The nights were chilly1, and a log crackled on the hearth2. Kitty, in the most charming déshabillé, stretched a pink slippered3 foot airily towards the blaze.
"La, ma'am," said Miss Lydia, as with nervous fingers she uncoiled one powdered roll and curl after another, "all the morning the gossip was upon Sir Jasper's meeting with Colonel Villiers at Hammer's Fields. And all the afternoon——" she paused and poised4 a brush.
"All the afternoon? Speak, child. You know," said her mistress piously5, "that I had to spend my evening by the side of a dear sick friend."
"Well, ma'am," said the maid, "the talk is all about your own marriage with the young Lord Verney."
"Mercy, girl," cried the lady with a little scream, "you needn't hit my head so hard with those bristles6! What's taken you? And what do people think of that?"
"Why, ma'am," said the Abigail, wielding7 her brush more tenderly, and permitting her irritation8 to betray itself only in the sharp snap of her voice, "my Lord Verney's man says he pities anyone that will have to go and live with her old la'ship at Verney Hall."
"Ha!" said Kitty, and gave herself a congratulatory smile in the handglass.
"And Mr. Burrell, ma'am, that's Lady Maria's butler, and a wise old gentleman he is, he says the marriage'll never take place, ma'am, for neither his own la'ship, nor the lady at Verney Hall, would allow of it, ma'am."
"Oh, indeed?" exclaimed Mistress Bellairs, stiffening9 herself, "that's all they know about it! Lydia, you untruthful, impertinent girl, how dare you tell me such a story?"
"I'm sure I beg your pardon, ma'am," said Lydia, sniffing10. "I'm sure I up and told Mr. Burrell that if you'd set your heart on wedding such a poor ninny as Lord Verney—I beg pardon, ma'am, I'm sure he'll be a very nice young nobleman, when his beard begins to grow—'twas not likely a deaf old cat like his mistress could prevent him. And I told Lord Verney's man, ma'am—and an impudent11 fellow he is—that you'd soon teach the dowager her place, once you were mistress in Verney Hall."
"Well, well," said the lady, mollified, "and what says the rest of your Bath acquaintance?"
"Squire12 Juniper's head coachman says his master'll drink himself to death, as sure as eggs, on the day that sees you another's, ma'am. He's been taking on terrible with Madeira ever since he's heard the news. And the Marquis' running footman, he says 'that Lady Flyte'll have it all her own way with his lordship now, and mores13 the pity, for,' says he, 'her la'ship's not fit to hold a candle to the widow'; excuse the language, he knows no better, his strength is mostly in his legs, ma'am. And Mr. Stafford's jockey says, ma'am, that in his opinion you're a lady as will never be drove again in double harness."
"Did he say so, indeed!" said Mistress Bellairs, reflectively. "Well, my good creature, and what say you?"
"La!" said the maid, and the brush trembled over her mistress's curls, "I say, ma'am, that if you was to make such a sacrifice, you so young, and lovely, and so much admired, I humbly14 hopes you might pick out someone livelier than my Lord Verney."
"Now, whom," said Mistress Bellairs, in a tone of good-humoured banter15, "would you choose, I wonder? What would you say to the Marquis, Lydia?"
"Oh, ma'am! His lordship is a real nobleman—as the prize-fighters all say—and a better judge in the cockpit, Mr. Bantam, the trainer, says, never breathed, drunk or sober; and no doubt when he's sober, ma'am, he'd make as good a husband as most."
"Well, well, girl, enough of him. What of Mr. Stafford, now?"
"Oh, Mr. Stafford, ma'am, that's a comely16 gentleman; not one bit of padding under his stockings, and an eye 'twould wheedle17 the very heart out of one's bosom18! And, no doubt, if you ever thought of him, ma'am, you'd see that he paid off the little French milliner handsome. He's a very constant gentleman," said Miss Lydia, with a suspicion of spite.
"Pooh," cried the lady, and pushed her chair away from the fire, "what nonsense you do talk! And pray what thinks your wisdom of Mr. O'Hara?"
"Lud! ma'am," cried the guileless maiden19, "that's the gentleman as was found behind Lady Standish's curtains."
"If you were not a perfect idiot," cried the widow, "you would not repeat that absurd tale, much less expect me to believe it. Mr. O'Hara has never even spoken to Lady Standish."
The unusual warmth in her mistress's tone struck the girl's sharp wits. She glanced quickly at the lady's reflection in the glass, and made no reply.
