Chapter 8.

As Lady Annabel entered the terrace-room, Doctor Masham came forward and grasped her hand.

‘You have heard of our sorrow!’ said her ladyship in a faint voice.

‘But this instant,’ replied the Doctor, in a tone of great anxiety.’ Immediate¹ danger —’

‘Is past. She sleeps,’ replied Lady Annabel.

‘A most sudden and unaccountable attack,’ said the Doctor.

It is difficult to describe the contending emotions of the mother as her companion made this observation. At length she replied, ‘Sudden, certainly sudden; but not unaccountable. Oh! my friend,’ she added, after a moment’s pause, ‘they will not be content until they have torn my daughter from me.’

‘They tear your daughter from you!’ exclaimed Doctor Masham. ‘Who?’

‘He, he,’ muttered Lady Annabel; her speech was incoherent, her manner very disturbed.

‘My dear lady,’ said the Doctor, gazing on her with extreme anxiety, ‘you are yourself unwell.’

Lady Annabel heaved a deep sigh; the Doctor bore her to a seat. ‘Shall I send for any one, anything?’

‘No one, no one,’ quickly answered Lady Annabel. ‘With you, at least, there is no concealment² necessary.’

She leant back in her chair, the Doctor holding her hand, and standing³ by her side.

Still Lady Annabel continued sighing deeply: at length she looked up and said, ‘Does she love me? Do you think, after all, she loves me?’

‘Venetia?’ inquired the Doctor, in a low and doubtful voice, for he was greatly perplexed⁴.

‘She has seen him; she loves him; she has forgotten her mother.’

‘My dear lady, you require rest,’ said Doctor Masham. ‘You are overcome with strange fancies. Whom has your daughter seen?’

‘Marmion.’

‘Impossible! you forget he is —’

‘Here also. He has spoken to her: she loves him: she will recover: she will fly to him; sooner let us both die!’

‘Dear lady!’

‘She knows everything. Fate has baffled me; we cannot struggle with fate. She is his child; she is like him; she is not like her mother. Oh! she hates me; I know she hates me.’

‘Hush⁵! hush! hush!’ said the Doctor, himself very agitated⁶. ‘Venetia loves you, only you. Why should she love any one else?’

‘Who can help it? I loved him. I saw him. I loved him. His voice was music. He has spoken to her, and she yielded: she yielded in a moment. I stood by her bedside. She would not speak to me; she would not know me; she shrank from me. Her heart is with her father: only with him.’

‘Where did she see him? How?’

‘His room: his picture. She knows all. I was away with you, and she entered his chamber⁷.’

‘Ah!’

‘Oh! Doctor, you have influence with her. Speak to her. Make her love me! Tell her she has no father; tell her he is dead.’

‘We will do that which is well and wise,’ replied Doctor Masham: ‘at present let us be calm; if you give way, her life may be the forfeit⁸. Now is the moment for a mother’s love.’

‘You are right. I should not have left her for an instant. I would not have her wake and find her mother not watching over her. But I was tempted⁹. She slept; I left her for a moment; I went to destroy the spell. She cannot see him again. No one shall see him again. It was my weakness, the weakness of long years; and now I am its victim.’

‘Nay¹⁰, nay, my sweet lady, all will be quite well. Be but calm; Venetia will recover.’

‘But will she love me? Oh! no, no, no! She will think only of him. She will not love her mother. She will yearn¹¹ for her father now. She has seen him, and she will not rest until she is in his arms. She will desert me, I know it.’

‘And I know the contrary,’ said the Doctor, attempting to reassure¹² her; ‘I will answer for Venetia’s devotion to you. Indeed she has no thought but your happiness, and can love only you. When there is a fitting time, I will speak to her; but now, now is the time for repose¹³. And you must rest, you must indeed.’

‘Rest! I cannot. I slumbered¹⁴ in the chair last night by her bedside, and a voice roused me. It was her own. She was speaking to her father. She told him how she loved him; how long, how much she thought of him; that she would join him when she was well, for she knew he was not dead; and, if he were dead, she would die also. She never mentioned me.’

‘Nay! the light meaning of a delirious¹⁵ brain.’ ‘Truth, truth, bitter, inevitable¹⁶ truth. Oh! Doctor, I could bear all but this; but my child, my beautiful fond child, that made up for all my sorrows. My joy, my hope, my life! I knew it would be so; I knew he would have her heart. He said she never could be alienated¹⁷ from him; he said she never could be taught to hate him. I did not teach her to hate him. I said nothing. I deemed, fond, foolish mother, that the devotion of my life might bind¹⁸ her to me. But what is a mother’s love? I cannot contend with him. He gained the mother; he will gain the daughter too.’

