In short, it was as fine a day as the finest summer could boast; but I doubt whether I was not the sole inhabitant of the Rue9 Fossette, who cared or remembered to note this pleasant fact. Another thought busied all other heads; a thought, indeed, which had its share in my meditations10; but this master consideration, not possessing for me so entire a novelty, so overwhelming a suddenness, especially so dense11 a mystery, as it offered to the majority of my co-speculators thereon, left me somewhat more open than the rest to any collateral12 observation or impression.
Still, while walking in the garden, feeling the sunshine, and marking the blooming and growing plants, I pondered the same subject the whole house discussed.
What subject?
Merely this. When matins came to be said, there was a place vacant in the first rank of boarders. When breakfast was served, there remained a coffee-cup unclaimed. When the housemaid made the beds, she found in one, a bolster13 laid lengthwise, clad in a cap and night-gown; and when Ginevra Fanshawe’s music-mistress came early, as usual, to give the morning lesson, that accomplished14 and promising15 young person, her pupil, failed utterly16 to be forthcoming.
High and low was Miss Fanshawe sought; through length and breadth was the house ransacked17; vainly; not a trace, not an indication, not so much as a scrap18 of a billet rewarded the search; the nymph was vanished, engulfed19 in the past night, like a shooting star swallowed up by darkness.
Deep was the dismay of surveillante teachers, deeper the horror of the defaulting directress. Never had I seen Madame Beck so pale or so appalled20. Here was a blow struck at her tender part, her weak side; here was damage done to her interest. How, too, had the untoward21 event happened? By what outlet22 had the fugitive23 taken wing? Not a casement24 was found unfastened, not a pane25 of glass broken; all the doors were bolted secure. Never to this day has Madame Beck obtained satisfaction on this point, nor indeed has anybody else concerned, save and excepting one, Lucy Snowe, who could not forget how, to facilitate a certain enterprise, a certain great door had been drawn26 softly to its lintel, closed, indeed, but neither bolted nor secure. The thundering carriage-and-pair encountered were now likewise recalled, as well as that puzzling signal, the waved handkerchief.
From these premises27, and one or two others, inaccessible28 to any but myself, I could draw but one inference. It was a case of elopement. Morally certain on this head, and seeing Madame Beck’s profound embarrassment29, I at last communicated my conviction. Having alluded30 to M. de Hamal’s suit, I found, as I expected, that Madame Beck was perfectly31 au fait to that affair. She had long since discussed it with Mrs. Cholmondeley, and laid her own responsibility in the business on that lady’s shoulders. To Mrs. Cholmondeley and M. de Bassompierre she now had recourse.
We found that the H?tel Crécy was already alive to what had happened. Ginevra had written to her cousin Paulina, vaguely32 signifying hymeneal intentions; communications had been received from the family of de Hamal; M. de Bassompierre was on the track of the fugitives33. He overtook them too late.
In the course of the week, the post brought me a note. I may as well transcribe34 it; it contains explanation on more than one point:—
‘Dear Old Tim “(short for Timon) — ” I am off you see — gone like a shot. Alfred and I intended to be married in this way almost from the first; we never meant to be spliced35 in the humdrum36 way of other people; Alfred has too much spirit for that, and so have I— Dieu merci! Do you know, Alfred, who used to call you ‘the dragon,’ has seen so much of you during the last few months, that he begins to feel quite friendly towards you. He hopes you won’t miss him now that he has gone; he begs to apologize for any little trouble he may have given you. He is afraid he rather inconvenienced you once when he came upon you in the grenier, just as you were reading a letter seemingly of the most special interest; but he could not resist the temptation to give you a start, you appeared so wonderfully taken up with your correspondent. En revanche, he says you once frightened him by rushing in for a dress or a shawl, or some other chiffon, at the moment when he had struck a light, and was going to take a quiet whiff of his cigar, while waiting for me.
