Duly next morning the rosy-fingered Aurora2 drew the gold and crimson3 curtains of the east, and the splendid Apollo, stepping forth4 from his chamber5, took the reins6 of his unrivalled team, and driving four-in-hand through the sky, like a great swell7 as he is, took small note of the staring hucksters and publicans by the road-side, and sublimely8 overlooked the footsore and ragged9 pedestrians10 that crawl below his level. It was, in fact, one of those brisk and bright mornings which proclaim a universal cheerfulness, and mock the miseries11 of those dismal12 wayfarers13 of life, to whom returning light is a renewal14 of sorrow, who, bowing toward the earth, resume their despairing march, and limp and groan15 under heavy burdens, until darkness, welcome, comes again, and their eyelids16 drop, and they lie down with their loads on, looking up a silent supplication17, and wishing that death would touch their eyelids in their sleep, and their journey end where they lie.
Captain Lake was in London this morning. We know he came about electioneering matters; but he had not yet seen Leverett. Perhaps on second thoughts he rightly judged that Leverett knew no more than he did of the matter. It depended on the issue of the great debate that was drawing nigh. The Minister himself could not tell whether the dissolution was at hand; and could no more postpone18 it, when the time came, than he could adjourn19 an eclipse.
Notwithstanding the late whist party of the previous night, the gallant20 captain made a very early toilet. With his little bag in his hand, he went down stairs, thinking unpleasantly, I believe, and jumped into the Hansom that awaited him at the door, telling the man to go to the —— station. They had hardly turned the corner, however, when he popped his head forward and changed the direction.
He looked at his watch. He had quite time to make his visit, and save the down-train after.
He did not know the City well. Many men who lived two hundred miles away, and made a flying visit only once in three years, knew it a great deal better than the London-bred rake who had lived in the West-end all his days.
Captain Lake looked peevish21 and dangerous, as he always did, when he was anxious. In fact he did not know what the next ten minutes might bring him. He was thinking what had best be done in any and every contingency22. Was he still abroad, or had he arrived? was he in Shive’s Court, or, cursed luck! had he crossed him yesterday by the down-train, and was he by this time closeted with Larkin in the Lodge23? Lake, so to speak, stood at his wicket, and that accomplished24 bowler25, Fortune, ball in hand, at the other end; will it be swift round-hand, or a slow twister, or a shooter, or a lob? Eye and hand, foot and bat, he must stand tense, yet flexible, lithe26 and swift as lightning, ready for everything — cut, block, slip, or hit to leg. It was not altogether pleasant. The stakes were enormous! and the suspense27 by no means conducive28 to temper.
Lake fancied that the man was driving wrong, once or twice, and was on the point of cursing him to that effect, from the window. But at last, with an anxious throb29 at his heart, he recognised the dingy30 archway, and the cracked brown marble tablet over the keystone, and he recognised Shive’s Court.
So forth jumped the captain, so far relieved, and glided32 into the dim quadrangle, with its square of smoky sky overhead; and the prattle33 of children playing on the flags, and the scrape of a violin from a window, were in his ears, but as it were unheard. He was looking up at a window, with a couple of sooty scarlet34 geraniums in it. This was the court where Dame Dutton dwelt. He glided up her narrow stair and let himself in by the latch35; and with his cane36 made a smacking37 like a harlequin’s sword upon the old woman’s deal table, crying: ‘Mrs. Dutton; Mrs. Dutton. Is Mrs. Dutton at home?’
The old lady, who was a laundress, entered, in a short blue cotton wrapper, wiping the suds from her shrunken but sinewy38 arms with her apron39, and on seeing the captain, her countenance40, which was threatening, became very reverential indeed.
‘How d’ye do, Mrs. Dutton? Quite well. Have you heard lately from Jim?’
‘No.’
‘You’ll see him soon, however, and give him this note, d’ye see, and tell him I was here, asking about you and him, and very well, and glad if I can serve him again? don’t forget that, very glad. Where will you keep that note? Oh! your tea-caddy, not a bad safe; and see, give him this, it’s ten pounds. You won’t forget; and you want a new gown, Mrs. Dutton. I’d choose it thyself, only I’m such a bad judge; but you’ll choose it for me, won’t you? and let me see it on you when next I come,’ and with a courtesy and a great beaming smile on her hot face, she accepted the five-pound note, which he placed in her hand.
In another moment the captain was gone. He had just time to swallow a cup of coffee at the ‘Terminus Hotel,’ and was gliding41 away towards the distant walls of Brandon Hall.