‘God will guard over you,’ said Masham, with streaming eyes; ‘God will not desert a pious¹⁹ and virtuous²⁰ woman.’

‘I must go,’ said Lady Annabel, attempting to rise, but the Doctor gently controlled her; ‘perhaps she is awake, and I am not at her side. She will not ask for me, she will ask for him; but I will be there; she will desert me, but she shall not say I ever deserted²¹ her.’

‘She will never desert you,’ said the Doctor; ‘my life on her pure heart. She has been a child of unbroken love and duty; still she will remain so. Her mind is for a moment overpowered by a marvellous discovery. She will recover, and be to you as she was before.’

‘We’ll tell her he is dead,’ said Lady Annabel, eagerly. ‘You must tell her. She will believe you. I cannot speak to her of him; no, not to secure her heart; never, never, never can I speak to Venetia of her father.’

‘I will speak,’ replied the Doctor, ‘at the just time. Now let us think of her recovery. She is no longer in danger. We should be grateful, we should be glad.’

‘Let us pray to God! Let us humble²² ourselves,’ said Lady Annabel. ‘Let us beseech²³ him not to desert this house. We have been faithful to him, we have struggled to be faithful to him. Let us supplicate²⁴ him to favour and support us!’

‘He will favour and support you,’ said the Doctor, in a solemn tone. ‘He has upheld you in many trials; he will uphold you still.’

‘Ah! why did I love him! Why did I continue to love him! How weak, how foolish, how mad I have been! I have alone been the cause of all this misery²⁵. Yes, I have destroyed my child.’

‘She lives, she will live. Nay, nay! you must reassure yourself. Come, let me send for your servant, and for a moment repose. Nay! take my arm. All depends upon you. We have great cares now; let us not conjure²⁶ up fantastic fears.’

‘I must go to my daughter’s room. Perhaps by her side I might rest. Nowhere else. You will attend me to the door, my friend. Yes! it is something in this life to have a friend.’

Lady Annabel took the arm of the good Masham. They stopped at her daughter’s door.

‘Rest here a moment,’ she said, as she entered the room without a sound. In a moment she returned. ‘She still sleeps,’ said the mother; ‘I shall remain with her, and you —?’

‘I will not leave you,’ said the Doctor, ‘but think not of me. Nay! I will not leave you. I will remain under this roof. I have shared its serenity²⁷ and joy; let me not avoid it in this time of trouble and tribulation²⁸.’

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 concealment   

n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒

参考例句：

• the concealment of crime 对罪行的隐瞒
• Stay in concealment until the danger has passed. 把自己藏起来，待危险过去后再出来。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

5 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

6 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 forfeit   

vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物

参考例句：

• If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎，就会失掉大家对你的好感。
• Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。

9 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

10 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

11 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

12 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

13 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

14 slumbered   

微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The baby slumbered in his cradle. 婴儿安睡在摇篮中。
• At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition. 就在那时，我的善的一面睡着了，我的邪恶面因野心勃勃而清醒着。

15 delirious   

adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的

参考例句：

• He was delirious,murmuring about that matter.他精神恍惚，低声叨念着那件事。
• She knew that he had become delirious,and tried to pacify him.她知道他已经神志昏迷起来了，极力想使他镇静下来。

16 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

17 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

19 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。

20 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

21 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

22 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

23 beseech   

v.祈求，恳求

参考例句：

• I beseech you to do this before it is too late.我恳求你做做这件事吧，趁现在还来得及。
• I beseech your favor.我恳求您帮忙。

24 supplicate   

v.恳求；adv.祈求地，哀求地，恳求地

参考例句：

• She supplicated the judge for protection.她恳求法官保护。
• I do not supplicate to women because they find it unattractive.我不会向女人恳求，因为那吸引不了她们。

25 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

26 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

27 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

28 tribulation   

n.苦难，灾难

参考例句：

• Even in our awful tribulation we were quite optimistic.即使在极端痛苦时，我们仍十分乐观。
• I hate the tribulation,I commiserate the sorrow brought by tribulation.我厌恶别人深重的苦难，怜悯苦难带来的悲哀。