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首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Wyvern Mystery 蜿龙庄园 » Chapter 16 Pursuit.
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Chapter 16 Pursuit.
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Having her own misgivings1 as to the temper in which her master would take this coup2 of the arrest, Mildred Tarnley prudently3 kept her own counsel, and retreated nearly to the kitchen door, while the éclaircissement took place outside. Popping in and out to see what would come of it, old Mildred affected4 to be busy about her mops and tubs. After a time, in came Tom, looking sulky and hot.

“Is he comin’ this way?” asked Mildred.

“Not him,” answered Tom.

“Where is he?”

“’Twixt this and Wykeford,” he answered, “across the common he’s ridin’”

“To Wykeford, hey?”

“To Wykeford, every foot, if he don’t run him down on the way; and when they meet—him and Squire5 Rodney—’twill be hot and shrewd work between them, I tell ye. I’d a rid wi’ him myself if there was a beast to carry me, for three agin one is too long odds6.”

“Ye don’t mean to tell me!” exclaimed Mildred, planting her mop perpendicularly7 on the ground, and leaning immovably on this sceptre.

“Tell ye what?”

“There’s goin’ to be rough work like that on the head o’t?”

“Hot blood, ma’am. Ye know the Fairfields. They folk don’t stand long jawin’. It’s like when the blood’s up the hand’s up too.”

“And what’s he to fight for—not that blind beldame, sure?”

“I want my mug o’ beer,” said Tom, turning the conversation.

“Yes, sure,” she said, “yes, ye shall have it. But what for should master Charles go to wry9 words wi’ Squire Rodney, and what for should there be blows and blood spillin’ between ’em? Nonsense?”

“I can’t help ’em. I’d lend master a hand if I could. Squire Rodney’s no fool neither—’twill e’en be fight dog, fight bear—and there’s two stout10 lads wi’ him will make short work o’t.”

“Ye don’t think he’s like to be hurt, do ye?”

“Well, ye know, they say fightin’ dogs comes haltin’ home. He’s as strong as two, that’s all, and has a good nag11 under him. Now gi’e me my beer.”

“’Twon’t be nothin’, Tom, don’t you think, Tom? It won’t come to nothin’?”

“If he comes up wi’ them ’twill be an up-and-down fight, I take it. ’Twas an unlucky maggot bit him.”

“Bit who?”

“What but the Divil brought Squire Rodney over here?”

“Who knows?” answered the dame8, fumbling12 in her pocket for the key of the beer-cellar—“I’m goin’ to fetch your beer, Tom.”

And away she went, and in a minute returned with his draught13 of beer.

“And I think,” she said, setting it down before him, “’twas well done, taking that beast to her right place, do it who might. She’s just a bedlam15 Bess—clean out o’ her wits wi’ wickedness—mad wi’ drink and them fits she has. We knows here what she is, and bloody16 work she’d a made last night wi’ that poor young lady, that’ll never be the same again—the old limb—and master himself, though he’s angered a bit because Justice Rodney did not ask his leave to catch a murderer, if ye please, down here at the Grange!”

“There’s more in it, mayhap, than just that,” said Tom, blowing the froth off his beer.

“To come down here without with your leave or by your leave, to squat17 in the Grange here like gipsey would on Cressley Common, as tho’ she was lady of all—to hurt who she pleased, and live as she liked. More in’t than that, ye say, what more?”

“Hoot, how should I know? Mayhap she thinks she’s as good a right as another to a bit and a welcome down here.”

“She was here before—years enough gone now, and long enough she stayed, and cost a pretty penny, too, I warrant you. Them was more tired of her than me—guest ever, welcome never, they say. She was a play-actor, or something, long ago—a great idle huzzy, never would earn a honest penny, nor do nothing useful, all her days.”

“Ay, Joan reels ill and winds worse, and de’il a stomach she has to spin—that’ll be the way wi’ her, I swear—ha, ha, ha. She’ll not be growin’ richer, I warrant—left in the mud and found in the mire—they folk knows nout o’ thrift18, and small luck and less good about ’em.”

“If ye heard her talk, Tom, ye’d soon know what sort she is, always crayin’—she would not leave a body a shillin’ if she could help it.”

“Ay, I warrant, women, priests, and poultry19 have never enough,” said Tom. “I know nout about her, nor who she’s a lookin’ after here, but she’s safe enough now I take it; and bloody folks, they say, digs their own graves. But as I said, I knows nout about her, and I say nout, and he that judges as he runs may owertake repentance20.”

“’Tis easy judgin’ here, I’m thinkin’. Killin’ and murder’s near akin14, and when Mr. Charles cools a bit, he’ll thank Squire Rodney for riddin’ his house of that blind serpent. ’Tis somethin’ to be so near losing his wife. So sure as your hand’s on that mug it would a’ bin21 done while the cat’s lickin’ her ear if he had not bounced in on the minute, and once dead, dead as Adam.”

“Who loseth his wife and sixpence hath lost a tester, they do say,” answered Tom, with a laugh.

