But before ten o’clock came, he got up and stood with his back to the fire. Is there any age at which folly3 has quite done with us, and we cease from building castles in the air?
“My wife was a tartar,” said he rather abruptly4, “and she was always telling me I’d marry again before she was cold in her grave, and I made answer, ‘I’ve had enough of that market, I thank you; one wife in a life is one too many.’ But she wasn’t like you—no more than chalk to cheese—a head devil she was. Play me the Week before Easter again, lass.”
And the young lady thrice over played that pretty but vulgar old air; and when she paused the gaunt old Squire5 chanted the refrain from the hearth-rug, somewhat quaveringly and discordantly6.
“You should have heard Tom Snedly sing that round a bowl of punch. My sons, a pair o’ dull dogs—we were pleasanter fellows then—I don’t care if they was at the bottom of the Lunnon canal. Gi’e us the ‘Lincolnshire Poacher,’ lass. Pippin-squeezing rascals—and never loved me. I sometimes think I don’t know what the world’s a comin’ to. I’d be a younger lad by a score o’ years, if neighbours were as I remember ’em.”
At that moment entered old Tom Ward7, who, like his master, had seen younger, if not better days, bearing something hot in a silver tankard on a little tray. Tom looked at the Squire. The Squire pointed8 to the little table by the hearth-rug, and pulled out his great gold watch, and found it was time for his “night-cap.”
Tom was skilled in the brew9 that pleased his master, and stood with his shrewd gray eye on him, till he had swallowed his first glass, then the Squire nodded gruffly, and he knew all was right, and was relieved, for every one stood in awe10 of old Fairfield.
Tom was gone, and the Squire drank a second glass, slowly, and then a third, and stood up again with his back to the fire and filled his glass with the last precious drops of his cordial, and placed it on the chimney-piece, and looked steadfastly11 on the girl, whose eyes looked sad on the notes, while her slender fingers played those hilarious12 airs which Squire Fairfield delighted to listen to.
“Down in the mouth, lass—hey?” said the Squire with a suddenness that made the unconscious girl start.
When she looked up he was standing13 grinning upon her, from the hearth-rug, with his glass in his fingers, and his face flushed.
“You girls, when you like a lad, you’re always in the dumps—ain’t ye?—mopin’ and moultin’ like a sick bird, till the fellow comes out wi’ his mind, and then all’s right, flutter and song and new feathers, and—come, what do you think o’ me, lass?”
She looked at him dumbly, with a colour-less and frightened face. She saw no object in the room but the tall figure of the old man, flushed with punch, and leering with a horrid14 jollity, straight before her like a vivid magic-lantern figure in the dark. He was grinning and wagging his head with exulting15 encouragement.
Had Squire Fairfield, as men have done, all on a sudden grown insane; and was that leering mask, the furrows16 and contortions17 of which, and its glittering eyes, were fixing themselves horribly on her brain, a familiar face transformed by madness?
“Come, lass, do ye like me?” demanded the phantom18.
“Well, you’re tongue-tied, ye little fool—shame-faced, and all that, I see,” he resumed after a little pause. “But you shall answer—ye must; you do—you like old Wyvern, the old Squire. You’d feel strange in another place—ye would, and a younger fellow would not be a tithe19 so kind as me—and I like ye well, chick-a-biddy, chick-a-biddy—ye’ll be my little queen, and I’ll keep ye brave satins and ribbons, and laces, and lawn; and I’ll gi’e ye the jewellery—d’ye hear?—necklaces, and earrings20, and bodkins, and all the rest, for your own, mind; for the Captain nor Jack21 shall never hang them on wife o’ theirs, mind ye—and ye’ll be the grandest lady has ever bin22 in Wyvern this hundred years—and ye’ll have nothing to do but sit all day in the window, or ride in the coach, and order your maids about; and I’ll leave you every acre and stick and stone, and silver spoon, that’s in or round about Wyvern—for you’re a good lass, and I’ll make a woman of you; and I’d like to break them young rascals’ necks—they never deserved a shilling o’ mine; so gie’s your hand, lass, and the bargain’s made.”
So the Squire strode a step or two nearer, extending his huge bony hand, and Alice, aghast, stared with wide open eyes fixed23 on him, and exclaiming faintly, “Oh, sir!—oh, Mr. Fairfield!”
“Oh! to be sure, and oh, Squire Fairfield!” chuckled25 he, mimicking26 the young lady, as he drew near; “ye need not be shy, nor scared by me, little Alice; I like you too well to hurt the tip o’ your little finger, look ye—and you’ll sleep on’t, and tell me all tomorrow morning.”