He had a coupé all to himself. But he did not care for the prospect42. He saw Lawyer Larkin, as it were, reflected in the plate-glass, with his hollow smile and hungry eyes before him, knowing more than he should do, paying him compliments, and plotting his ruin.
‘Everything would have been quite smooth only for that d —— fellow. The Devil fixed43 him precisely44 there for the express purpose of fleecing and watching, and threatening him — perhaps worse. He hated that sly, double-dealing reptile45 of prey46 — the arachnida of social nature — the spiders with which also naturalists47 place the scorpions48. I dare say Mr. Larkin would have had as little difficulty in referring the gallant captain to the same family.
While Stanley Lake is thus scanning the shabby, but dangerous image of the attorney in the magic mirror before him, that eminent49 limb of the law was not inactive in the quiet town of Gylingden. Under ordinary circumstances his ‘pride’ would have condemned50 the vicar to a direful term of suspense, and he certainly would not have knocked at the door of the pretty little gabled house at the Dollington end of the town for many days to come. The vicar would have had to seek out the attorney, to lie in wait for and to woo him.
But Jos. Larkin’s pride, like all his other passions — except his weakness for the precious metals — was under proper regulation. Jim Dutton might arrive at any moment, and it would not do to risk his publishing the melancholy51 intelligence of Mark Wylder’s death before the transfer of the vicar’s reversion; and to prevent that risk the utmost promptitude was indispensable.
At nine o’clock, therefore, he presented himself, attended by his legal henchmen as before.
‘Another man might not have come here, Mr. Wylder, until his presence had been specially52 invited, after the — the ——’ when he came to define the offence it was not very easy to do so, inasmuch as it consisted in the vicar’s having unconsciously very nearly escaped from his fangs53; ‘but let that pass. I have had, I grieve to say, by this morning’s post a most serious letter from London;’ the attorney shook his head, while searching his pocket. ‘I’ll read just a passage or two if you’ll permit me; it comes from Burlington and Smith. I protest I have forgot it at home; however, I may mention, that in consequence of the letter you authorised me to write, and guaranteed by your bond, on which they have entered judgment54, they have gone to the entire expense of drawing the deeds, and investigating title, and they say that the purchaser will positively55 be off, unless the articles are in their office by twelve o’clock to-morrow; and, I grieve to say, they add, that in the event of the thing falling through, they will issue execution for the amount of their costs, which, as I anticipated, a good deal exceeds four hundred pounds. I have, therefore, my dear Mr. Wylder, casting aside all unpleasant feeling, called to entreat56 you to end and determine any hesitation57 you may have felt, and to execute without one moment’s delay the articles which are prepared, and which must be in the post-office within half an hour.’
Then Mr. Jos. Larkin entered pointedly58 and briefly59 into Miss Lake’s offer, which he characterised as ‘wholly nugatory60, illusory, and chimerical;’ told him he had spoken on the subject, yesterday evening, to the young lady, who now saw plainly that there really was nothing in it, and that she was not in a position to carry out that part of her proposition, which contemplated62 a residence in the vicar’s family.
This portion of his discourse63 he dismissed rather slightly and mysteriously; but he contrived64 to leave upon the vicar’s mind a very painful and awful sort of uncertainty65 respecting the young lady of whom he spoke61.
Then he became eloquent66 on the madness of further indecision in a state of things so fearfully menacing, freely admitting that it would have been incomparably better for the vicar never to have moved in the matter, than, having put his hand to the plough, to look back as he had been doing. If he declined his advice, there was no more to be said, but to bow his head to the storm, and that ponderous67 execution would descend68 in wreck69 and desolation.
So the vicar, very much flushed, in panic and perplexity, and trusting wildly to his protesting lawyer’s guidance, submitted. Buggs and the bilious70 youngster entered with the deed, and the articles were duly executed, and the vicar signed also a receipt for the fanciful part of the consideration, and upon it and the deed he endorsed71 a solemn promise, in the terms I have mentioned before, that he would never take any step to question, set aside, or disturb the purchase, or any matter connected therewith.
Then the attorney, now in his turn flushed and very much elated, congratulated the poor vicar on his emancipation72 from his difficulties; and ‘now that it was all done and over, told him, what he had never told him before, that, considering the nature of the purchase, he had got a splendid price for it.’
The good man had also his agreement from Lake to sell Five Oaks.
The position of the good attorney, therefore, in a commercial point of view, was eminently73 healthy and convenient. For less than half the value of Five Oaks alone, he was getting that estate, and a vastly greater one beside, to be succeeded to on Mark Wylder’s death.
