After I had given a glance into the shop where I saw Mr. Luigi’s fat servant,—I only saw him once, but yet the place seemed full of that fat, funny, good-humoured, outlandish figure, with his bows and smiles, and loquacious3 foreign speech, that poor Mrs. Taylor commiserated4 so deeply—I stepped across to the rectory to make a call there. The poor young shopkeeper, who had a night-class for the men and grown lads, and was really an intelligent, well-meaning young man, had been confiding5 his troubles to me. They did not care a bit about learning; they did not even want to read. When they did read it was the most foolish books! Poor young Taylor’s heart was breaking over their stupidity. And then, to keep a shop, even a bookshop, hurt his “feelings,” poor lad. He had been brought up for a teacher’s profession, he said—he even had some experience in “tuition.” He had thought he could make a home for his mother and his little sister; and now Dr. Appleby was grumbling6 that he did not succeed, and thought it his own fault! Poor young fellow! to be sure, he should have gone stolidly7 through with it, and had no business to have any “feelings.”{162} But, you see, people will be foolish in every condition of life.
So I stepped across the road to call on Miss Kate, thinking of him all the way; thinking of him and that unknown young Italian, only once seen, whom the apparition8 of the fat servant in Taylor’s shop somehow connected with the young shopkeeper. How Mr. Luigi had forced himself into all my thoughts! and yet the only one fact I knew about him was, that he was looking for an apocryphal9 lady whom nobody ever heard of! Should I have thought no more about him but for Sarah’s mysterious agitation10? I really cannot tell. Again and again his voice came back to me, independent of Sarah. Whose voice was it? Where had he got that hereditary11 tone?
Miss Kate was in, for a great wonder. She was wonderfully active in the parish. She was far more the rector, except in the pulpit, than good Dr. Roberts was. I am sure he was very fortunate to have such an active sister. I don’t think anything ever happened, within a space of three or four miles round the village, that Miss Kate was not at the bottom of it. Of course I expected to hear everything over again that Dr. Roberts had told us about Mr. Luigi. But, so long as Sarah was not present, I could take that quite easily. Indeed, I wished so much to know more of this stranger, somehow, that I really felt I should be glad to hear all that they had to say.
“I was indeed very much interested in the young man,” said Miss Kate, starting the subject almost immediately, as I expected. “I think great efforts should be made to lay hold of every one that comes out of his poor benighted12 country. I said so to the Doctor; but the Doctor’s views, you know, are very charitable. Mr. Hubert, however, quite agreed with me. I asked him to come back when he came to this part of the country again, and said I should be very glad to have some serious conversation with him. He stared, but he was very polite; only, poor young man, his thoughts are all upon this lady. I have no doubt he thought it was that business I wanted to talk to him about.”
“But I suppose, like Dr. Roberts, you can throw no light upon her; who she is, or where she is?” said I. “It is strange he should seem so positive she was here, and yet nobody remembers her. For my own part, if I had once heard it, I am sure I should never have forgotten that name. I have a wonderful memory for names.”
“Very strange no doubt,” said Miss Kate, with a little cough. “And then, that man of his. Alas13, what an imprisoned{163} soul! To think he should be in the very midst of light and faithful preaching, and yet not be able to derive14 any benefit from it! I never regretted more deeply not having kept up my own Italian studies. And poor Mr. Hubert—but you would hear all about that; the Doctor does so delight in an amusing story. They could not understand each other in the very least, you know. Ah, what a matter it would be to get hold of that poor Domenico—that’s his name. Why, he might be quite an apostle among his countrymen, when he got back. But nothing can be done till he can be taught English, or some agency can be found out in Italian. I can’t tell you how much interest I feel in these poor darkened creatures. And to think they should be in the midst of the light, and no possibility of bringing them under its influence! I don’t speak of the master, of course, who knows English very well; but I am not one that am a respecter of persons,—the servant is quite as much, if not more, interesting to me.”
“If they stay long I daresay he’ll learn English,” I suggested modestly; “but it will be a sad pity if the poor gentleman has come so far to seek out this lady, and can’t find any trace of her. I promised him to do all I could to find out for him; but nobody seems ever to have heard of her. It will be a thousand pities if he has all his trouble for no end.”
