"Sir Jasper," quoth she, and shot out a timid hand. "Oh, Sir Jasper, will you not listen to me? This is the most terrible mistake. Sir Jasper, I swear I am true to you, not only in deed but in every inmost thought."
"Do not swear, madam," said he, and shut the door in her face.
Ten minutes later he sallied forth1 again. She heard his steps ring out: they sounded very desperate. She sat on the pink-striped settee in a misery2 too deep this time for tears. How puerile3, how far away, seemed the morning's storm. She sat with her hands locked and her eyes starting, revolving4 terrible possibilities, and fruitless plans for preventing them. Dinner was served in vain. Her ladyship's woman brought her a dish of tea. This poor Julia drank, for she felt faint and weary. Then a sudden thought struck her.
"'Tis Mistress Bellairs who made the mischief," she thought, "now she must mend it." She dashed off a despairing note to the lady and dispatched her black page with all possible celerity.
"I have followed your advice, to my undoing6. You told me to make Sir Jasper jealous; I tried to make him jealous, and succeeded far too well. He fancies there is something between me and Lord Verney. Poor young man, I have spoken to him but three times in my life! There will be a duel7 and they will both be killed. Come to me, dear Mistress Bellairs, and see what is to be done, for I am half dead with fear and anguish8."
The dusk was falling when, with incredible celerity, the sedan-chair of Mistress Bellairs rounded the corner at a swinging pace; her bell-like voice might be heard from within rating the chairmen with no gentle tone for their sluggishness9.
"'Tis snails10 ye are—snails, not men. La! is there one of you that is not a great-grandfather? It is not, I would have you know, a coffin11 that you are carrying, but a chair. Oh, Gad12, deliver me from such lazy scoundrels!"
In a storm she burst open the door; in a whirlwind tore through the passage. Lady Standish's obsequious13 footmen she flounced upon one side. Into that afflicted14 lady's presence she burst with undiminished vigour15.
"So," said she, "these are fine goings on! And why Lord Verney, may I inquire?"
"Oh, Mistress Bellairs," ejaculated her friend, with a wail16, "'tis indeed terrible. Think of Sir Jasper's danger, and all because of my folly17 in listening to your pernicious advice."
"My advice!" cried Mistress Kitty. "My advice—this is pretty hearing! Here, where is that woman of yours, and where are those stuffed owls18 you keep in the hall. What is the use of them if they do not do their business? Light up, light up—who can speak in the dark?" She ran from one door to another calling.
"Oh, dear," sighed Lady Standish, and leant her distraught head against the cushions.
"Come, come," cried Mistress Bellairs, heedless of the presence of footmen with tapers20, and lady's-maid with twinkling curl paper. "Sit up this minute, Julia, and tell me the whole from the beginning. It is no use your trying to extenuate21, for I will know all that has happened."
But before her friend, whose back was beginning to stiffen22 under this treatment, had had time to collect her thoughts sufficiently23 for a dignified24 reply, Mistress Kitty herself proceeded with great volubility:
"And so, madam, not content with having a new young husband of your own, you must fix upon Lord Verney for your manoeuvres. Why, he has never so much as blinked the same side of the room as you. Why, it was but yester-night he vowed25 he hardly knew if you were tall or short. Put that out of your head, my Lady Standish, Lord Verney is not for you. Oh, these country girls!"
Lady Standish rose, quivering with rage.
"Be silent, madam," she said, "your words have neither sense nor truth. I was ill-advised enough to listen to your unwomanly counsels. I tried to deceive my husband, and God has punished me."
"Ah," said Mrs. Kitty, "deceit is a very grievous sin. I wonder at you, that you must fix upon Lord Verney. Oh, Julia!" here her voice grew melting and her large brown eyes suffused26. "You had all Bath," she said, "and you must fix upon Lord Verney. The one man I thought ... the one man I could have.... Oh, how did you dare? Nay27! It is a blind," she cried, flaming again into indignation and catching28 her friend by the wrist. "There was more in your game than you pretend, you sly and silken hypocrite! If he is killed, how will you feel then?"
"Oh," exclaimed Lady Standish, "cruel woman! Is this your help? Sir Jasper killed!"
"Sir Jasper? Sir Fiddle29!" cried Mistress Kitty, with a fine scorn. "Who cares for Sir Jasper? 'Tis my Harry30 I think of. Oh, oh!" cried the widow, and burst into tears.
Lady Standish stood confounded.
"What!" cried she, "you love Lord Verney?"
"'Tis the only man of them," sobbed31 Kitty, "who does not pester32 me with his devotion—the only one who does not come to my call like a lap-dog. If I look at him he blushes for bashfulness, and not for love; if his hand shakes it is because he is so sweetly timid, not because my touch thrills him. I had set my heart," said Mistress Kitty through her clenched33 teeth—"I had set my heart upon Lord Verney, and now you must needs have him ki—ki—killed before I have even had time to make him see the colour of my eyes."
"Oh, oh!" sighed Julia Standish, still beyond tears.
And:
"Oh!" sobbed Kitty Bellairs, quite forgetful of red noses and swollen34 lids.
There was a silence broken only by the sobs35 of the widow and the sighs of the wife.
Then said Mistress Kitty, in a small, strangled voice: "Let this be a lesson to you never to deceive."
"I never told a single lie before," moaned Lady Standish.