“Do you begin to comprehend by this time that M. le Comte de Hamal was the nun37 of the attic38, and that he came to see your humble39 servant? I will tell you how he managed it. You know he has the entrée of the Athénée, where two or three of his nephews, the sons of his eldest40 sister, Madame de Melcy, are students. You know the court of the Athénée is on the other side of the high wall bounding your walk, the allée défendue. Alfred can climb as well as he can dance or fence: his amusement was to make the escalade of our pensionnat by mounting, first the wall; then — by the aid of that high tree overspreading the grand berceau, and resting some of its boughs41 on the roof of the lower buildings of our premises — he managed to scale the first classe and the grand salle. One night, by the way, he fell out of this tree, tore down some of the branches, nearly broke his own neck, and after all, in running away, got a terrible fright, and was nearly caught by two people, Madame Beck and M. Emanuel, he thinks, walking in the alley42. From the grande salle the ascent43 is not difficult to the highest block of building, finishing in the great garret. The skylight, you know, is, day and night, left half open for air; by the skylight he entered. Nearly a year ago I chanced to tell him our legend of the nun; that suggested his romantic idea of the spectral44 disguise, which I think you must allow he has very cleverly carried out.
“But for the nun’s black gown and white veil, he would have been caught again and again both by you and that tiger-Jesuit, M. Paul. He thinks you both capital ghost-seers, and very brave. What I wonder at is, rather your secretiveness than your courage. How could you endure the visitations of that long spectre, time after time, without crying out, telling everybody, and rousing the whole house and neighbourhood?
“Oh, and how did you like the nun as a bed-fellow? I dressed her up: didn’t I do it well? Did you shriek45 when you saw her: I should have gone mad; but then you have such nerves! — real iron and bend-leather! I believe you feel nothing. You haven’t the same sensitiveness that a person of my constitution has. You seem to me insensible both to pain and fear and grief. You are a real old Diogenes.
“Well, dear grandmother! and are you not mightily46 angry at my moonlight flitting and run away match? I assure you it is excellent fun, and I did it partly to spite that minx, Paulina, and that bear, Dr. John: to show them that, with all their airs, I could get married as well as they. M. de Bassompierre was at first in a strange fume47 with Alfred; he threatened a prosecution48 for ‘détournement de mineur,’ and I know not what; he was so abominably49 in earnest, that I found myself forced to do a little bit of the melodramatic — go down on my knees, sob50, cry, drench51 three pocket-handkerchiefs. Of course, ‘mon oncle’ soon gave in; indeed, where was the use of making a fuss? I am married, and that’s all about it. He still says our marriage is not legal, because I am not of age, forsooth! As if that made any difference! I am just as much married as if I were a hundred. However, we are to be married again, and I am to have a trousseau, and Mrs. Cholmondeley is going to superintend it; and there are some hopes that M. de Bassompierre will give me a decent portion, which will be very convenient, as dear Alfred has nothing but his nobility, native and hereditary52, and his pay. I only wish uncle would do things unconditionally53, in a generous, gentleman-like fashion; he is so disagreeable as to make the dowry depend on Alfred’s giving his written promise that he will never touch cards or dice54 from the day it is paid down. They accuse my angel of a tendency to play: I don’t know anything about that, but I do know he is a dear, adorable creature.
“I cannot sufficiently55 extol56 the genius with which de Hamal managed our flight. How clever in him to select the night of the fête, when Madame (for he knows her habits), as he said, would infallibly be absent at the concert in the park. I suppose you must have gone with her. I watched you rise and leave the dormitory about eleven o’clock. How you returned alone, and on foot, I cannot conjecture57. That surely was you we met in the narrow old Rue St. Jean? Did you see me wave my handkerchief from the carriage window?
“Adieu! Rejoice in my good luck: congratulate me on my supreme58 happiness, and believe me, dear cynic and misanthrope59, yours, in the best of health and spirits,
Ginevra Laura de Hamal, née Fanshawe.
“P.S. — Remember, I am a countess now. Papa, mamma, and the girls at home, will be delighted to hear that. ‘My daughter the Countess!’ ‘My sister the Countess!’ Bravo! Sounds rather better than Mrs. John Bretton, hein?”
In winding60 up Mistress Fanshawe’s memoirs61, the reader will no doubt expect to hear that she came finally to bitter expiation62 of her youthful levities63. Of course, a large share of suffering lies in reserve for her future.
A few words will embody64 my farther knowledge respecting her.
I saw her towards the close of her honeymoon65. She called on Madame Beck, and sent for me into the salon66. She rushed into my arms laughing. She looked very blooming and beautiful: her curls were longer, her cheeks rosier67 than ever: her white bonnet68 and her Flanders veil, her orange-flowers and her bride’s dress, became her mightily.
