A long and elegant saloon in a beautiful palace in Italy. The rich curtains of silk and lace are looped back from the windows, and the view outside is the beautiful Bay of Naples with the clear, blue, sunny sky reflected in its blue and sparkling waves. A garden lies below the windows, rich, in this tropical clime, with beautiful flowers, and vines and shrubbery, while groves3 of oranges, lemons, figs4 and dates abound5 in lavish6 luxuriance. Within the room that was furnished with princely magnificence and taste, were a man and a woman, the man old, and bowed, and broken, the woman young and more beautiful than it often falls to the lot of women to be. Her delicate features, chiseled7 with the rare perfection of a head carved in cameo, were flushed with passion, and the glow of anger shone through the pure, transparent8 skin, tinting9 it with an unusual bloom. As she walked restlessly up and down the room, in her trailing robe of soft azure10 hue11, her sea-blue eyes blazed under their drooping12 lashes13 until they looked black with excitement.
"I tell you," she said, pausing a moment, as no answer came to her passionate14 outburst, and facing the man before her with a slim, uplifted finger, as if in menace, "I tell you, Colonel Carlyle, that the vengeance15 of Heaven will fall upon you for this[Pg 113] cruel, unmanly deed! Oh, how can you forget your sense of honor as a soldier and a gentleman, and descend16 to an act so ignoble17 and unworthy? To imprison18 a weak and helpless woman, who has no friend or defender19 save Heaven! Oh, for shame, for shame!"
His eyes fell before the unbearable20 scorn in hers, and he turned as if to leave the room. But half way to the door he paused and came back to her.
"Bonnibel," he said, sternly, "cease this wild raving21, and calm yourself. My troubles are hard enough to bear without the additional weight of unmerited reproaches from you. I am of all men the most miserable22."
She shook off the hand with which he attempted to lead her to a seat, as if there had been contagion23 in the mere24 contact of his white, aristocratic fingers.
"No, do not touch me!" she exclaimed, wildly. "At least spare me that indignity25. All other relations that have existed between us are altered now, and merged26 simply into this—I am your prisoner, and you are my jailer. The eagle spurns27 the hand of its captor. Remember, there is proud, untamable blood in my veins28 that will not be subdued29. I am Harry30 Vere's daughter."
Bonnibel saw him wince31 as the name of her beloved father passed her lips.
"Ah, you are not lost to all sense of shame," she cried. "You can tremble at the name of the hero you have wronged through his helpless daughter! Oh, Colonel Carlyle, by the memory of my father, whom you pretended to love and honor, I beg you to let me go free from this place."
Her angry recklessness had broken down suddenly into pathetic pleading. Her slender hands were locked together, her eyes were lifted to his with great, raining tears shining in them. He turned half away, trembling in spite of his iron will at sight of those tearful eyes, and parted, quivering lips.
"Bonnibel," he answered, in a voice of repressed emotion, "my suffering at the course I have found myself compelled to pursue with you is greater than your own. I love you with all the strength of a man's heart, and yet I am almost compelled to believe you the falsest of women. And yet, through all the distrust and suspicion which your recent conduct has forced me to harbor, the instinct that bids me have faith in the honor of Harry Vere's daughter is so much beyond the mere power of my reason that at one little promise from your lips you might this moment go free!"
"And that promise?" she asked, dashing the blinding tears away from her eyes and looking into his face.
"Bonnibel, on the night when I presumed to lock you into your chamber32 you were about to fly from me—to what fate I know not, but—I feared the worst. Think of the shame, the disgrace, the agony I must have endured from your desertion! Can you wonder that I took stringent33 measures to prevent you from carrying your wild project into execution? I would have laid you dead at my feet before you should have broken my heart and made me a target for the scorn of the world."
[Pg 114]
She did not flinch34 as he uttered the emphatic35 words and looked keenly into her face. She thought of herself vaguely36 as of one lying dead at the feet of that stern, old, white-haired man, yet the passing thought came to her indifferently as to one who was bearing the burden of a "life more pathetic than death." She felt no anger rising within her at the threat. Only a faint, stifled37 yearning38 awoke within her for a moment as his stern voice evoked39 a vision of the rest and peace of the grave.
"You see how strongly I feel on this subject, my wife," he continued, after a long pause, "yet even now you shall go free if you will give me your sacred word of honor, by the memory of your father, that you will not desert me—that you will not leave me!"
Silence fell—a long, painful silence. He stood quite still, looking down at her pale face, and waiting for her answer with quickened heart-beats. For her, she seemed transformed to a statue of marble only for the quick throbs40 that stirred the filmy lace folded over her breast. She stood quite still, her eyes drooping from his, a look of pitiful despair frozen on the deathly pallor of her face. Outside they could hear a soft wind sighing among the flowers and kissing the blue waves of the bay. Within, the fragrance41 of an orange tree, blooming in a niche42, came to them with almost sickening oppressiveness. Still she made no sign of answer.
"Bonnibel," he said, and his hoarse43, strained voice fell so unnaturally44 on the stillness that he started at its strange sound, "Bonnibel, my darling little wife, you will give me that promise?"
She shivered through all her frame as if those pleading words had broken her trance of silence.
"Do not ask me," she said, faintly, "I cannot!"
"You will not give me that little promise, Bonnibel?"
"I cannot," she moaned, sinking into a chair and hiding her face in her hands.
"You are determined45 to leave me, then, if you can?" he exclaimed in a voice of blended horror and reproach.
"I must," she reiterated46.
"Then tell me why you must go away, Bonnibel. What is this fatal secret that is driving you forth47 into exile? This mystery will drive me mad!"
She removed her hands a moment, and looked up at him with sad, wistful eyes, and a face crimson48 with painful blushes.
"Colonel Carlyle, I will tell you this much," she said, "for I see that you suspect me of that which I would rather die than be guilty of. I am not going because a guilty passion for a former lover is driving me from your arms to his. If I go into exile I shall go alone, and I shall pray for death every hour until my weary days upon earth are ended forever. Death is the only happiness I look for, the future holds nothing for me but the blackness of darkness. I can tell you nothing more!"
She ceased, and dropped her anguished49 face into the friendly shelter of her hands again. He remained rooted to the spot as if he could never move again.
"Bonnibel," he said, at last, "surely some subtle madness possesses[Pg 115] you. You do not know what you would do. I must save you from yourself until you become rational again."
With these words he went out of the room, locking the door behind him.
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1
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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2
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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3
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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6
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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7
chiseled
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| adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
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8
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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9
tinting
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| 着色，染色（的阶段或过程） | |
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10
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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11
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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12
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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13
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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14
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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15
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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16
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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17
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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18
imprison
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| vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚 | |
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19
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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20
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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21
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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22
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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23
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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24
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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25
indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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26
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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27
spurns
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| v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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29
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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30
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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31
wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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32
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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33
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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34
flinch
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| v.畏缩，退缩 | |
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35
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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36
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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37
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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38
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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39
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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40
throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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41
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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42
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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43
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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44
unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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45
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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46
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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48
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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49
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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