"Ah!" said Kitty, "there never was a single lie, madam. A lie is wed5 as soon as born, and its progeny36 exceeds that of Abraham."
The two women rose from their despairing postures37, and, mutually pushed by the same impulse, approached each other.
"What is to be done now?" said Lady Standish.
"What is to be done?" said Mistress Bellairs.
"Let us seek Sir Jasper," said his wife, "and tell him the whole truth."
Kitty, through wet eyelashes, shot a glance of withering38 scorn upon her friend.
"Ay," she said sarcastically39, "that would be useful truly. Why, child, let you and me but go and swear your innocence40 to Sir Jasper, and it will be enough to establish you steeped in guilt41 in the eyes of every sensible person for the rest of your life. No," said she, "better must be thought of than that. We must act midwife to the lie and start the little family as soon as possible."
"I will lie no more," said Lady Standish.
"I am told," said Mistress Kitty musingly42, "that Lord Verney has learned swordsmanship abroad."
"Oh, cruel!" moaned the other.
Mistress Kitty paused, bit a taper19 finger, scratched an arch eyebrow43, drew white brows together, pondered deeply. Suddenly her dimples peeped again.
"I have it!" said she. "'Tis as easy as can be. Will you leave it to me?"
Lady Standish began to tremble. She had wept much, she had not eaten, her heart was full of terror. Faintness she felt creep upon her.
"What will you do?" she said, grasping after the vanishing powers of reflection with all her failing strength.
"Do?" said Mistress Bellairs. "First of all, prevent the duel. Will that serve you?"
"Oh, yes," cried Julia, and grew livid behind her paint.
"She has got the vapours again," thought the other. "What a poor weak fool it is!"
But these vapours came in handy to her plans; she was not keen to restore Lady Standish too promptly44. She called her woman, however, and helped her to convey the sufferer to her room and lay her on the couch; then she advised sal volatile45 and sleep.
"Leave it all to me," she murmured into the little ear uppermost upon the pillow; "I will save you."
Lady Standish groped for her friend's hand with her own that was cold and shaking. The ladies exchanged a clasp of confidence, and Mistress Bellairs tripped down to the drawing-room.
"Now," said she to herself, "let us see." Sudden inspiration sparkled in her eye. She plunged46 her hand into the depth of the brocade pocket dangling47 at her side, drew forth sundry48 letters, and began to select with pursed lips. There was Sir Jasper's own. Those gallant49 well-turned lines, that might mean all or nothing, as a woman might choose to take them—that was of no use for the present. Back it went into the brocade pocket. There was a scrawl50 from Harry Verney declining her invitation to a breakfast party because he had promised (with two "m's") my Lord Scroop to shoot (with a "u" and an "e"). Kitty Bellairs looked at it very tenderly, folded it with a loving touch, and replaced it in its nest. Here was a large folded sheet, unaddressed, filled inside with bold black writing. A crisp auburn curl was fastened across the sheet by an emerald-headed pin.
"Most cruel, most beautiful, most kind!"
ran the ardent51 lines,
"most desired, most beloved! Was it last night or a hundred years ago that we met? This is the lock of hair the loveliest hand in all the world deigned52 to caress53. It became upon that moment far too precious a thing for its poor owner. He ventures, therefore, to offer it at the shrine54 of the goddess who consecrated55 it. Will she cast it from her? Or will she keep it and let it speak to her, every hair a tongue, of the burning flame of love that she has kindled56 in this mortal breast? Did I dream, or can it be true?—there was a patch above the dimple at the corner of your lip. I kissed it. Oh, it must have been a dream! One word, fairest:—When may I dream again?
"Your own and ever your own.
"P.S.—The lock was white before you touched it, but you see you have turned it to fire!"
Mistress Kitty read and smiled. "The very thing!" Then she paused. "But has the woman a dimple?" said she. "Has she? Never mind, something must be risked. Now, if I know men, Sir Jasper will spend the whole night prowling about, trying to discover confirmation57 of his suspicions."
The letter was folded up. "It must seem as if it dropped from my lady's bosom58. Here, at the foot of the sofa, just peeping from behind the foot-stool! A jealous eye cannot miss it!"
The deed was done.
She caught up her cloak and hood59, glanced cheerfully round the room, satisfied herself that the letter showed itself sufficiently in the candle light to attract a roving eye and, bustling60 forth, summoned her chair for her departure in a far better humour than that which had marked her arrival.
"They could not fight till morning," she said to herself, as she snuggled against the silken sides. "Now heaven speed my plan!" She breathed a pious61 prayer as her bearers swung her onwards.
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1
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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5
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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7
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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8
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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sluggishness
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| 不振，萧条，呆滞；惰性；滞性；惯性 | |
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10
snails
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| n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 ) | |
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11
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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gad
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| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
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13
obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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14
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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17
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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18
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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19
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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20
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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21
extenuate
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| v.减轻，使人原谅 | |
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22
stiffen
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| v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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24
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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25
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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28
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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29
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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30
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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31
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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pester
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| v.纠缠，强求 | |
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33
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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35
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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36
progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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37
postures
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| 姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场 | |
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38
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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39
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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40
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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41
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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42
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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43
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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44
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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45
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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46
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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47
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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48
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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49
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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50
scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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51
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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52
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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54
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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55
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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56
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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57
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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58
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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59
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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60
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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61
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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