And he laid his mighty27 hands, that had lifted wrestlers from the earth, and hurled28 boxers29 headlong in his day, tremulously on her two little shoulders. “And ye’ll say good-night, and gi’e me a buss; good-night to ye, lass, and we’ll talk again in the morning, and ye’ll say naught30, mind, to the boys, damn ’em, till all’s settled—ye smooth-cheeked, bright-eyed, cherry-lipped little —”
And here the ancient Squire boisterously31 “bussed” the young lady, as he had threatened, and two or three times again, till scrubbed by the white stubble of his chin, she broke away, with her cheeks flaming, and still more alarmed, reached the door.
“Say good-night, won’t ye, hey?” bawled32 the Squire, still in a chuckle24 and shoving the chairs out of his way as he stumbled after her.
“Good-night, sir,” cried she, and made her escape through the door, and under the arch that opened from the hall, and up the stairs toward her room, calling as unconcernedly as she could, but with tremulous eagerness to her old servant, “Dulcibella, are you there?” and immensely relieved when she heard her kindly33 old voice, and saw the light of her candle.
“I say—hallo—why wench, what the devil’s come over ye?” halloed the voice of the old man from the foot of the stairs. “That’s the trick of you rogues34 all—ye run away to draw us after; well, it won’t do—another time. I say, good-night, ye wild bud.”
“Thank you, sir—good night, sir—good night, sir,” repeated the voice of Alice, higher and higher up the stairs, and he heard her door shut.
He stood with a flushed face, and a sardonic35 grin for a while, looking up the stairs, with his big bony hand on the banister, and wondering how young he was; and he laughed and muttered pleasantly, and resolved it should all be settled between them next evening; and so again he looked at his watch, and found that she had not gone, after all, earlier than usual, and went back to his fire, and rang the bell, and got a second ‘night-cap,’ as he called his flagon of punch.
Tom remarked how straight the Squire stood that night, with his back to the fire, eyeing him as he entered from the corners of his eyes, with a grin, and a wicked wag of his head.
“A dull dog, Tom. Who’s a-goin’ to hang ye? damn ye, look brighter, or I’ll stir ye up with the poker36. Never shake your head, man; ye may brew yourself a tankard o’ this, and ye’ll find you’re younger than ye think for, and some of the wenches will be throwing a sheep’s eye at you—who knows?”
Tom did not quite know what to make of this fierce lighting37 up of gaiety and benevolence38. An inquisitive39 glance he fixed stealthily on his master, and thanked him dubiously—for he was habitually40 afraid of him; and as he walked away through the passages, he sometimes thought the letter that came that afternoon might have told of the death of old Lady Drayton, or some other relief of the estate; and sometimes his suspicions were nearer to the truth, for in drowsy41 houses like Wyvern, where events are few, all theses of conversation are valuable and speculation42 is active, and you may be sure that what was talked of in the town, was no mystery in the servants’ hall, though more gossipped over than believed.
Men who are kings in very small dominions43 are whimsical, as well as imperious—eccentricity is the companion of seclusion44—and the Squire had a jealous custom, in his house, which Was among the oddities of his despotism; it was simply this: the staircase up which Alice Maybell flew, that night, to old Dulcibella and her room, is that which ascends45 the northern wing of the house. A strong door in the short passage leading to it from the hall, shuts it off from the rest of the building on that level.
For this young lady then, while she was still a child, Squire Fairfield had easily made an Oriental seclusion in his household, by locking, with his own hand, that door every night, and securing more permanently46 the doors which, on other levels, afforded access to the same wing.
He had a slight opinion of the other sex, and an evil one of his own, and would have no Romeo and Juliet tragedies. As he locked this door after Miss Alice Maybell’s “good-night,” he would sometimes wag his head shrewdly and wink47 to himself in the lonely oak hall, as he dropped the key into his deep coat pocket—“safe bind48, safe find,” “better sure than sorry,” and other wise;saws seconding the precaution.
So this night he recollected49 the key, as usual, which in the early morning, when he drank his glass of beer at his room-door, he handed to old Mrs. Durdin, who turned it in the lock, and restored access for the day.
This custom was too ancient—reaching back beyond her earliest memory—to suggest the idea of an affront50, and so it was acquiesced51 in and never troubled Miss Maybell; the lock was not tampered52 with, the door was never passed, although the Squire, versed53 in old saws, was simple to rely on that security against a power that laughs at locksmiths.
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1
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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2
ruminated
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| v.沉思( ruminate的过去式和过去分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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discordantly
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| adv.不一致地，不和谐地 | |
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7
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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8
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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9
brew
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| v.酿造，调制 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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12
hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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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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14
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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15
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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16
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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18
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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21
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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22
bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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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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24
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mimicking
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| v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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29
boxers
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| n.拳击短裤；（尤指职业）拳击手( boxer的名词复数 )；拳师狗 | |
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30
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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31
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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32
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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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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34
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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36
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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37
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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40
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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41
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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42
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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43
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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44
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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45
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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47
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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48
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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49
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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50
affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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51
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
tampered
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| v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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53
versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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