No wonder, then, that the good attorney was more than usually bland74 and happy that day. He saw the pork-butcher in his back-parlour, and had a few words to say about the chapel-trust, and his looks and talk were quite edifying75. He met two little children in the street, and stopped and smiled as he stooped down to pat them on the heads, and ask them whose children they were, and gave one of them a halfpenny. And he sat afterwards, for nearly ten minutes, with lean old Mrs. Mullock, in her little shop, where toffey, toys, and penny books for young people were sold, together with baskets, tea-cups, straw-mats, and other adult ware76; and he was so friendly and talked so beautifully, and although, as he admitted in his lofty way, ‘there might be differences in fortune and position,’ yet were we not all members of one body? And he talked upon this theme till the good lady, marvelling77 how so great a man could be so humble78, was called to the receipt of custom, on the subject of ‘paradise’ and ‘lemon-drops,’ and the heavenly-minded attorney, with a celestial79 condescension80, recognised his two little acquaintances of the street, and actually adding another halfpenny to his bounty81 — escaped, with a hasty farewell and a smile, to the street, as eager to evade82 the thanks of the little people, and the admiration83 of Mrs. Mullock.
It is not to be supposed, that having got one momentous84 matter well off his mind, the good attorney was to be long rid of anxieties. The human mind is fertile in that sort of growth. As well might the gentleman who shaves suppose, as his fingers glide31, after the operation, over the polished surface of his chin — factus ad unguem — that he may fling his brush and strop into the fire, and bury his razor certain fathoms85 in the earth. No! One crop of cares will always succeed another — not very oppressive, nor in any wise grand, perhaps — worries, simply, no more; but needing a modicum86 of lather87, the looking glass, the strop, the diligent88 razor, delicate manipulation, and stealing a portion of our precious time every day we live; and this must go on so long as the state of man is imperfect, and plenty of possible evil in futurity.
The attorney must run up to London for a day or two. What if that mysterious, and almost illegible89 brute90, James Dutton, should arrive while he was away. Very unpleasant, possibly! For the attorney intended to keep that gentleman very quiet. Sufficient time must be allowed to intervene to disconnect the purchase of the vicar’s remainder from the news of Mark Wylder’s demise91. A year and a-half, maybe, or possibly a year might do. For if the good attorney was cautious, he was also greedy, and would take possession as early as was safe. Therefore arrangements were carefully adjusted to detain that important person, in the event of his arriving; and a note, in the good attorney’s hand, inviting92 him to remain at the Lodge till his return, and particularly requesting that ‘he would kindly93 abstain94 from mentioning to anyone, during his absence, any matter he might intend to communicate to him in his professional capacity or otherwise.’
This, of course, was a little critical, and made his to-morrow’s journey to London a rather anxious prospect.
In the meantime our friend, Captain Lake, arrived in a hired fly, with his light baggage, at the door of stately Brandon. So soon as the dust and ashes of railway travel were removed, the pale captain, in changed attire95, snowy cambric, and with perfumed hair and handkerchief, presented himself before Dorcas.
‘Now, Dorkie, darling, your poor soldier has come back, resolved to turn over a new leaf, and never more to reserve another semblance96 of a secret from you,’ said he, so soon as his first greeting was over. ‘I long to have a good talk with you, Dorkie. I have no one on earth to confide97 in but you. I think,’ he said, with a little sigh, ‘I would never have been so reserved with you, darling, if I had had anything pleasant to confide; but all I have to say is triste and tiresome98 — only a story of difficulties and petty vexations. I want to talk to you, Dorkie. Where shall it be?’
They were in the great drawing-room, where I had first seen Dorcas Brandon and Rachel Lake, on the evening on which my acquaintance with the princely Hall was renewed, after an interval99 of so many years.
‘This room, Stanley, dear?’
‘Yes, this room will answer very well,’ he said, looking round. ‘We can’t be overheard, it is so large. Very well, darling, listen.’
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1
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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sublimely
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| 高尚地，卓越地 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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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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wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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peevish
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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bowler
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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latch
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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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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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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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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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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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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entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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nugatory
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| adj.琐碎的，无价值的 | |
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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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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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bilious
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| adj.胆汁过多的；易怒的 | |
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endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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72
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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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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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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80
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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81
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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84
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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85
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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modicum
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| n.少量，一小份 | |
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lather
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| n.(肥皂水的)泡沫，激动 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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illegible
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| adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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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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abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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