“This is a good preparation for a dance!” she gasped3 breathlessly, forcing her chilled lips to a smile.
“For a dance? What dance?”
“There’s a fancy dress ball at the hotel to-night. There won’t be—much of me—left to dance, will there?”
The Englishman laughed suddenly.
“My chief concern is to get you back to the hotel—alive,” he observed grimly.
Jean looked at him quickly.
“Is it as bad as that?” she asked more soberly.
“No. At least I hope not. I didn’t mean to frighten you”—hastily. “Only it seemed a trifle incongruous to be contemplating4 a dance when we may be struggling through several feet of snow in half an hour.”
The fierce gusts5 of wind, lashing6 the snow about them in bewildering eddies7, made conversation difficult, and they pushed on in a silence broken only by an occasional word of encouragement from the Englishman.
“All right?” he queried8 once, as Jean paused, battered9 and spent with the fury of the storm.
She nodded speechlessly. She had no breath left to answer, but once again her lips curved in a plucky10 little smile. A fresh onslaught of the wind forced them onwards, and she staggered a little as it blustered11 by.
“Here,” he said quickly. “Take my arm. It will be better when we get into the pine-wood. The trees there will give us some protection.”
They struggled forward again, arm in arm. The swirling12 snow had blotted13 out the distant mountains; lowering storm-filled clouds made a grey twilight14 of the day, through which they could just discern ahead the vague, formless darkness of the pine-wood.
Another ten minutes walking brought them to it, only to find that the blunted edge of the storm was almost counterbalanced by the added difficulties of the surrounding gloom. High up overhead they could hear the ominous15 creak and swing of great branches shaken like toys in the wind, and now and again the sharper crack of some limb wrenched16 violently from its parent trunk. Once there came the echoing crash of a tree torn up bodily and flung to earth.
“It’s worse here,” declared Jean, “I think”—with a nervous laugh—“I think I’d rather die in the open!”
“It might be preferable. Only you’re not going to die at all, if I can help it,” the Englishman returned composedly.
But, cool though he appeared, he experienced a thrill of keen anxiety as they emerged from the pine-wood and his quick eyes scanned the dangerously rapid drifting of the snow.
The wind was racing17 down the valley now, driving the snow before it and piling it up, inch by inch, foot by foot, against the steep ground which skirted the sheet of ice where they had been skating but a few hours before.
Through the pitiless beating of the snow Jean strove to read her companion’s face. It was grim and set, the lean jaw18 thrust out a little and the grey eyes tense and concentrated.
“Can we get through?” she asked, raising her voice so that it might carry against the wind.
“If we can get through the drifted snow between here and the track on the left, we’re all right,” answered the man.
“The wind’s slanting19 across the valley and there’ll be no drifts on the further side. I wish I’d got a bit of rope with me.”
He felt in his pockets, finally producing the rolled-up strap20 of a suit-case.
“That’s all I have,” he said discontentedly.
“What’s it for?”
“It’s to go round your waist. I don’t want to lose you”—smiling briefly21—“if you should stumble into deep snow.”
“Deep snow? But it’s only been snowing an hour or so!” she objected.
“Evidently you don’t know what a blizzard22 can accomplish in the way of drifting during the course of an ‘hour or so.’ I do.”
Deftly23 he fastened the strap round her waist, and, taking the loose end, gave it a double turn about his wrist before gripping it firmly in his hand.
“Now, keep close behind me. Regard me”—laughing shortly—“as a snow-plough. And if I go down deep rather suddenly, throw your weight backward as much as you can.”
He moved forward, advancing cautiously. He was badly handicapped by the lack of even a stick with which to gauge24 the depth of drifting snow in front of him, and he tested each step before trusting his full weight to the delusive25, innocent-looking surface.
Jean went forward steadily26 beside him, a little to the rear. The snow was everywhere considerably27 more than ankle-deep, and at each step she could feel that the slope of the ground increased and with it the depth of the drift through which they toiled28.
The cold was intense. The icy fingers of the snow about her feet seemed to creep upward and upward till her whole body felt numbed29 and dead, and as she stumbled along in the Englishman’s wake, buffeted30 and beaten by the storm, her feet ached as if leaden weights were attached to them.
But she struggled on pluckily31. The man in front of her was taking the brunt of the hardship, cutting a path for her, as it were, with his own body as he forged ahead, and she was determined32 not to add to his work by putting any weight on the strap which bound them together.
All at once he gave a sharp exclamation33 and pulled up abruptly34.
“It’s getting much deeper,” he called out, turning back to her. “You’ll never get through, hampered35 with your skirts. I’m going to carry you.”
Jean shook her head, and shouted back:
“You wouldn’t get through, handicapped like that. No, let’s push on as we are. I’ll manage somehow.”
A glint of something like admiration36 flickered37 in his eyes.
“Game little devil!” he muttered. But the wind caught up the words, and Jean did not hear them. He raised his voice again, releasing the strap from his wrist as he spoke38.
“You’ll do what I tell you. It’s only a matter of getting through this bit of drift, and we’ll be out of the worst of it. Put your arms round my neck.” Then, as she hesitated: “Do you hear? Put your arms round my neck—quick!”
The dominant39 ring in his voice impelled40 her. Obediently she clasped her arms about his neck as he stooped, and the next moment she felt herself swung upward, almost as easily as a child, and firmly held in the embrace of arms like steel.
For a few yards he made good progress, thrusting his way through the yielding snow. But the task of carrying a young woman of average height and weight is no light one, even to a strong man and without the added difficulty of plunging41 through snow that yields treacherously42 at every step, and Jean could guess the strain entailed43 upon him by the double burden.