“None but a born beast would say so!” said Mildred Tarnley, with a swarthy flush, and striking her hand sternly on the table.

“Well, ’tis only a sayin’, ye know, and no new one neither,” said Tom, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, and standing22 up. “But the mistress is a pretty lady, and a kind—and a gentle-born as all may see, and I’d give or take a shrewd blow or two, or harm should happen her.”

“Ye’d be no man else, Tom, and I don’t doubt ye. Little thought I last night what was in her head, the sly villain23, when I left her back again in her bed, and the cross door shut and locked. Lord a’ mercy on us! To think how the fiend works wi’ his own-smooth and sly sometimes, as if butter would not melt in her mouth.”

“’Tis an old sayin’—

“‘When the cat winketh,

Little wots mouse what the cat thinketh.’”

said Tom, with a grin and a wag of his head. “She was neither sleek24, nor soft, nor sly for that matter, when I saw her. I thought she’d a’ had her claws in my chops; such a catamaran I never did see.”

“And how’s the young lady?” asked Tom, clapping his greasy25 hat on his head.

“Hey! dear! I’m glad ye asked,” exclaimed the old woman—“easier she’ll be, no doubt, now that devil’s gone. But, dearie me! all’s in a jumble26 till Master Charles comes back, for she’ll not know, poor thing, what she’s to do till he talks wi’ her—now all’s changed.”

And Mildred trotted27 off to see for herself, and to hear what the young lady might have to say.

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1 misgivings 0nIzyS     
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧
参考例句:
  • I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
  • Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后, 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧! 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
2 coup co5z4     
n.政变;突然而成功的行动
参考例句:
  • The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
  • That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。
3 prudently prudently     
adv. 谨慎地,慎重地
参考例句:
  • He prudently pursued his plan. 他谨慎地实行他那计划。
  • They had prudently withdrawn as soon as the van had got fairly under way. 他们在蓬车安全上路后立即谨慎地离去了。
4 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
5 squire 0htzjV     
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅
参考例句:
  • I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
  • The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。
6 odds n5czT     
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别
参考例句:
  • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
  • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗?
7 perpendicularly 914de916890a9aa3714fa26fe542c2df     
adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地
参考例句:
  • Fray's forehead was wrinkled both perpendicularly and crosswise. 弗雷的前额上纹路纵横。
  • Automatic resquaring feature insures nozzle is perpendicularly to the part being cut. 自动垂直功能,可以确保刀头回到与工件完全垂直的位置去切割。
8 dame dvGzR0     
n.女士
参考例句:
  • The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
  • If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会,你就要跟那个夫人结婚。
9 wry hMQzK     
adj.讽刺的;扭曲的
参考例句:
  • He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸,打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
  • Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马,噘了噘嘴。
11 nag i63zW     
v.(对…)不停地唠叨;n.爱唠叨的人
参考例句:
  • Nobody likes to work with a nag.谁也不愿与好唠叨的人一起共事。
  • Don't nag me like an old woman.别像个老太婆似的唠唠叨叨烦我。
12 fumbling fumbling     
n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理
参考例句:
  • If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动,经常这样结束。
  • If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动,经常这样结束。
13 draught 7uyzIH     
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计
参考例句:
  • He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
  • It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗,没有过堂风。
14 akin uxbz2     
adj.同族的,类似的
参考例句:
  • She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
  • Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。
15 bedlam wdZyh     
n.混乱,骚乱;疯人院
参考例句:
  • He is causing bedlam at the hotel.他正搅得旅馆鸡犬不宁。
  • When the teacher was called away the classroom was a regular bedlam.当老师被叫走的时候,教室便喧闹不堪。
16 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染
参考例句:
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
17 squat 2GRzp     
v.蹲坐,蹲下;n.蹲下;adj.矮胖的,粗矮的
参考例句:
  • For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
  • He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。
18 thrift kI6zT     
adj.节约,节俭;n.节俭,节约
参考例句:
  • He has the virtues of thrift and hard work.他具备节俭和勤奋的美德。
  • His thrift and industry speak well for his future.他的节俭和勤勉预示着他美好的未来。
19 poultry GPQxh     
n.家禽,禽肉
参考例句:
  • There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
  • What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?
20 repentance ZCnyS     
n.懊悔
参考例句:
  • He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
  • Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。
21 bin yR2yz     
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件
参考例句:
  • He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
  • He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。
22 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
23 villain ZL1zA     
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因
参考例句:
  • He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
  • The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。
24 sleek zESzJ     
adj.光滑的,井然有序的;v.使光滑,梳拢
参考例句:
  • Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
  • The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。
25 greasy a64yV     
adj. 多脂的,油脂的
参考例句:
  • He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
  • You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
26 jumble I3lyi     
vt.使混乱,混杂;n.混乱;杂乱的一堆
参考例句:
  • Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
  • The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。
27 trotted 6df8e0ef20c10ef975433b4a0456e6e1     
小跑,急走( trot的过去分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
  • Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。


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