Emilia had intended not to sleep; she would keep awake all the night, and wait for Gerald in the morning--the morning of the day which was to be for her the herald7 of a new and happier life. She bore Mrs. Seaton no malice8 for the indignities9 she had suffered in her house. There was no room in Emilia's heart for anything but love. With what heartfelt gratitude10 did she dwell upon the image of Gerald, the noblest man on earth. "I thank God for him," she sighed. "Dear Lord, I thank Thee that Thou hast given me the love of a man like Gerald. My Gerald! Is it true? Can it be real? Ah, yes; I see his dear eyes looking into mine; his dear voice sinks into my heart. Make me grateful for the happiness before me!" It stretched out into the future years, a vista11 of peace and love and joy. Insensibly she sank upon her knees and prayed, and when she rose the room, the world, and all that it contained, were transfigured. How fair, how sweet was life! She had prayed for Gerald and for herself, had prayed that she might prove worthy12 of him, and might be endowed with power to brighten his days. Then she sat before the fire, and clasping her knee with her hands, imagined bright pictures in the glowing points of lights. She felt herself sinking to sleep. "I will just close my eyes for a few minutes," she thought. There were warm rugs about the room. Loosening her dress, she threw herself upon the couch, and covering herself with the rugs, fell asleep with joy in her heart and a smile on her lips.
At half-past three in the morning Gerald, after an absence of half an hour or so, was returning to the street in which his house was situated13, when he saw an angry glare in the sky, and heard sounds of confusion in the near distance. Almost instantly A fire-engine raced past him. He hastened after it, partly from instinct, but chiefly because it was going in his direction. He had, however, no idea that the danger personally concerned him. Long before he reached his street he was undeceived. Crowds of people encompassed14 him, and he found it difficult to proceed. Three or four fire-engines were at work; firemen were risking their lives in the enthusiasm of their noble work; policemen were keeping back the excited lookers-on.
"My God!" he cried, as he turned the corner; "it is my house, and Emilia is there!"
Frantically15 he strove to force his way through the crowd, which would not give way for him at first, but he redoubled his efforts, and running under or leaping over firemen, policemen, and the men and women who were surging round, he tore off his coat, and rushed toward the burning building. He was pulled back, and escaping from those who held him, darted16 forward again with despairing cries, and was caught in the arms of one who knew him.
"It's all right," cried this man to the firemen. "Mr. Paget has escaped from the house."
He who spoke17 thought that Gerald, instead of striving to enter the house, had just emerged from it, and his idea was strengthened by the circumstance that Gerald was in his shirt sleeves. One in authority came up to Gerald and said:
"We were getting frightened about you, sir. We got out a young lady and your two servants----"
"A young lady!" gasped18 Gerald, and inwardly thanked God that Emilia was saved.
"Yes, sir. There's some mystery about her, because your housekeeper19 said there was no young lady there, but out she came, or was carried, insensible----"
"For God's sake," cried Gerald, "don't tell me she is injured!"
"I think not, sir; but she was in an insensible condition, and some people took her away. Your housekeeper said you were the only one left. Now that we know no lives are lost we can get on with our work. Your house is a wreck20, sir; there'll be very little saved out of it."
"Where was the young lady taken to?" asked Gerald, in a state of indescribable agitation21, detaining the officer by the sleeve.
"I can't tell you, sir. Excuse me, I must attend to my duty."
Releasing himself from Gerald's grasp, he plunged22 among his men. Gerald, in his eager anxiety for information of Emilia, asked a dozen persons around him, and obtained a dozen different answers. One said one thing, one said another, and each speaker contradicted the one who had previously23 spoken. At length he saw on the outskirts24 of the crowd his housekeeper talking to a lady, and running toward them, he saw that the lady was Mrs. Seaton.
"I am glad you are saved, Mr. Paget," said Mrs. Seaton, with freezing politeness. "I was just asking your housekeeper who is the young lady who was carried out of your house barely half dressed, and she insists that no such person was there. But as a hundred people saw her, there is, of course, no disputing a fact so clear. Perhaps you can tell us who she is?"
A number of neighbors gathered around, some who knew both Gerald and Emilia.
