Cosily4 nestling in the corner of the carriage, her head in its black silk hood5 tilted6 back against the cushions, in the flickering7 uncertain gleam, there was something almost babyish in her whole appearance; something babyish, too, in her attitude of perfect confidence and enjoyment8.
Denis O'Hara, with one arm extended above her head, his hand resting open on the panel, the other hand still clasping the handle of the door, gazed upon the woman who had placed herself so completely in his power, and felt smitten9 to the heart of him with a tenderness that was well-nigh pain. Hitherto his glib10 tongue had never faltered11 with a woman that his lips were not ready to fill the pause with a suitable caress12. But not so to-day.
"What's come to me at all?" said he to himself, as, frightened by the very strength of his own passion, he could find no word at once ardent13 and respectful enough in which to speak it. And, indeed, "What had come to him?" was what Mistress Kitty was thinking about the same time. "And what may his arm be doing over my head?" she wondered.
"How beautiful you are!" babbled14 the Irishman at last.
Mistress Bellairs sat up with an angry start. It was as if she had been stung.
"Heavens!" cried she, thrusting her little forefingers15 into her ears. "Mr. O'Hara, if you say that again, I shall jump out of the chay."
Her eyes flashed; she looked capable of fulfilling her threat upon the spot.
"Me darling heart," said he, and had perforce to lay his hands upon her to keep her still. "Sure what else can I say to you, with my eyes upon your angel face?"
Apparently16 the lady's ears were not so completely stopped but that such words could penetrate17.
"'Tis monstrous," said she in hot indignation, "that I should go to all this trouble to escape from the bleating18 of that everlasting19 refrain, and have it buzzed at me," she waxed incoherent under the sense of her injuries, "thus at the very outset!"
"My dear love," said he, humbly20, capturing the angry, gesticulating hand, "sure me heart's so full that it's just choking me."
She felt him tremble beside her as he spoke21.
Now the trembling lover was not of those that entered into Mistress Kitty's scheme of existence. She had, perhaps, reckoned, when planning her escapade, upon being made to tremble a little herself. She had certainly reckoned upon a journey this evening that should be among the most memorable22 in the annals of her impressions. O'Hara bashful! O'Hara tongue-tied! O'Hara with cold fingers that hardly dared to touch hers! O'Hara, the gay rattler, with constrained23 lips!
This was an O'Hara whose existence she had not dreamed of, and for whose acquaintance, to say the truth, she had small relish24.
"What has come to you?" she cried aloud, with another burst of petulance25.
"Faith," said he, "and I hardly know myself, Kitty darling. Oh, Kitty," said he, "'tis vastly well to laugh at love, and play at love; but when love comes in earnest it takes a man as it were by the throat, and it's no joke then."
"So I see," said she, with some dryness.
O'Hara clenched26 his hand and drew a laboured breath.
*****
Straining, slipping now and again, breaking into spurts27 of trot28, to fall into enforced walking pace once more, the gallant29 team had dragged the chaise to the summit of the great rise at a speed quite unprecedented30, yet comparatively slow.
Now the way lay down-hill. The coachman waved his whip. Bounding along the fair road the wheels hummed; the night-wind blowing in through the half-opened window, set Mistress Kitty's laces flapping on her bosom31, and a stray curl of Mr. O'Hara's dancing on his pale forehead.
The exhilaration of the rapid flight, the crack of the whip, the mad rhythm of the hoofs32, the witchery of the night hour, the risks of the situation, the very madness of the whole enterprise, all combined to set the widow's gay blood delightfully33 astir, mounting to her light brain like sparkling wine.
What! were all the accessories of the play to be so perfect, and was the chief character to prove such a lamentable34 failure in his part? What! was she, Kitty Bellairs, to be carried off by the most notorious rake in Bath, only to find him as awkward, as dumb, as embarrassed with the incomparable situation as the veriest greenhorn? "It shall not, and it cannot be," said she to herself. And thereupon she changed her tactics.
"Why," said she aloud, with the cooing note of her most melting mood, "I protest one would think, sir, that you were afraid of me."
"Aye, Kitty," said he, simply; "and so I am."
"Oh, fie!" she laughed. "And how have I alarmed you? Think of me," said she, and leaned her face towards him with a smile of archest wit, "not as a stranger, but as a sisther, as a dear, dear cousin."