“I have got my portion!” she cried at once; (Ginevra ever stuck to the substantial; I always thought there was a good trading element in her composition, much as she scorned the “bourgeoise;”) “and uncle de Bassompierre is quite reconciled. I don’t mind his calling Alfred a ‘nincompoop’— that’s only his coarse Scotch69 breeding; and I believe Paulina envies me, and Dr. John is wild with jealousy70 — fit to blow his brains out — and I’m so happy! I really think I’ve hardly anything left to wish for — unless it be a carriage and an hotel, and, oh! I— must introduce you to ‘mon mari.’ Alfred, come here!”
And Alfred appeared from the inner salon, where he was talking to Madame Beck, receiving the blended felicitations and reprimands of that lady. I was presented under my various names: the Dragon, Diogenes, and Timon. The young Colonel was very polite. He made me a prettily-turned, neatly-worded apology, about the ghost-visits, &c., concluding with saying that “the best excuse for all his iniquities71 stood there!” pointing to his bride.
And then the bride sent him back to Madame Beck, and she took me to herself, and proceeded literally72 to suffocate73 me with her unrestrained spirits, her girlish, giddy, wild nonsense. She showed her ring exultingly74; she called herself Madame la Comtesse de Hamal, and asked how it sounded, a score of times. I said very little. I gave her only the crust and rind of my nature. No matter she expected of me nothing better — she knew me too well to look for compliments — my dry gibes75 pleased her well enough and the more impassible and prosaic76 my mien77, the more merrily she laughed.
Soon after his marriage, M. de Hamal was persuaded to leave the army as the surest way of weaning him from certain unprofitable associates and habits; a post of attaché was procured78 for him, and he and his young wife went abroad. I thought she would forget me now, but she did not. For many years, she kept up a capricious, fitful sort of correspondence. During the first year or two, it was only of herself and Alfred she wrote; then, Alfred faded in the background; herself and a certain, new comer prevailed; one Alfred Fanshawe de Bassompierre de Hamal began to reign79 in his father’s stead. There were great boastings about this personage, extravagant80 amplifications upon miracles of precocity81, mixed with vehement82 objurgations against the phlegmatic83 incredulity with which I received them. I didn’t know “what it was to be a mother;” “unfeeling thing that I was, the sensibilities of the maternal84 heart were Greek and Hebrew to me,” and so on. In due course of nature this young gentleman took his degrees in teething, measles85, hooping-cough: that was a terrible time for me — the mamma’s letters became a perfect shout of affliction; never woman was so put upon by calamity86: never human being stood in such need of sympathy. I was frightened at first, and wrote back pathetically; but I soon found out there was more cry than wool in the business, and relapsed into my natural cruel insensibility. As to the youthful sufferer, he weathered each storm like a hero. Five times was that youth “in articulo mortis,” and five times did he miraculously87 revive.
In the course of years there arose ominous88 murmurings against Alfred the First; M. de Bassompierre had to be appealed to, debts had to be paid, some of them of that dismal89 and dingy90 order called “debts of honour;” ignoble91 plaints and difficulties became frequent. Under every cloud, no matter what its nature, Ginevra, as of old, called out lustily for sympathy and aid. She had no notion of meeting any distress92 single-handed. In some shape, from some quarter or other, she was pretty sure to obtain her will, and so she got on — fighting the battle of life by proxy93, and, on the whole, suffering as little as any human being I have ever known.
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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portents
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| n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物 | |
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3
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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jocund
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| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
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rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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12
collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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13
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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14
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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16
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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19
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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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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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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transcribe
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| v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录 | |
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spliced
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| adj.（针织品）加固的n.叠接v.绞接( splice的过去式和过去分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等） | |
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humdrum
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| adj.单调的，乏味的 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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45
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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46
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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47
fume
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| n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟，气，汽 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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49
abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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50
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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51
drench
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| v.使淋透，使湿透 | |
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52
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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53
unconditionally
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| adv.无条件地 | |
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54
dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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55
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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56
extol
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| v.赞美，颂扬 | |
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57
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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58
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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59
misanthrope
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| n.恨人类的人；厌世者 | |
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60
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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61
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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62
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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63
levities
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| n.欠考虑( levity的名词复数 )；不慎重；轻率；轻浮 | |
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64
embody
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| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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65
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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66
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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67
rosier
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| Rosieresite | |
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68
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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69
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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70
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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71
iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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72
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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73
suffocate
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| vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展 | |
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74
exultingly
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| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
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75
gibes
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| vi.嘲笑，嘲弄（gibe的第三人称单数形式） | |
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76
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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77
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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78
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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80
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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precocity
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| n.早熟，早成 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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phlegmatic
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| adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的 | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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proxy
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| n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人 | |
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