"And I said, sir," said the housekeeper, "that their eyes deceived them----"
"Oh, that is very likely," interposed Mrs. Seaton, in her most malicious25 tone.
"Because," continued the housekeeper, "when we went to bed last night there was nobody but me and that little wretch26 of a Susan in the house. It was her who set the place on fire, sir, with her novel reading. I hope she'll be put in prison for it."
"But enlighten us, Mr. Paget," said Mrs. Seaton. "Who was the young lady?"
"You are a malicious scandal-monger," cried Gerald, and tore himself away, feeling that he had made for himself and Emilia a more bitter enemy in calling Mrs. Seaton by that name.
He continued his inquiries27 for Emilia, but could obtain no satisfaction. So many different stories were related to him that he could not tell which was the true one.
The truth was that Emilia, being aroused from sleep by the fire, unlocked the door of the room in which Gerald had left her, and rushed into the passage. The place was strange to her, and she might have been burned to death had not a fireman, who was making his way past her, pulled her into the street. There she was taken up by one and another, striving all the while to escape the prying28 eyes of those around her, until, overcome by the complicated horror of her position, she swooned away. Two compassionate29 maiden30 ladies, sisters, pitying her state, said they would take care of her, and conveyed her to their home.
There they tended her, wondering who she was, for she was a stranger to them, as they were to her. But the terrors through which Emilia had passed had completely prostrated31 her; the whole of the succeeding day she fell from one faint into another, and the doctor who was called in said it would be best to wait awhile before they questioned her too closely. "She has had a severe mental shock," he said, "and if we are not careful she will have an attack of brain fever." On the evening of the following day she was somewhat better, but her mind was almost a blank as to what had transpired32 during the past twenty-four hours. The image of Gerald occasionally obtruded33 itself, and if he had appeared, all would have been well; he was her rock, her shield, and, incapable34 as she was of coherent thought, his absence weighed upon her as a reproach, and she felt as if God and man had forsaken35 her. An experience still more cruel was in store for her.
It was night, and she heard a voice in the adjoining room that smote36 her with terror, the voice of Mrs. Seaton speaking to the ladies who had befriended her. More successful than Gerald, Mrs. Seaton had hunted her down.
"It's a neighborly duty," Mrs. Seaton was saying, "to prevent kind-hearted ladies like yourselves from being imposed upon. I have suffered from her artfulness and wickedness myself, and there was no one to warn me; but if you allow yourself to be taken in by her you will do it with your eyes open."
"She is very gentle-mannered," said one of the two ladies who had befriended her, "and we have a great pity for her. Surely she cannot be so bad as you paint her."
"Facts are facts," said Mrs. Seaton. "You do not even know her name."
"She is too weak to enter into particulars," said the lady, "and we forbore to press her."
"Too weak!" exclaimed Mrs. Seaton, with a derisive37 laugh. "Fiddlesticks! Excuse me for speaking so, but I hardly have patience with her. Her weakness is put on; you are no match for the creature. Of course if you do not mind being disgraced by association with such a character it is no business of mine; but I ought to know her better than you do."
"You use strong words," said the lady very gravely. "Disgraced! It is too dreadful to think of. What is her name?"
"Emilia Braham. Her father died deeply involved, and would no doubt have swindled his creditors38 if he had lived; fortunately for them he died suddenly, and they were able to step in and save something from the wreck. I will tell you the whole story if you care to hear it."
"We ought to hear it."
