The scene which had just occurred was a dreadful ordeal6 for Alice. To recount, and with effort and minuteness, to gather into order the terrific incidents of the night preceding, relate them bit by bit to the magistrate7 as he wrote them down, make oath to their truth as the basis of a public prosecution8, and most dreadful—the having to see and identify the spectre who had murderously assailed9 her on the night before.
Every step affrighted her, the shadow of a moving branch upon the wall chilled her with terror; the voices of people who spoke10 seemed to pierce the naked nerve of her ear, and to sing through her head; even for a moment faces, kind and familiar, seemed to flicker11 or darken with direful meanings alien from their natures.
In this nervous condition old Mildred found her.
“I come, ma’am, to know what you’d wish to be done,” said she, standing12 at the door with her usual grim little courtesy.
“I don’t quite understand—done about what?” inquired she.
“I mean, ma’am, Tom said you asked him to be ready to drive you from here; but as master hadn’t come back, and things is changed a bit here, I thought ye might wish to make a change, mayhap.”
“Oh, oh! thank you, Mrs. Tarnley; I forgot, I’ve been so frightened. Oh, Mrs. Tarnley, I wish I could cry—I’d be so much better, I’m sure, if I could cry—I feel my throat so odd and my head so confused—it seems so many days. If I could think of anything to make me cry.”
Mildred looked at her from the corners of her eyes darkly, as if with a hard heart, but I think she pitied her.
“That blind woman’s gone, the beast—I’m glad she’s away; and you’ll be the better o’ that, ma’am, I’m thinkin’. I was afeard o’ her a’most myself ever since last night; and Master Charles is gone, too, but he’ll be back soon.”
“He’ll come today?” she asked, in consternation13.
“Today, of course, ma’am—in an hour or less, I do suppose; and it would not be well done, I’m thinkin’, ma’am, for you to leave the Grange, till you see him again, for it’s like enough he’ll a’ changed his plans.”
“I was thinking so myself. I’d rather wait here to see him—he had so much to distract him that he may easily think differently by this time. I’m glad, Mrs. Tarnley, you think so, for now I feel confident I may wait for his return—I think I ought to wait—and thank you, Mrs. Tarnley, for advising me in the midst of my distractions14.”
“I just speak my mind, ma’am, and counsel’s no command, as they say; and I never liked meddlers; and don’t love to burn my fingers in other people’s brewes; so ye’ll please to mind, ma’am, ’tis for your own ear I speak, and your own wit will judge; and I wouldn’t have Master Charles looking askew15, nor like to be shent by him for what’s kindly16 meant to you—not that I owe much kindness nowhere, for since I could scour17 a platter I ever gave work for wage. So ye’ll please not tell Master Charles I counselled ye aught in the matter.”
“Certainly, Mrs. Tarnley, just as you wish.”
“Would you please wish anything to eat, ma’am?” inquired Mildred, relapsing into her dry, official manner.
“Nothing, Mildred—no, thanks.”
“Ye’ll lose heart, miss, if ye don’t eat—ye must eat.”
“Thanks, Mildred, by-and-by, perhaps,”
Mrs. Tarnley, like many worthy18 people, regarded eating as a simply mechanical process, and wondered why people affected19 a difficulty about it under any circumstances. Somewhat hard of heart, and with nerves of wire, she had no idea that a sufficient shock might rob one not only of appetite, but positively20 of the power of eating for days.
Alone, for one moment, Alice could not endure to be—haunted unintermittingly by the vague but intense dread3 of a return of the woman who had so nearly succeeded in murdering her, and with nerves shattered in that indescribable degree which even a strong man experiences for a long time after a murder has been attempted upon him perfidiously21 and by a surprise. The worst panic comes after an interval22 of many hours.
As the day waned23, more miserably24 nervous she became, and more defined her terror of the Dutchwoman’s return. That straggling old house, with no less than four doors of entrance, favoured the alarms of her imagination. Often she thought of her kind old kinswoman. Lady Wyndale, and her proffered25 asylum26 at her snug27 house at Oulton.
But that was a momentary28 picture—no more. Miserable29 as she was at the Grange, until she had seen her husband, learned his plans, and knew what his wishes were, that loyal little wife could not dream of going to Oulton.
She remained there as the shades of evening darkened over the steep roof and solemn trees of Carwell Grange, and more and more grew the horror that deepened with darkness, and was aggravated30 and distracted by the continued absence of her husband.
In the sitting-room she stood, listening, with a beating heart. Every sound, which at another time would have been unheard, now thrilled her with hope or terror.
Old Dulcibella in the room was also frightened—more a great deal than she could account for. And even Mildred Tarnley—that hard and grim old lady—was touched by the influence of that contagious31 fear, and barred and locked the doors with jealous care, and even looked to the fastenings of the windows, and caught some faint shadows of that supernatural fear with which Alice Fairfield had come to regard the wicked woman out of whose hands she had escaped.
Now and then, when appealed to, she said a short word or two of reassurance32 respecting Charles Fairfield’s unaccountably prolonged absence. But the panic of the young lady in like manner on this point began to invade her in uncomfortable misgivings33.
So uneasy had she grown that at last she dispatched Tom when sunset had come without a sign of Charles Fairfield’s return, riding to Wykeford. Tom had now returned. A bootless errand it had proved. At Wykeford he learned that Charles Fairfield had been there—had been at Squire34 Rodney’s house and about the town, and made inquiries35. His pursuit had been misdirected. At Wykeford is a House of Correction and Reformatory, which institution acts as a prison of ease to the county jail. But that jail is in the town of Hatherton, as Charles would have easily recollected36 if his rage had allowed him a moment to think. Tom, however, made no attempt further to pursue him, on conjecture37, and had returned to Carwell Grange, no wiser than he went.
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1
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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2
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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3
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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4
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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5
subside
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| vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降 | |
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6
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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7
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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8
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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9
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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10
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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11
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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12
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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13
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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14
distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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15
askew
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| adv.斜地；adj.歪斜的 | |
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16
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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17
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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18
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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19
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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perfidiously
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| adv.不忠实地，背信地 | |
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22
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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23
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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24
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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25
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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27
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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28
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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29
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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30
aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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31
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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32
reassurance
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| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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33
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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34
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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35
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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36
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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37
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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