“Ah, Miss Milly! let us hope he may acquire something else that will far more than repay him,” said Miss Kate; “disappointments are often great blessings15 in directing one’s mind away from worldly things. We were all very much interested in him, I assure you. Mr. Hubert promised to write to a friend of his in Chester to ask if he could give him any assistance. If it were only for the sake of that strange resemblance,—the Doctor would tell you, of course, the resemblance which struck both him and myself?”
“No,” cried I; “did you find out anybody he was like? I only saw him in the dark, and could not make out his face; but his voice has haunted me ever since. I was sure I knew the voice.”
“I wonder the Doctor did not mention it,” said Miss Kate, with a little importance. “The truth is, it struck us both a good deal; a resemblance to your family, Miss Milly.”
I don’t know whether I was most disposed to sink down upon my chair or start up from it with a cry; I did neither, however.
“To my family?” I gasped16 out. {164} “Yes; it was very singular,” said Miss Kate; “I daresay, of course, it was only one of those accidental likenesses. I remember being once thought very like your sister. How strange you should think you knew his voice! You have some relations in Italy, perhaps?”
“Not that I know of,” said I, feeling very faint. I cannot tell what I was afraid of; but I felt myself trembling and shaken; and I durst not get up and go out either, or Miss Kate would have had it all over the parish before night, that something had gone wrong at the Park.
But I don’t remember another word she said. I kept my seat, and answered her till I thought I might reasonably be supposed to have stayed long enough. Then I left the rectory, my mind in the strangest agitation. That this stranger, who had driven Sarah half mad, should be like our family; what a bewildering, extraordinary thing to think of! But stranger still, at this moment, when I had just heard such a wonderful aggravation17 of my perplexity—that voice of his which had haunted me so long, and which I felt sure I could identify at once, if the person it once belonged to was named to me, vanished entirely18 from my mind as if by some conjuring19 trick. It was extraordinary—it looked almost supernatural. I could no more recall that tone, which I had recalled with perfect freshness and ease when I entered the rectory garden, than I could clear up the extraordinary puzzle thus gathering20 closer and closer round all my thoughts.
In this state of mind I hurried home, feeling really as if there must be something supernatural in the whole business, and too much startled to ask any definite questions of myself. When I had reached the house, and was going upstairs, I met one of the maids coming down, who had been upon some errand into Sarah’s room. This careless girl had left—a thing never even seen when my sister happened to be out for her drives—the room-door open. Before I knew what I was doing, I had stepped inside. I can’t tell what I wanted—whether to speak with Sarah or to spy upon her, or to listen at her door. Carson and she were in the dressing-room, I could hear. And now I will tell you what I did. I don’t think I was responsible for my actions at that moment; but whether or not, this is what I did. I stepped forward stealthily, stooped down to the keyhole, and listened at the door!
There! I have said it out. Nobody else knows it to this day. I, who called myself an honourable21 person, listened at my sister’s door. For the first five minutes I was so agitated{165} by my strange position that, of course, I did not hear a word they said. But after a little I began to hear indistinctly that they were talking of some letter that had better be burned—that Carson was speaking in a kind of pleading tone, and Sarah very harsh and hard, her words easier to be distinguished22 in that hissing23 whisper of hers than if she had spoken in the clearest voice imaginable. I can’t say I was much the better for the conversation, till at last, just as I was going away, came this, which made my heart beat so loud that I thought it must be heard inside that closed mysterious door:
“And to think they should have called him Lewis, too; though the English is a deal the prettiest. Ah, ma’am,” cried Carson, with a little stifled24 sob25, “it showed love in the heart!”
“Yes, for the Park,” said Sarah, in her whisper. I dared not stay a moment longer, for I heard them both advancing to the door. I fled to my own room, and dropped down there on my sofa stupified. My head ached as if it would burst. My heart thumped26 and beat as if it would leap out of my bosom27 Lewis! my father’s name—and, good heaven!—the voice! What did it—what could it mean?
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1
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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2
saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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3
loquacious
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| adj.多嘴的，饶舌的 | |
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4
commiserated
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| v.怜悯，同情( commiserate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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6
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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7
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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8
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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9
apocryphal
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| adj.假冒的，虚假的 | |
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10
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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11
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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12
benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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13
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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14
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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15
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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16
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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17
aggravation
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| n.烦恼，恼火 | |
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18
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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19
conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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20
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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21
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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22
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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23
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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24
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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25
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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26
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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