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CHAPTER XX. WHEN IN DOUBT, PLAY TRUMPS.
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Life is a game
The keenest wins.
Repute or shame.
Life is a game;
We give or claim
For virtues1, sins;
Life is a game
The keenest wins

Beaumont was perfectly2 satisfied with the result of his experiment, as he had discovered the squire3's secret, and had yet succeeded in keeping him in ignorance of his having done so. With the keen intellect of a man accustomed to live by his wits, he had, during his rapid survey of the papers, seen the chances of turning the secret to his own advantage. But to do so he required the co-operation of Patience, and this he was doubtful of obtaining.

She held studiously aloof4 from him, and since the interview in the churchyard had given no sign that she was aware of his existence. Many men would have been discouraged by this contemptuous silence; but not so Beaumont, who never saw discourtesy in anyone of whom he wanted to make use. Hitherto Patience had been a mere5 cipher6 in his eyes; but now, since his discovery of the existence of her son, and since he had learned the jealously-guarded secret of the squire, she suddenly became an important person; for it was through her he hoped to secure his ends--ends calculated to benefit himself alone.

The only way by which he could hope to gain her ear was through her love for their son, hence his explanation on the stairs. Now, after putting away his painting utensils7, he lighted a cigarette, and strolled easily along to the housekeeper's room in order to arrange matters with her. Of the result he had no fear, as he intended to appeal to her motherhood, which appeal, he well knew, would not be neglected by this woman, whose whole life was devoted8 to her son. Mr. Beaumont was an expert whist-player, and, moreover, admired the game very much. So, in this case, being somewhat doubtful of Patience, yet holding a strong hand, he took an illustration from his favourite game, and said:

"When in doubt, play trumps9."

"It will be a charming game," he murmured, as he knocked at the door of the housekeeper's room, "she is no mean adversary10, and hates me like poison--all the more credit to me if I win--as I mean to."

Patience Allerby, in her quiet, grey dress, was sitting silent and statuesque by the window, staring out at the rapidly darkening landscape. When Beaumont entered, she looked coldly at him, but neither rose to receive him nor invited him to sit down. Her visitor, however, was not troubled by any sensitive feeling, so threw himself into a comfortable chair that was near the fire, and coolly went on smoking.

"I hope you don't mind my cigarette," he said, languidly, "but I can't exist without smoking."

"You can't exist without all sorts of luxuries," replied Patience, bitterly, "you're not the man to deny yourself anything."

"I had to deny myself a good many things when we were starving in London," said Mr. Beaumont, leisurely11. "By the way, I want to speak to you about London."

"And I want to speak to you about the squire," she retorted, quickly. "What were you doing following him upstairs?"

"Don't distress12 yourself, my good soul," said the artist, in a coolly aggravating13 manner. "I'll tell you that later on; meantime, we will talk of Chelsea."

"No."

"Pardon me--yes. Do you remember how we lived there, you and I, and the visions we used to indulge in? I haven't forgotten it, I assure you, and then Fanny Blake--poor Fanny! she is dead now. I see you gave the boy her surname."

"And what if I did?" she flashed out fiercely, with a deep frown on her face. "Could I give him yours--the father who had deserted14 him? Could I give him mine--the mother to whom his birth was a disgrace?"

"A disgrace! I thought you loved him?"

"So I do--I love him more than my life; but his birth was a disgrace, and I wish to keep the knowledge from him, please God."

"Was the boy you call Reginald Blake ever christened?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I could not tell the truth about his birth, and I refused to tell a lie. He was neither christened, nor was his birth registered."

"Then he has no right to the name he bears."

"I know that. Whose fault is it, Basil Beaumont--yours or mine? Why didn't you make an honest woman of me?"

"Because I did not choose to," he replied, coolly; "by the way, has our son been confirmed?"

"No."

"Oh," he said, sneering15, "I'm sorry he's not got some religious flavour about him. I wonder, Patience, when you called him Blake, you did not pass him off as Fanny's son."

She arose from her seat in a fury.

"Do you think I was going to place my sin on Fanny's shoulders?"

"I don't see why not--Fanny and yourself both came up to London at the same time--the child was born six months after you arrived there--why not call it Fanny's child?"

"There was no reason."

"Not then; but there is now, and a very excellent reason--ten thousand a year."