"You shall. After her father's death she came to me and begged me to give her a situation. I took her out of pity. 'I will give you a trial,' I said to her. So she came into my house, and I treated her as a daughter. After a time I had my suspicions, and I do not mind confessing that I set a watch upon her. Then I discovered that she was carrying on a disgraceful intimacy39 with Mr. Gerald Paget, meeting him regularly and secretly, and keeping out at all hours. When she found that all was known she told her gentleman friend, who came to me and bullied40 me. In return for his insults I showed him the door, and forbade his ever entering my house again. Then in the evening I sent for the creature and informed her that she must leave my service the following morning--that is, to-day. The language she used to me was dreadful, and she said she would go at once. I told her I would not allow it; badly as she had behaved, I felt that it was not right for her, a single girl, to leave the house at night. However, she insisted, and I had to give way. To protect myself from her malicious slanders41, I wrote out a paper which she signed in the presence of another servant, who is ready to testify that the creature knew perfectly42 well what she was doing. Here it is; you can read it. The other servant witnessed her signature, as you see. Then she left the house, and I soon found out why. She had arranged a clandestine43 meeting with Mr. Paget that very night--I saw her with my own eyes in his embrace. An hour or two afterward44 they got into a cab--I can give you the number of the cab and the name of the driver--and drove to Mr. Paget's residence, he being a bachelor, mind you, and living alone with only two female servants in his employ. When he took the creature home he knew quite well that his domestics were abed and asleep, and that there was no risk of his scandalous doings being discovered. But he reckoned without his host. There is a Providence45--yes, happily there is a Providence. The fire occurred, and the creature you are harboring rushed out of Mr. Paget's house. Ask her how she got into it. In the middle of the night, too. I ask you, as ladies of common-sense, what construction does it bear? No artfully-invented tale can explain it away. You should be thankful to me for putting you on your guard. Oh, you don't know these creatures!"
"It is a dreadful story," said the lady.
"I hope you will do your duty, as I have done mine. Have I put it too strongly in saying that her presence here is a disgrace?"
"No. We are obliged to you for the unpleasant task you have performed. To-morrow, if she is strong enough, I will request her to take her departure."
"Too lenient47 by far. In your place I should bundle her out, neck and crop. If you wait till she says she is well enough to go you will wait a precious long time. I shall take care, for my part, that everybody knows the truth."
"Is it not strange," asked the lady, "that Mr. Paget has not called to inquire after her?"
"Not at all; he wishes to keep his name out of the disgraceful affair if he can. It is perfectly clear that he is ashamed of the connection, and wants to be rid of it. So long as it could be kept quiet he didn't mind, but now that it is made public--I can't help repeating, in the most providential manner--it is another pair of shoes. Why, the whole town is talking of it. When the creature shows her face, if she has the hardihood to do it, she will meet with a proper reception. I shouldn't at all wonder if it gets into the papers. Good-night."
Then there was a rustling48 of skirts, and Emilia knew that her cruel persecutor49 had taken her leave. She pressed her hands upon her eyes, and the scalding tears ran down her fingers. The horror of the situation was almost more than she could bear. She could not think clearly, but through her aching brain one conviction forced itself. She was disgraced, irretrievably disgraced. Her good name was lost forever. Nothing could restore it, nothing. If an angel from heaven were to declare it, no man or woman would hereafter believe in her purity and innocence50. What should she do? Wait till the morning to be turned from the hospitable51 house of these kind sisters? Go forth52 into the broad light of day, and be pointed53 at and publicly shamed? No, she would fly at once, secretly and alone, into the hard, cold world, far, far from the merciless men and women who were ready to defame her. The story which Mrs. Seaton had related to the maiden sisters was false and malignant54, but it was built upon a foundation of truth. If she herself had to give evidence in her own defence she would be pronounced guilty. She had been turned from Mrs. Seaton's house late in the night, but she had signed a paper saying that she went of her own free will. She and Gerald had been together in the streets--for how long? She could not remember, but it seemed to be hours. And as if that were not shame enough she had taken refuge in his house and had accepted his hospitality at an hour that would make virtuous55 women blush. He had pledged his faith to her, he had asked her to be his wife, and now, when she most needed a defender56, he was absent. It was true, then, that he had deserted57 her. Had it been otherwise would he not have sought her long before this, would he not have been present to cast the malignant lie in Mrs. Seaton's face? She had believed so fully46 in his faith and honor, in his professions of love! But he was false, like all the rest of the world, from which sweetness and life had forever fled.
"Oh, God!" she moaned. "In your Divine mercy, let me die to-night!"
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1
loquacious
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| adj.多嘴的，饶舌的 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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tantalizing
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| adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 ) | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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8
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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indignities
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| n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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17
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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18
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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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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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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27
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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28
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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31
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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obtruded
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| v.强行向前，强行，强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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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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slanders
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| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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42
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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49
persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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50
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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51
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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53
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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54
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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56
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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