“Oh, do put me down!” she urged him. “I’m sure I can walk it—really I am.”
He halted for a moment.
“Look down!” he said. “Think you could travel in that?”
The snow was up to his knees, above them whenever the ground hollowed suddenly.
“But you?” she protested unhappily. “You’ll—you’ll simply kill yourself!”
“Small loss if I do! But as that would hardly help you out of your difficulties, I’ve no intention of giving up the ghost just at present.”
He started on again, pressing forward slowly and determinedly44, but it was only with great difficulty and exertion45 that he was able to make headway. Jean, her cheek against the rough tweed of his coat, could hear the labouring beats of his heart as the depth of the snow increased.
“How much further?” she whispered.
“Not far,” he answered briefly, husbanding his breath.
A few more steps. They were both silent now. Jean’s eyes sought his face. It was ashen46, and even in that bitter cold beads47 of sweat were running down it; he was nearing the end of his tether. She could bear it no longer. She stirred restlessly in his arms.
“Put me down,” she cried imploringly48. “Please put me down.”
But he shook his head.
“Keep still, can’t you?” he muttered between his teeth. She felt his arms tighten49 round her.
The next moment he stumbled heavily against some surface root or boulder50, concealed51 beneath the snow, and pitched forward, and in the same instant Jean felt herself sinking down, down into a soft bed of something that yielded resistlessly to her weight. Then came a violent jerk and jar, as though she had been seized suddenly round the waist, and the sensation of sinking ceased abruptly.
She lay quite still where she had fallen and, looking upwards52, found herself staring straight into the eyes of the Englishman. He was lying flat on his face, on ground a little above the snow-filled hollow into which his fall had flung her, his hand grasping the strap which was fastened round her body. He had caught the flying end of it as they fell, and thus saved her from sinking into seven or eight feet of snow.
“Are you hurt?”
His voice came to her roughened with fierce anxiety.
“No. I’m not hurt. Only don’t leave go of your end of the strap!”
“Thank God!” she heard him mutter. Then, aloud, reassuringly53: “I’ve got my end of it all right. How, can you catch hold of the strap and raise yourself a little so that I can reach you?”
Jean obeyed. A minute later she felt his arms about her shoulders, underneath54 her armpits, and then very slowly, but with a sure strength that took from her all sense of fear, he drew her safely up beside him on to the high ground.
Eor a moment they both rested quietly, recovering their breath. The Englishman seemed glad of the respite55, and Jean noticed with concern the rather drawn56 look of his face. She thought he must be more played out than he cared to acknowledge.
Across the silence of sheer fatigue57 their eyes met—Jean’s filled with a wistful solicitude58 as unconscious and candid59 as a child’s, the man’s curiously60 brilliant and inscrutable—and in a moment the silence had become something other, different, charged with emotional significance, the revealing silence which falls suddenly between a man and woman.
At last:
“This is what comes of stealing a day from Mrs. Grundy,” commented the man drily.
And the tension was broken.
He sprang up, as though, anxious to maintain the recovered atmosphere of the commonplace.
“Come! Having shot her bolt and tried ineffectually to down you in a ditch, I expect the old lady will let us get home safely now. We’re through the worst. There are no more drifts between here and the hotel.”
It was true. Anything that might have spelt danger was past, and it only remained to follow the beaten track up to the hotel, though even so, with the wind and snow driving in their faces, it took them a good half-hour to accomplish the task.
Monsieur and Madame de Varigny, a distracted ma卯tre d’h么tel, and a little crowd of interested and sympathetic visitors welcomed their arrival.
“Mon dieu, mademoiselle! But we rejoice to see you back!” exclaimed Madame de Varigny. “We ourselves are only newly returned—and that, with difficulty, through this terrible storm—and we arrive to find that none knows where you are!”
“Me, I made sure that mademoiselle had accompanied Madame la Comtesse.” asseverated61 Monsieur Vautrinot, nervously62 anxious to exculpate63 himself from any charge of carelessness.
“We were just going to organise64 a search-party,” added the little Count. “I, myself”—stoutly—“should have joined in the search.”
Weary as she was, Jean could hardly refrain from smiling at the idea of the diminutive65 Count in the r么le of gallant66 preserver. He would have been considerably less well-qualified even than herself to cope with the drifting snow through which the sheer, dogged strength of the Englishman had brought her safely.
Instinctively67 she turned with the intention of effecting an introduction between the latter and the Varignys, only to find that he had disappeared. He had taken the opportunity presented by the little ferment68 of excitement which had greeted her safe return to slip away.
She felt oddly disconcerted. And yet, she reflected, it was so like him—so like the conception of him which she had formed, at least—to evade69 both her thanks and the enthusiasm with which a recital70 of the afternoon’s adventure Would have been received.
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1
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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2
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
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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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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5
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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6
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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7
eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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8
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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9
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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10
plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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11
blustered
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| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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12
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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13
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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14
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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15
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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16
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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17
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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18
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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20
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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21
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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blizzard
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| n.暴风雪 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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24
gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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25
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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26
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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28
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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29
numbed
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| v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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31
pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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32
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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33
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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34
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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35
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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37
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
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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39
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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40
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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42
treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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43
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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44
determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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45
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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46
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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47
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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48
imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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49
tighten
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| v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧 | |
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50
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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51
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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52
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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53
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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54
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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55
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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56
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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57
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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58
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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59
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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60
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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61
asseverated
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| v.郑重声明，断言( asseverate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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63
exculpate
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| v.开脱，使无罪 | |
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64
organise
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| vt.组织，安排，筹办 | |
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65
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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66
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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67
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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68
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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69
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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70
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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