | |
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29
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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31
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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32
demesne
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| n.领域，私有土地 | |
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33
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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35
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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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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37
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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38
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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39
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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40
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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41
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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42
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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43
augured
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| v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的过去式和过去分词 )；成为预兆；占卜 | |
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44
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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45
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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46
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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47
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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48
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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49
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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50
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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51
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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