"What do you mean?"

"Simply this, that Reginald Blake, from this time forward, is the son of Fanny Blake and Randal Garsworth."

Patience looked at him in surprise, and involuntarily drew back a step, thinking him mad. Beaumont saw this, and laughed mockingly.

"Don't be afraid--there's method in my madness."

"There's some villainy in it," she said, with a hard smile, sitting down near him; "tell me what you mean, Basil Beaumont, if you intend touching17 a hair of my son's head I'll punish you."

"I intend to give him ten thousand a year, if you won't be a fool."

She smiled coldly, and folded her hands upon her lap.

"I'm no fool, but I know you--go on, Ananias."

Beaumont flung the burnt-out cigarette into the fire with an irritable18 gesture, and turned his face towards the frigid19 woman seated before him.

"Listen to what I've got to say," he said slowly, "and then you can do as you please--if you assist me it means money and happiness for our son; if you don't, I'll tell him everything, and then leave the village for ever."

Patience shivered slightly under the steely glitter of his eyes, and then resumed her cold impassive manner.

"Brag's a good dog," she said mockingly, "but he does not bite--go on, I'm all attention."

The artist glanced at the door to make sure that it was closed, then drawing his chair closer to that of Patience Allerby, began to talk rapidly, in a low tone of voice.

"Of course you know the squire is mad--quite mad--he has an idea that his soul will be re-incarnated in another body, and as he is afraid he may be born poor, he has invented a silly scheme by which to become repossessed of his present wealth. I have discovered this scheme--how it does not matter--all I need tell you is, that I have found out all about it--his idea is to pass himself off as his own son."

"But he has no son."

"Of course not, you fool," said "Beaumont impatiently, "he couldn't "carry out his idea if he had; it's this way, he has made his will, leaving the property to his natural son, who will at some future time--date not fixed20, as he cannot tell when he'll be re-incarnated--go to the lawyers who hold the will and produce, as a proof of his claim to the estate, a letter written to him by his supposed father, also the squire's seal ring--when he does so, under the terms of the will, he inherits the Garsworth estate."

"I understand, so far; but how does the squire, in a new body, expect to get these papers?"

"Oh! he thinks he'll remember about the affair when he is born again, so he has hidden the papers where he'll be able to find them--in his new body he'll simply go and look them up, produce them to the lawyers, and there you are."

"What a foolish idea."

"What a foolish remark, you mean," said Beaumont; "of course it's foolish, the man is mad. When he dies the papers will remain undisturbed till doomsday--if I choose."

"What do you mean?"

"Simply this--as he does not know when or where he'll be re-incarnated, he has left a number of blanks in the letter."

"Have you seen the letter?"

"Of course I have. I know where the paper is hidden--didn't I tell you I'd discovered his secret. Well, all I've got to do is to fill up these blanks--the name of the mother, the place of the supposed son's birth, and all the rest of it."

"I see. But what have I to do with this?"

Beaumont arose to his feet and walked angrily to and fro.

"What an idiot you are, Patience," he said irritably21. "Can't you see? I'm going to fill up the mother's name as Fanny Blake, and the son's as Reginald."

"Our son?"

"Precisely22. Now do you see why I want your help?"

"I do, but you shan't have it."

"Indeed; why not?"

"I'm not going to have such a sin on my conscience."

"There's no sin, you Puritan," he said quickly, "the re-incarnation idea is rubbish; no one will appear to claim the property, so why not give the ten thousand a year to Reginald?"

"It would dispossess Miss Una."

"It would do nothing of the sort--under the will Miss Una cannot claim--the lawyers don't know anything about the re-incarnation theory; all they know is that Squire Garsworth has a son who will appear and prove his claim by the possession of certain papers and a seal ring--until that son appears no one can claim the estate."

"Miss Una could dispute the will on the ground of madness."

"I dare say she could, but she won't--if Reginald becomes master of Garsworth Grange she will marry him, and will enjoy the property just the same as if she were sole heiress--on the other hand, if he does not become master she'll have to wait till this non-existent son appears or upsets the will, one of which things will be impossible and the other troublesome."

Patience thought for a moment or two and then looked up.

"How do you know Reginald will marry Una?"

"Because I've got eyes in my head. The boy is madly in love with her. I'm sure you must see that your helping23 me to place Reginald in possession of this property will hurt no one and be for the benefit of both Una and your own son."

