Aspasia peeped in, half drew back, hesitated; then, as Lady Gerardine held out her left hand, without a word, the girl flew to her side and nestled down on the hearthrug at her feet, seizing the white hand with the unexpressed joy of tacit reconciliation3. For a little while there was silence between them. Baby's eyes roved about the room; within her sunny head a host of new thoughts were humming like a hive of bees. All at once something unfamiliar4 to her touch about the fingers she was fondling drew her gaze with surprise.
"Why, Aunt Rosamond?"
"Yes, Baby."
Lady Gerardine answered from the past, her voice far away and dreamy.
"Why." The girl turned the inert5 hand now to the faint grey light of the waning6 day, now to the fireglow. "You have changed your rings. This is a new one I never saw before," and her plump fingertips felt the plain circle, so much rounder and narrower than that pompous7 gold band with which the great Sir Arthur had plighted8 his nuptial9 vow10. The cry had almost escaped her lips: "You've never taken off Runkle's wedding-ring!" but she checked it with that new prudence11 circumstances were forcing upon her. She wished now she had not spoken at all. But Lady Gerardine was smiling.
"Yes," said she, tenderly, looking down at her hand where the leaping wood flame flashed back from the narrow gold circlet and the tiny coloured gems13 of an antique ring that surmounted14 it. "I have changed my rings—this one was given me the night before my marriage. It all went so quickly, you see, Baby, that my engagement ring came only the day before the wedding-ring. It was hers," said Rosamond, looking over her shoulder at the bed where Mrs. English had died. "'Tis a very old trinket, you see. Red roses of rubies15, green leaves of emerald, and a diamond heart. He said it was my heart—I said it was his."
She smiled again into space. Aspasia clasped her and kissed her. It was the first time since the voyage her aunt had spoken to her openly of her hidden thoughts. And now she spoke12 as if confidence had always existed between them, as if she were merely continuing the thread of an interrupted discourse16.
Baby's heart began to sink with an uneasy sense of awe17 as before something unnatural18, and of her own incapacity for meeting it. She wished her kiss could stop the lovely smiling lips from further speech. But Lady Gerardine went on:
"We were married quite early, in the little Alverstoke church. I used to hate it when I went there Sunday after Sunday; but it was a new place to me that morning, holy and beautiful, all in the dewy freshness, grey amid the green, with stripes of sunlight yellow upon it, and the dancing shadows of the trees. The whole church was full of the smell of white narcissus; it was like incense19. When I came up the nave20, he turned where he stood at the altar rail, and looked at me. I can see him now, just as he looked; his eyes dark, dark, and his face quite pale for all it was so bronzed. Baby, I can smell the narcissus now, as I stood beside him and he put this on my finger."
She raised her hand and kissed the ring.
"I shall never take it off," she said, as if to herself. And unhappy, practical Baby, could have laughed and cried together with the despairing ejaculation: "Poor Runkle!"
The night was pressing up against the windows; only the firelight now fought the darkness in the wainscoted room. Upon the panel opposite the bed, the life-size portrait of Captain English, in its strong relief of black and white, began to assume a ruddy tint21; in the shifting of the shadows the expression of the face seemed to change. It assumed startling airs of life. Baby caught sight of this and gave a faint scream.
"Oh, oh," she said, burrowing22 her face against Rosamond's neck, "he almost looks alive!"
Lady Gerardine had seen, too; but there was no terror in her soul.
"Why should he not look alive?" said she, in a soft confidential23 whisper, "he's not really dead, you know."
The astounding24 words had scarcely fallen upon Baby's alarmed consciousness, when there was a crunching25 of wheels below the window, as if the night without had suddenly engendered26 some ghostly visitor in state. A violent peal27 rang through the silent house; a new but very tangible28 fear was upon Aspasia. With a shriek29 she sprang to her feet.
"As sure as eggs is eggs, it's Runkle!"
She rushed helter-skelter to the door, while Rosamond sat still, clasping her ringed finger.
A minute later Aspasia burst into the room again. She was laughing violently in reaction, and brought a breath as of wet woods and winter winds into the warm room.
"It's all right," she gasped30. "It isn't Runkle, aunt, it's only——" with a fresh irrepressible gust31, "it's only the 'native spring,' you know, the black man—the secretary who's writing up Runkle's monument!"
She leaned against the bed-post, puffing32 and fanning herself with her handkerchief.
