Baulked at Wykeford, and learning there how long a ride interposed before he could hope to reach him, he turned and followed in a somewhat changed mood.
He would himself bail3 that woman. The question, felony or no felony—bailable offence or not bailable—entered not his uninstructed head. Be she what she might, assassin—devil, he could not and would not permit her to lie in jail. Arrested in his own house, with many sufferings and one great wrong to upbraid4 him with—with rights, imaginary he insisted, but honestly believed in, perhaps, by her—with other rights, which his tortured heart could not deny, the melancholy5 rights which are founded on outlawry6 and disgrace, eleemosynary, but quite irresistible7 when pleaded with natures not lost to all good, and which proclaim the dreadful equity-that vice8 has its duties no less than virtue9.
Baulked in his first violent impulse, Charles rode his hot horse quietly along the by-road that leads to Hatherton, over many a steep and through many a rut.
Yes, pleasant it would have been to “lick” that rascal10 Rodney, and upset his dog-cart into the ditch, and liberate11 the distressed12 damsel. But even Charles Fairfield began to perceive consequences, and to approve a more moderate course.
At Hatherton was there not Peregrine Hincks, the attorney who carried his brother, Harry13 Fairfield, whose course, any more than that of true love, did not always run smooth, through the short turns and breaks that disturbed it?
He would go straight to this artist in all manner of quips and cranks in parchment, and tell him what he wanted—the most foolish thing perhaps in the world, to undo14 that which his good fortune had done for him, and let loose again his trouble.
Scandal! What did the defiant15 soul of a Fairfield care for scandal? Impulsive16, reckless, affectionate, not ungenerous—all considerations were lost in the one compunctious feeling.
Two hours later he was in the office of Mr. Peregrine Hincks, who listened to his statement with a shrewd inflexibility17 of face. He knew as much as Harry Fairfield did of the person who was now under the turnkey’s tutelage. But Charles fancied him quite in the dark, and treated the subject accordingly.
“We’ll send down to the jail, and learn what she’s committed for, but two will be necessary. Who will execute the recognizance with you?”
“I’m certain Harry will do it in a moment,” said Charles.
The attorney was very sure that Harry would do no such thing. But it was not necessary to discuss that particular point, nor to insinuate18 officiously his ideas about the county scandal which would follow his inter-position in favour of a prisoner committed upon a charge involving an attempt upon the life of his wife, for the information brought back from the prison was such as to convince the attorney that bail could not be accepted in the case.
On learning this, Charles’ wrath returned. He stood for a time at the chimney-piece, examining in silence a candlestick that stood there, and then to the window he went, with a haggard, angry face, and looked out for a while with his hands in his pockets.
“Very well. So much the worse for Rodney,” said he suddenly. “I told you my sole motive19 was to snub that fellow. He chose to make an arrest in my house—his damned impertinence!—without the slightest reference to me, and I made up my mind, if I could, to let his prisoner go. That fellow wants to be kicked—I don’t care twopence about anything else, but it’s all one—I’ll find some other way.”
“You’d better have a glass of sherry, sir; you’re a little tired, and a biscuit.”
“I’ll have nothing, thanks, till I—till I—what was I going to say? Time enough; I have lots to do at home—a great deal, Mr. Hincks—and my head aches. I am tired, but I won’t mind the wine, thank you, my head is too bad. If I could just clear it of two or three things I’d be all right, and rest a little. I’ve been overworked, and I’ll ride over here tomorrow—that will do—and we’ll talk it over; and I don’t choose the wretched, crazy woman to be shut up in prison, because that stupid prig, Rodney, pleases to say she’s sane20, and would like to hang her, just because she was arrested at Carwell; and—and as you say, of course, if she is insane she is best out of the way; but there are ways of doing things, and I won’t be bullied21 by that vulgar snob22. By if I had caught him today I’d have broken his neck, I believe.”
“Glad you did not meet him, sir—a row at any time brings one into mischief23, but an interference with the course of law—don’t you see—a very serious affair, indeed!”
“Well, see—yes, I suppose so, and there was just another thing. Believing, as I do, that wretched person quite mad—don’t you see?—it would be very hard to let her—to let her half starve there where they’ve put her—don’t you think?—and I don’t care to go down to the place there, and all that; and if you’d just manage to let her have this—it’s all I can do just now—but—but its happening at my house—although I’m not a bit to blame, puts it on me in a way.—so I think I can’t do less than this.”
He handed a bank-note to the attorney, and was looking all the time on a brief that lay on the table.
Mr. Hincks, the respectable attorney, was a little shy, also, as he took it.
“I’m to say you send it to—what’s her name, by-the-by?” he asked.
“Bertha Velderkaust, but you need not mention me—only say it was sent to her—that’s all. I’m so vexed24, because as you may suppose, I had particular reasons for wishing to keep quiet, and I was staying there at the Grange, you know—Carwell—and thought I might keep quiet for a few weeks; and that wretched maniac25 comes down there while I was for a few days absent, and in one of her fits makes an attack on a member of my family; and so my little hiding place is disclosed, for of course such a fracas26 will be heard of,—it is awfully27 provoking—I’m rather puzzled to know where to go.
Charles ceased, with a faint, dreary28 laugh, and the attorney looked at his bank-note, which he held by the comers, as the mate, in Mudford’s fine story, might at the letter which Vanderdecken wished to send to his long-lost wife in Amsterdam.
It was not, however, clear to him that he had any very good excuse for refusing to do this trifling29 kindness for the brother of his quarrelsome and litigious client, Harry Fairfield, who, although he eschewed30 costs himself, laid them pretty heavily upon others, and was a valuable feeder for Mr. Hincks’ office.
This little commission, therefore, accepted, the attorney saw his visitor downstairs. He had already lighted a candle, and in its light he thought he never saw a man upon his legs look so ill as Charles, and the hand which he gave Mr. Hincks at the steps was dry and burning.
“It’s a long ride, sir, to Carwell,” the attorney hesitated.
“The horse has had some oats, thanks, down here,” and he nodded toward the Plume31 of Feathers at which he had put up his beast, “and I shan’t be long getting over the ground.”
And without turning about, or a look over his shoulder, he sauntered away, in the rising moonlight, toward the little inn.
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1
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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2
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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3
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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upbraid
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| v.斥责，责骂，责备 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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outlawry
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| 宣布非法，非法化，放逐 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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8
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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10
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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11
liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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12
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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13
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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14
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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15
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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16
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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17
inflexibility
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| n.不屈性，顽固，不变性；不可弯曲；非挠性；刚性 | |
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18
insinuate
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| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
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19
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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21
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
snob
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| n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人 | |
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23
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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24
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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25
maniac
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| n.精神癫狂的人；疯子 | |
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26
fracas
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| n.打架；吵闹 | |
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27
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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28
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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30
eschewed
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| v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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