"Come," said Mistress Bellairs, "what else have you against him? Is he not handsome, child?"
"Why, ma'am, handsome enough for such as like red hair."
"And merry, and good company?"
"Oh, ma'am, none better, as half the rogues20 in Bath know."
"Tush—you mean he is good-natured, I suppose?"
"He never said 'no' in his life, ma'am, I do believe, to man or woman."
"Well, then?" cried her mistress testily21.
"And generous," gabbled Lydia, charmed by the cloud she beheld22 gathering23 on the brow reflected in the glass, "open-handed, ma'am. Mr. Mahoney—that queer peculiar24 servant of his—many a time he's told me, ma'am, that his only way to keep his wages for himself, and seldom he sees the sight of them, is to spend them at once, for his good master is that free-handed, ma'am, he'd give the coat off his servant's back."
"I'm quite aware," said the lady loftily, "that Mr. O'Hara's estates in Ireland are slightly embarrassed."
"I don't know what they call it, ma'am," cried Lydia shrilly25. "It's not a ha'porth of rent the old lord's seen these twelve months. Last year they lived on the pictures. And now it's the plate, I'm told. But, indeed, ma'am, as Mr. Mahoney says, what does it matter to a gay gentleman like Mr. O'Hara? Sure, he's the sort, as he says to me only yesterday, that would come to a fortune on Monday and be sending to the pawnshop on Saturday."
"You may go to bed, Lydia," cried Mistress Bellairs, rising hastily; "you've half deafened26 me with your chatter27."
Left alone the little lady sat down by the fire in a melancholy28 mood.
"The sort that would come to a fortune on Monday, and be sending to the pawnshop on Saturday.... I'm afraid it's true. Yet, I believe, he loves me, poor Denis! I vow," she said to herself, "'tis the only one of them all that I could endure. Yes, I could endure Denis, vastly well ... for a while at least. And now," said she, "what's to be done! Oh, I'd be loath29 to baulk him of the pleasure of running away with me! 'tis the only decent way indeed of breaking with my Lord Verney. And it certainly struck me that Master Stafford was mighty30 cool upon the matter. I've been too quiet of late, and that odious31 Bab Flyte thinks she can have everything her own way.... But, I'll be rescued," she said, "at Devizes—I shall have to be rescued at Devizes. My poor dear; he may be happy at least for an hour or two ... as far as Devizes!"
Her brow cleared; the dimples began to play.
"We shall see," she smiled more broadly, "if we cannot prod32 his Calfship into a night trot33. 'Twill do his education a vastness of service.... But the poor creature," she reflected further, "is scarce to be depended on. Who knows whether his mother would approve of his breathing the night air.... I must," Mistress Kitty's pretty forehead became once more corrugated34 under the stress of profound thought—"I must," she murmured, "have another string to my bow, or my sweet O'Hara will marry me after all. Dear fellow, how happy we should be from Monday ... till Saturday! Who? Who, shall it be? ... My Lord Marquis might take the r?le in earnest and spoil my pretty fellow's beauty. Squire Juniper? He would sure be drunk. And Master Stafford? Oh, he may stay with the French milliner for me!"
Suddenly the lady's perplexed35 countenance36 became illumined. "Sir Jasper?" she said. "Sir Jasper—the very man! The good Julia—I owe it to her to bring matters to an éclaircissement. And, Sir Jasper—oh, he richly deserves a midnight jolt37, for 'tis owing to his monstrous38 jealousy39 that I am put to all this trouble. 'Twill be a fine thing indeed," thought Mistress Bellairs with a burst of self-satisfied benevolence40, "if I can demonstrate to Sir Jasper, once for all, the folly41 into which this evil passion may lead a man."
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1
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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2
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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3
slippered
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| 穿拖鞋的 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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5
piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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6
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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7
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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8
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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9
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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10
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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11
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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12
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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13
mores
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| n.风俗，习惯，民德，道德观念 | |
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14
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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15
banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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16
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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17
wheedle
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| v.劝诱，哄骗 | |
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18
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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19
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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20
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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21
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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22
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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23
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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24
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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25
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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26
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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27
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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28
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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29
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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30
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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31
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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32
prod
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| vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励 | |
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33
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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34
corrugated
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| adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词) | |
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35
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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36
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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37
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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38
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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39
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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40
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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41
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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