"I see that, but I fail to see what benefit you obtain from it, and I don't think you're the man to work for nothing."

"You're perfectly right," he replied calmly, "but I'm going to make myself Reginald's right hand, and when he comes in for the property I can help him to look after the estate."

"And ruin him."

"I won't ruin him. Why should I want to ruin my own son?"

"Bah! don't talk like that to me."

"Oh well, if you disbelieve in interest, I'll put it another way. Why should I kill the goose with the golden eggs?"

"Yes, that's more like it," she said with a sneer16, "I think your plan is an admirable one, but there's one obstacle."

"What is it?"

"Reginald is an honourable24 man, and won't accept any property gained by fraud."

Beaumont sighed in a resigned manner, apparently25 hopeless of explaining matters clearly to this painfully obstinate26 woman.

"He'll never know the property is obtained by fraud, because you will tell him he is the son of Fanny Blake and the squire; he will believe you, and regard himself as the lawful27 heir."

"Still, he thinks he's been born in lawful wedlock28, and to undeceive him----"

"Gives him ten thousand a year," interrupted Beaumont coolly. "Well, what do you say, will you help me?"

"I'll tell you to-morrow."

"Why not to-day?"

"Because I don't trust you, I want to go over the affair in my own mind."

Beaumont shrugged29 his shoulders, put on his hat and lighted another cigarette.

"Just as you please," he said, pausing a moment at the door. "I'll call and see you to-morrow; but if you don't help me in this, I'll do what I say and tell Reginald everything."

When he was gone Patience sat for a long time looking into the fire, evidently pondering deeply. At length she sighed and muttered:

"I don't know what to do, I must ask counsel of the Lord."

She arose, and having lighted a candle opened the Bible.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 virtues cd5228c842b227ac02d36dd986c5cd53     
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处
参考例句:
  • Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
  • She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。
2 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
3 squire 0htzjV     
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅
参考例句:
  • I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
  • The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。
4 aloof wxpzN     
adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的
参考例句:
  • Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
  • On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。
5 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
6 cipher dVuy9     
n.零;无影响力的人;密码
参考例句:
  • All important plans were sent to the police in cipher.所有重要计划均以密码送往警方。
  • He's a mere cipher in the company.他在公司里是个无足轻重的小人物。
7 utensils 69f125dfb1fef9b418c96d1986e7b484     
器具,用具,器皿( utensil的名词复数 ); 器物
参考例句:
  • Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
  • Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。
8 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
9 trumps 22c5470ebcda312e395e4d85c40b03f7     
abbr.trumpets 喇叭;小号;喇叭形状的东西;喇叭筒v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去式 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造
参考例句:
  • On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 adversary mxrzt     
adj.敌手,对手
参考例句:
  • He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
  • They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。
11 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
参考例句:
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
12 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
13 aggravating a730a877bac97b818a472d65bb9eed6d     
adj.恼人的,讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰,多令人生气呀!
  • Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。
14 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
15 sneering 929a634cff0de62dfd69331a8e4dcf37     
嘲笑的,轻蔑的
参考例句:
  • "What are you sneering at?" “你冷笑什么?” 来自子夜部分
  • The old sorceress slunk in with a sneering smile. 老女巫鬼鬼崇崇地走进来,冷冷一笑。
16 sneer YFdzu     
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语
参考例句:
  • He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
  • You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻,但很多人喜欢这种音乐。
17 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
18 irritable LRuzn     
adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的
参考例句:
  • He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
  • Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。
19 frigid TfBzl     
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的
参考例句:
  • The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨,他在下面呆不了太长时间。
  • She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。
20 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
21 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
22 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
23 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
24 honourable honourable     
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的
参考例句:
  • I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号,我可担当不起。
  • I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
25 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
26 obstinate m0dy6     
adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的
参考例句:
  • She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了,不会让任何人帮她的。
  • The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。
27 lawful ipKzCt     
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的
参考例句:
  • It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
  • We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。
28 wedlock XgJyY     
n.婚姻,已婚状态
参考例句:
  • My wife likes our wedlock.我妻子喜欢我们的婚姻生活。
  • The Fawleys were not made for wedlock.范立家的人就跟结婚没有缘。
29 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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