Perchance our dying is another birth.
The shriek1 was uttered by Patience Allerby, and when the whole party, recovering from their surprise, went upstairs they found her leaning against the door of the squire2's room, with pale face and terrified-looking eyes. Beyond, half seen in the dim candlelight which illuminated3 the room, lay a dark shapeless object on the floor.
There was no need to say what had happened, for in the air there was that indescribable feeling which tells of the presence of the great destroyer. Leaving Patience to the care of Beaumont, to whom she clung with convulsive terror, Dr. Larcher reverently4 entered as he thought the chamber5 of death. He bent6 down to the form lying so still on the floor, and turned the face to the light with tender hand. It was ghastly pale, and from the thin lips there flowed a thin stream of blood; still the vicar saw at a glance that life yet remained, so calling softly to Reginald and Dick, the three men lifted the body up gently and placed it on the bed.
Beaumont had succeeded in somewhat pacifying7 Patience, and induced the women to go downstairs while he sent for the doctor to examine the sick man. They all re-assembled in the oak parlour, and terrified faces and subdued8 whispers took the place of merry looks and jocund9 laughter.
Attracted by the housekeeper10's shriek, Dr. Nestley now entered the room, and proceeded to see what he could do towards reviving the squire. Beaumont glanced keenly at him as he passed, but though his face was pale and heavy-looking, still he was perfectly11 sober. He caught the artist scrutinising him, and drawing himself up with an angry frown, passed him by without a word.
"What is the matter, doctor?" asked the vicar anxiously, when the young man had concluded his examination.
"Aneurism," he replied briefly12. "The body is thoroughly13 debilitated--he has burst a main artery14."
"Is it his heart?" asked Reginald.
"If he had burst any artery in the vicinity of the heart, he would have died at once--even now he cannot live very long--I expected this?"
"What produced the rupture15?"
"Some sudden emotion, I presume, or violent exercise--here comes the housekeeper; she will tell us all about it."
Patience, looking pale but composed, and in answer to the interrogatories of the doctor, told the following story:
"The squire was quietly sleeping in bed," she exclaimed calmly, "and I fell asleep in the chair by the side of the bed--he must have arisen and gone to his desk, for I was awakened16 by a fall, and saw him lying on the floor. I was so startled that I cried out and you came up--I know nothing more."
Owing to the remedies which Dr. Nestley was applying, the sick man now revived, and moaned feebly. Shortly afterwards, opening his eyes he stared wildly at the figures surrounding his bed, and tried to speak, but seemed unable to make any sound beyond an indistinct murmur17.
Dr. Larcher came close to the bed, and bending down spoke18 distinctly and slowly to the dying man.
"You are very ill," he said in a pitying voice. "I hope you have made your peace with heaven."
With a superhuman effort Garsworth raised himself on his elbow, and stretching out his hand pointed19 to the desk.
"In there," he gasped20. "Blake--there."
The effort was too much for him, for with a choking cry he fell back on the bed a corpse21.
Nestley, starting to his feet, bent over the bed, and tearing open the squire's shirt, put his hand on his heart--it had ceased to beat.
"He is dead," he said, in a coldly professional manner, "that last effort killed him."
"Dead!" echoed Patience, who was leaning against the curtains with staring eyes and a white terrified face.
"Yes--dead," repeated Dr. Larcher gravely. "We can do no good now," and followed by Reginald and Dick he left the room, wondering in his own heart what the old man had meant by pointing at the desk while pronouncing Blake's name.
The melancholy22 news was conveyed to the terrified women downstairs, and shortly afterwards everyone departed, leaving the inmates23 of the Grange alone with its dead master. Una and Miss Cassy, stunned24 by the suddenness of the event, retired25 early to bed, and Jellicks, with the help of Patience, laid the corpse out on the bed ready for the undertaker. Nestley went to his own room and solaced26 himself with brandy; Patience remained by the side of the corpse to watch it during the night, and over all the house there hung a shadow of fear and dread27 which invested the place with awesome28 terror.
And that which once held the soul of Randal Garsworth lay on the bed under the heavily-draped canopy--a still white-faced form with the dead hands crossed on the dead breast, and on the white lips a terrible smile. Candles burned on each side of the body with a sickly light, and a woman with her face buried in her hands knelt praying for the dead man's soul.
"Oh God who art the Judge of all have mercy upon the soul of this wretched man."
Not a breath of air in the vastness of the room, no sound, no blaze of light--only the pale glimmer29 of the candles hollowing out a gulf30 of luminous31 light in the sombre blackness of the brooding night.
"Oh God who art all powerful and just, let not the soul of this man suffer for the sins of his life, for the mind which should have ruled the soul was a wreck32 and incapable33 of so ruling."
Was there not a sneer34 upon the still features of the dead man at this prayer for his misspent, useless life--he that despised prayer and only looked upon his soul as useful to inhabit a new body so that he could make it an instrument by which to enjoy the sensual things of this earth.
Midnight, and the wind is rising--with querulous voice it sweeps through the leafless trees and whistles through the chinks and crannies of the old house, making the dim light of the candles flicker35 and flare36 in the dense37 darkness. No prayer now sounds from the thin lips of the watcher, for a sudden thought has darted38 through her brain.
"The letter for my son--I must get it from the desk."
She rises softly from her knees, and putting her hand under the pillow whereon rests the head of the corpse, draws forth39 the keys of the dead man, holding her breath meantime, fearful lest he should arise and lay cold hands upon her. The keys chink musically in the silence, then with stealthy stride and sound of sweeping40 dress, she crosses to the desk, bent on obtaining the letter written by the squire to Reginald Blake.
The minutes slowly pass, and the wind is still rising; now howling furiously round the house, shaking the shutters41 and fluttering the curtains as though wroth at witnessing the sacrilegious theft it is powerless to prevent.
With the letter in her hand, the woman who has committed this crime against the dead for the sake of her son, softly crosses the room toward the bed, replaces the keys in their old place under the pillow, and slipping the letter into her bosom42, falls once more upon her knees with tearful eyes and outstretched hands.
"God! God! if I have sinned in this I pray for pardon, it is for my son's sake, oh God, not for my own."
Fearfully she looks at the frozen face, cold and still in the glimmering43 light of the candles; the dead has not seen, the dead has not heard--her crime is unknown to anyone on earth, but involuntarily she looks upward as though dreading44 to see the all-seeing eye of God burning menacingly through the gloom. Then with an effort she betakes herself once more to prayer.
"Oh God, pardon me for my sins, and pardon those of this poor soul who has of late gone into Thy presence."
One sinner fresh from the committal of a crime praying for the soul of another sinner.
Oh, the irony45--the irony of the prayer.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
squire
|
|
| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
reverently
|
|
| adv.虔诚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pacifying
|
|
| 使（某人）安静( pacify的现在分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
jocund
|
|
| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
housekeeper
|
|
| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
artery
|
|
| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
rupture
|
|
| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
awakened
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
inmates
|
|
| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
stunned
|
|
| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
solaced
|
|
| v.安慰，慰藉( solace的过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
awesome
|
|
| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
gulf
|
|
| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
luminous
|
|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
wreck
|
|
| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sneer
|
|
| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
flicker
|
|
| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
flare
|
|
| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
sweeping
|
|
| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
shutters
|
|
| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
glimmering
|
|
| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
dreading
|
|
| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
irony
|
|
| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |