CHAPTER XIX—THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT

MRS. WORTH had arrived in Boston a few days after Sallie, coming direct by rail. She was still very weak from her recent attack, and it cut her to the heart to watch Sallie write those letters faithfully, and never mail them out of deference¹ to her wishes.

One night she drew her daughter down and kissed her.

“Sallie, dear, you don’t know how it hurts me to see you suffer this way, and write, and write these letters your lover never sees. You may send him one letter a week, I don’t care what the General says.”

There was a sob² and another kiss and, Sallie was crying on her breast.

In answer to her first letter, Gaston was thrilled with a new inspiration. He sat down that night and answered it in verse. All the deep longings³ of his soul, his hopes and fears, his pain and dreams he set in rhythmic⁴ music. Her mother read all his letters after Sallie. And she cried with sorrow and pride over this poem.

“Sallie, I don’t blame you for being proud of such a lover. Your life is rich hallowed by the love of such a man. Your father is wrong in his position. If I were a girl and held the love of such a man, I’d cherish it as I would my soul’s salvation⁵. Be patient and faithful.”

“Sweet mother heart!” she whispered as she smoothed the grey hair tenderly.

Allan McLeod had arrived in Boston the day before and the morning’s papers were full of an interview with him on his brilliant achievement in breaking the ranks of the Bourbon Democracy in North Carolina, and the certainty of the success of his ticket at the approaching election.

McLeod sent the paper to Mrs. Worth by a special messenger, lest she might not see it, and that evening called. He asked Sallie to accompany him to the theatre, and when she refused spent the evening.

When her mother had retired⁶ McLeod drew his seat near her and again told her in burning words his love.

“Miss ‘Sallie, I have won the battle of life at its very threshold. I shall be a United States Senator in a few months. I want to lead you, my bride, into the gallery of the Senate before I walk down its aisles⁷ to take the oath. I have loved you faithfully for years. I have your father’s consent to my suit. I asked him before leaving on this trip. Surely you will not say no?”

“Allan McLeod, I do not love you. I do love another. I hate the sight of you and the sound of your voice.”

“If you do not marry Gaston, will you give me a chance?”

“If I do not marry the man of my choice, I will never marry. Now go.”

McLeod returned to the hotel with the fury of the devil seething⁸ in his soul. He determined⁹ to return to Ham-bright, and if possible entrap¹⁰ Gaston in dissipation and destroy his faith in Sallie’s loyalty¹¹.

He wrote to the General that he had been rejected by his daughter who still corresponded with Gaston. When General Worth received this letter he wrote in wrath¹² to his wife, peremptorily¹³ forbidding Sallie to write another line to Gaston and closed saying, “I had trusted this matter to you, my dear, now I take it out of your hands. I forbid another line or word to this man.”

Gaston watched and waited in vain for the letter he was to receive next week. Again his soul sank with doubt and fear. What fiend was striking him with an unseen hand? He felt he should choke with rage as he thought of the infamy¹⁴ of such a warfare¹⁵.

His mother said to him shortly after McLeod’s arrival, “Charlie, I have some bad news for you.”

“It can’t be any worse than I have, the misery¹⁶ of an unexplained silence of two weeks.”

“I feel that I ought to tell you. It is the explanation of that silence, I fear.”

“What is it, Mother?” he asked soberly.

“I hear that Sallie has plunged¹⁷ into frivolous¹⁸ society, is dancing every night at the hotel at Narragansett Pier¹⁹ where they are stopping now, and flirting²⁰ with a halfdozen young men.”

“I don’t believe it,” growled²¹ Gaston.

“I’m afraid it’s true, Charlie, and I’m furious with her for treating you like this. I thought she had more character.”

“I ’ll love and trust her to the end!” he declared as he went moodily²² to his office. But the poison of suspicion rankled²³ in his thoughts. Why had she ceased to write? Was not this mask of society a habit with those who had learned to wear it? Was not habit, after all, life? Could one ever escape it? It seemed to him more than probable that the old habits should re-assert themselves in such a crisis, a thousand miles removed from him or his personal influence. He held a very exaggerated idea of the corruption²⁴ of modern society. And his heart grew heavier from day to day with the feeling that she was slipping away from him.

1 deference   

n.尊重，顺从；敬意

参考例句：

• Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
• The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

2 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

3 longings   

渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah, those foolish days of noble longings and of noble strivings! 啊，那些充满高贵憧憬和高尚奋斗的傻乎乎的时光！
• I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. 我永远用爱恋的渴想来描画你。

4 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

5 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

8 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 entrap   

v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套

参考例句：

• The police have been given extra powers to entrap drug traffickers.警方已经被进一步授权诱捕毒贩。
• He overturned the conviction,saying the defendant was entrapped.他声称被告是被诱骗的，从而推翻了有罪的判决。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

12 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

13 peremptorily   

adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地

参考例句：

• She peremptorily rejected the request. 她断然拒绝了请求。
• Their propaganda was peremptorily switched to an anti-Western line. 他们的宣传断然地转而持反对西方的路线。 来自辞典例句

14 infamy   

n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行

参考例句：

• They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富，但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
• Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。

15 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

16 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

17 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

18 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

19 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

20 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

21 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 moodily   

adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地

参考例句：

• Pork slipped from the room as she remained staring moodily into the distance. 阿宝从房间里溜了出来，留她独个人站在那里瞪着眼睛忧郁地望着远处。 来自辞典例句
• He climbed moodily into the cab, relieved and distressed. 他忧郁地上了马车，既松了一口气，又忧心忡忡。 来自互联网

23 rankled   

v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her comments still rankled. 她的评价仍然让人耿耿于怀。
• The insult rankled in his mind. 这种侮辱使他心里难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。