The apparition2 made a wondrous3 stir on deck. To those who had ever heard of such a being, it appeared that the Witch of the Moon, in all the indescribable magic of her beauty, had been translated into flesh. Men seemed upon the instant to find an errand to that quarter of the ship. Captain Eliphalet Wrye, who had been watching with great unconcern a transfer whose significance seemed to him quite ordinary, came forward in haste, eager to do the honours of his ship, and marvelling4 beyond measure at such a guest. Captain Eliphalet had traded much among the French of Acadie and New France. He knew well the difference 247between the seigneurial and the habitant classes; and this knowledge was just what he needed to make his bewilderment complete.
“Here’s the captain of the ship coming to see you, chérie!” whispered Mother Pêche, squeezing the girl’s arm significantly. Yvonne steadied herself with an effort, and turned a brilliant glance upon this important stranger. With his rough blue reefing-jacket, extremely broad shoulders, and excessively broad yellow-brown beard, Captain Eliphalet looked to her just as she thought a merchant-captain ought to look. She therefore approved of him, and awaited his approach with a smile that put him instantly at ease. As he came up, however, hat in hand and with considered phrases on his lips, the old woman forestalled6 him.
“Let me present you, Monsieur le Capitaine,” said she, stepping forward with a courtesy, “to my mistress, Mademoiselle de Lamourie, of Lamourie Place.”
“It is but ashes, alas7! monsieur,” interrupted Yvonne, holding out her hand.
“The ship is yours, Mademoiselle de Lamourie!” he exclaimed, and bowed with a gesture of relinquishing8 everything to her command. It was not for nothing Captain Eliphalet had visited Montreal and Quebec.
Yvonne dropped her lids for a second, and shook her head rebukingly9.
248“That is not English, monsieur,” she protested, “but it is very nice of you. I should not know what to do with a ship just now; but I like our little pleasant French fictions.”
Captain Eliphalet, however, could be French for a moment only.
“But you, mademoiselle, you—how comes such a one as you to be sailing away into exile?”
Yvonne’s long lashes11 drooped12 again, and this time did not rise so quickly.
“I have reason to think, monsieur,” she answered gravely, “that dear friends and kinsfolk of mine are on this ship, themselves going, fettered13, into exile. I could not stay behind and let them go so. But enough of myself, monsieur, for the present,” she went on, speaking more rapidly. “I want to ease the anxieties of these poor souls who have come with me. Is there among your prisoners a young man known as ‘Petit Joliet’? Here is his mother come to look for him.”
Captain Eliphalet summoned a soldier who stood near, and put the question to him in English.
“There is one by the name of Franse Joliet on the roll, captain,” answered the red-coat, saluting14.
“That’s he! That’s my boy!” cried his mother, catching15 the name. She had been waiting close by with a strained, fixed16 face, which now went to pieces in a medley17 of smiles and tears, like a reflection on still water suddenly broken. She 249clutched Yvonne’s hands, blessed and kissed them, and then rushed off vaguely18 as if to find Petit Joliet in durance behind some pile of ropes or water-butt.
“And Lenoir—Tamin Lenoir,” continued Yvonne, her voice thrilling with joy over her task, “and Michel Savarin. Are they, too, in the hold?”
“Yes, miss,” said the soldier, saluting again, and never taking his eyes from her face. She turned to the two women in their restless fringe of clingers; and they, more sober because more hampered19 in their delight, thanked her devoutly20, and moved off to learn what more they could elsewhere.
Meanwhile another figure had drawn21 near—a figure not unknown to Yvonne’s eyes.
When she first appeared Lieutenant22 Shafto, the English officer in command of the guard, was pacing the quarter deck, stiffly remote and inexpressibly bored. He had two ambitions in life—the one, altogether laudable and ordinary, to be a good officer in the king’s service; the other, more distinguished23 and uncommon24, to be quoted as an example of dress and manners to his fellow-men. In London he had achieved in this direction sufficient success to establish him steadfastly25 in his purpose. Ordered to Halifax with his regiment26, he had there found the field for his talent 250sorely straitened. At Grand Pré, far worse: it was reduced to the dimensions of a back-door plot. Here on shipboard it seemed wholly to have vanished. Nevertheless, for practice, and for the preservation27 of a civil habit, he had clung to his niceties. Now, when he saw Yvonne, his first thought was to thank Heaven he had been as particular with his toilet that morning as if about to walk down Piccadilly.
He fitted his glass to his eye.
“Gad28!” he said to himself, “it really is!”
He removed the glass, and giving it a more careful readjustment, stared again.