"What a turn he's given me—poor thing! I'm glad we've got Jani for him. He looked so forlorn, standing33 in the hall, staring about him with great sad eyes, like something pitchforked into a different world."
* * * * *
Jani carried a lamp into the small bare chamber34 allotted35 to Muhammed Saif-u-din, and set it on the table at which he was seated.
She turned up the wick, and was straightening herself from her task when her glance fell upon the man's hands and became riveted36 there. Even in their attitude of repose37, folded one over the other in the oriental fashion, these dusky hands had a singular suggestion of strength and energy about them. They were larger, too, than might have been expected in a babu; but then was he not of the virile38 northern breed?
After a while, slowly, the woman's gaze travelled up to the broad breast, where it rested once more. Then, upon a sudden impulse, she tilted39 the green shade so as to throw the full light upon the bearded countenance40. The secretary smiled and raised his eyes to look at her in return; but her action had cast her face into profound shadow.
"So," said he, in her own tongue, "here we meet, children of the sun in the land of the mist. So far from home we should be friends."
"I make no friend of your blood-stained race," said Jani, harshly.
"Why, what harm have we done thee or thine, mother?" asked Muhammed, his easy good-humoured tone contradicted by the relentless41 keenness of the gaze that still strove to pierce the gloom in her direction.
"What harm, Pathan?" shrieked42 Jani, suddenly, trembling with a sort of monkey fury. She flung out her hands as if waving off some threatening vision. "What harm, do you ask, have you done, you and your brothers of the mountain? Harm enough. See that ye do no more. Cross not my mistress's path."
Muhammed put his hand over his mouth, as if to conceal43 a yawn. Then, with an air of weary curiosity:
"Your mistress?" he echoed. "Nay44, mother, my business is with your noble lord. How should even my shadow ever come between your lady and the sun?"
"I will tell you," said Jani. She came closer to him, though still keeping in the darkness, and laid her fingers on his sleeve. "Your mountains once brought her great sorrow. She has forgotten, she is consoled. I would not that she remembered again. Why did you come here?" she cried, breaking into a wail45. "My heart trembles. It is for no good!"
The man shrugged46 his shoulders, but she repeated in a sort of frenzy47:
"Keep out of the Mem Sahib's way. Wa?, that you should have come here to remind her! Her tears are dry."
Muhammed smiled again, a smile full of secret yet fierce irony48.
"I am here," said he, "upon the bidding of my most noble lord and master, the Governor Sahib, of splendid fame."
"Great be his shadow!" ejaculated the woman, with Eastern gesture of reverence49. "Oh, you speak the truth; that is a noble and magnificent lord!"
"Ay," quoth the secretary. Then, with a movement as sudden as her own had been, he lifted the shade altogether from the lamp. Jani again flung out both her hands.
"Stay," he commanded, as she huddled50 towards the door; and she stayed, glancing at him with furtive51, furious eyes like a frightened wild thing. "You love your lady then so deeply?" he queried52, studying her dark face in the revealing glare.
The ayah's lips moved. She looked askance at her questioner, dropped her gaze upon his hands again, hesitated, and at last spoke:
"I—I suckled her at this breast," she beat her withered53 bosom54. "She is more beloved to me than the child of my flesh. When she weeps, it is as if my blood fell. She is happy, she is great, she is the lady of a high and magnificent lord. She reigns55 as a queen, she has jewels—oh, jewels—all her heart can wish."
"What then?" cried Muhammed, laughing loudly.
"The sons of the mountain have made her weep enough," cried Jani, hoarsely56. She was trembling as between a terror of pleading and an impotence of anger. "Woe57 to you if your shadow come between her and the sunshine! The dead are dead, past and done with; but the living she shall keep—and her greatness."
"You speak in riddles," said the Pathan, coldly. "But doubtless you are a faithful servant. Faithful, but also foolish. I will not harm your mistress!"
"Who harms my lord harms her," retorted the woman, sullenly58.
Muhammed's eyes flashed.
"And who would harm so just, so great, so beloved a master? You weary me, mother; begone."
He did not raise his voice, but there was that in it before which she shrank; creeping from the room thereafter stealthily, like a threatened dog.
Muhammed, his hands folded once more, remained seated long into the night, with the merciless light of the unshaded lamp upon his brooding countenance.
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1
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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7
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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13
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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15
rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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19
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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21
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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22
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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23
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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24
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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25
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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26
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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30
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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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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32
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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40
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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42
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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45
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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46
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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48
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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49
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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50
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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52
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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53
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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54
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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55
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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