“Gad!” said he, “it is none other! A devilish fine girl! She couldn’t be beat in all London for looks or wits. What does it mean? Given that cad Anderson the slip, eh? Discriminating29, begad!”
Lieutenant Shafto had a definite contempt for Anderson, as a man who sat by the fire when he might have been fighting. If a man fought well or dressed well, Shafto could respect him. Anderson did neither. He was therefore easily placed.
“There’s something rich behind this,” went on the lieutenant to himself. “But, gad! there is a savour to this voyage, after all. There’s a pair of bright eyes—devilish bright eyes—to dress for!”
He hitched30 his sword to a more gallant31 angle 251as he stepped primly32 down the deck. He gave the flow of his coat an airy curve. He would have felt of his queue had he dared, to assure himself it was dressed to a nicety. He glanced with complaisance33 at his correct and entirely34 spotless ruffles35. And by this he was come to mademoiselle’s side, where he stood, bowing low, his cap held very precisely36 across his breast.
“The honour, mademoiselle! Ah, the marvel5 of it!” he murmured. “The ship is transfigured. I was but now anathematizing it as a most especial hell: I looked up, and it had become a paradise—a paradise of one fair spirit!”
Yvonne looked at him with searching eyes as he delivered this fantasia, then a trifle imperiously gave him her hand to kiss.
She had spoken passingly with him twice or thrice before, at Father Fafard’s. She understood him—read him through: a man absurd, but never contemptible37; to be quite heartily38 disliked, yet wholly trusted; to be laughed at, yet discreetly39; vain, indomitable, a fighter and a fop; living for the field and the hair-dresser. Here was a man whom she would use, yet respect him the while.
“You do nobly, monsieur,” she said, with a faint, enigmatic smile, “to thus keep the light of courtly custom burning clear, even in our darknesses.”
252“There can be no darkness where your face shines, mademoiselle,” he cried, delighted not less with himself than with her.
It was a little obvious, but she accepted it graciously with a look, and he went on:
“I beg that you will let me place my cabin at your disposal during the voyage. You will find it narrow, but roomy enough to accommodate you and your maid.”
Here Captain Eliphalet interfered40.
“I claim the privilege, mademoiselle,” said he, with some vexation in his tones, “of giving you the captain’s cabin, which is by all odds41 the most commodious42 place on the ship—the only place at all suitable for you.”
“The captain is right,” said Shafto reluctantly. “His cabin is the more comfortable; and I beg him to share mine.”
In this way, then, the difficulty was settled, and Yvonne found herself in quarters of unwonted comfort for a West India trader, Captain Eliphalet being given to luxury beyond the most of his Puritan kin10. She was contented43 with her accomplishment44 so far as it went; and having two gallant men to deal with she felt already secure of her empire. She read approbation45, too, in those enigmatic eyes of Mother Pêche, with their whites ever glancing and gleaming. Moreover, as she sat down to luncheon46, to the condiment47 of a bounding 253heart and so much appetite as might nourish a pee-wee bird, she had two points gained to elate her. First, in passing the open hatchway which, as Captain Eliphalet told her, led to the prisoners’ quarters, she had shaken lightly from her lips enough clear laughter to reach, as she guessed, those ears attuned48 to hear it; and second, she had the promises both of the broad-bearded captain and the beautifully barbered lieutenant, that her cousins, Monsieur de Mer and Monsieur Paul Grande, should be brought on deck to see her that very day.
“You should be very good to them, gentlemen,” she said demurely49, picking with dubious50 fork at brown strips of toasted herring on her plate. “My cousin Marc especially. He is half English, you know. He has the most adorable English wife, from Boston, with red hair wherein he easily persuades himself that the sun rises and sets.”
“If you would have us love them for your sake, mademoiselle, love them not too much yourself,” laughed the broad-bearded Captain Eliphalet, in vast good-humour; but the admirable lieutenant murmured:
“There is no hair but black hair—black with somehow a glint in it when the sun strikes—so.”
And Mother Pêche, passing behind them and catching a flash from Yvonne’s eye, smiled many thoughts.
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1
vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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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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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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forestalled
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| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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8
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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9
rebukingly
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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11
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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12
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fettered
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| v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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15
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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16
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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medley
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| n.混合 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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19
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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23
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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24
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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26
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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27
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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28
gad
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| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
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discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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30
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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31
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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32
primly
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| adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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33
complaisance
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| n.彬彬有礼，殷勤，柔顺 | |
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34
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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35
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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36
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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37
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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38
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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39
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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40
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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41
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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42
commodious
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| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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43
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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44
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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45
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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46
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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47
condiment
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| n.调味品 | |
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48
attuned
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| v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音 | |
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49
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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50
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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