His eye flamed back at her. Her merry mood was as incongruous to his sudden, storm-serious growth of passion as the gay lilt of a tambourine35 might be to a solemn chant.
"I think of you," he said, and there was a deep thrill in his voice, "as my wife that is to be."
And so saying he fell upon his knees in the narrow space, and tenderly kissed a fold of her lace, as one, from the knowledge of his own fire, afraid of a nearer touch.
The word "wife" had never a pleasing sound in the lovely widow's ears. From neither the past nor the future did it evoke36 for her an attractive picture.
Coming from those lips, by which it was the very last name she desired to hear herself called, it aroused in her as pretty a fit of fury as ever she had indulged in.
"Now, indeed, is the murder out!" she cried. "Oh, you men are all alike. As lovers—all fire, capsicums Indian suns! Bottles of Sillery always bursting! Torrents37 not to be stemmed.... But, lo you! let the lover once fancy himself the husband, let the vision of the coveted38 mistress but merge39 into the prospect40 of the secured wife.... Merciful heavens, what a change! For fire we have ice; for the red, biting capsicum, the green, cool cucumber; for joyous41, foaming42 Sillery, the smallest ale; small ale—nay, toast and water!" cried Mistress Kitty, lashing43 herself to finer frenzy44. "And if the mere45 sense of your security thus transforms the lover in you, what a pleasing prospect, indeed, lies before the wedded46 wife! No, thank you, sir," said the lady, and pushed the petrified47 O'Hara with an angry foot, "I have had one wintry, toast-and-water husband, and that shall be enough for my lifetime. Thank God, it is not too late yet!" she fumed48. "I am not yet, sir, Mistress O'Hara."
And in the very midst of her indignation: "This will," she thought, "simplify the parting at Devizes." But no whit49 was her wrath50 thereby51 abated52, that the fool should have spoiled her pretty ride.
For a moment, after the angry music of her voice had ceased to ring, there was a breathless silence, broken only by the straining progress of horses and chaise up the sides of another hill. Then O'Hara broke forth53 into a sort of roar of wounded tenderness, passion, and ire. Flinging himself back upon the seat, he seized her wrist in a grip, fierce, yet still gentle under its fierceness.
"How dare ye!" cried the man, "how dare ye doubt my love! Sure the flames of hell are cold compared to me this minute. May my tongue wither54 in my mouth, may it be cut out of my jaws55 and never speak a word of sense again, may I be struck dead at your feet, Kitty, for the rest of my life, if it's not gospel truth! Listen to my heart," he cried, with yet greater vehemence56, pressing her captive hand against his breast, "isn't it Kitty, Kitty, Kitty ... that it's saying? Sure it's nothing but a bell, and your name is the clapper in it! ... And you to be railing at me because it's so much I have to say that never a word can I bring out! Oh," pursued Mr. O'Hara, waxing louder and more voluble still, "sure what could I say, with my heart in my mouth stopping the way? Look at it, you cruel woman; isn't it all yours, and aren't you sticking pins into it for sheer devilment, this minute? God forgive me, that I should say such a thing of an angel! Look at it, now, Kitty! Is that the heart of a cucumber? ... If you had said a love-apple itself.... Och, indeed, it's the real cool cucumber I am, and it's toast and water that's running through my veins57 like fire! ... Laugh, madam, laugh, it's a grand joke entirely58! Make a pin-cushion of the cucumber! See, now, is that small ale that bursts from the wounds? Upon my soul," he cried, arrived at the height of his tempest, "I have a mind to show you the colour of it!"
He reached violently towards the back seat for his sword as he spoke, and Mistress Bellairs, suddenly arrested in her delighted paroxysm, was sufficiently59 convinced of the strength of his feelings to stop him with clinging hands and clamouring little notes of terror:
"O'Hara! madman!—for God's sake, Denis!"
"Ah!" cried he. "It's not hot enough I was for ye. It's the cold husband you're afraid of. Ah, Kitty, you've stirred the sleeping dog, you mustn't complain now if you can't put out the fire!"
So saying, he turned and clasped her in an embrace that left her scarcely breath to scream, had she so wished, and had indeed the kisses which he rained upon her lips allowed her space in which to place a protest.
Her light soul, her easy shallow nature, was carried as it were off its feet in the whirlwind of a passion the mere existence of which, with all her experience, she had never even guessed. To say the truth, so much as she had deemed him vastly too cold, so now she found him vastly too hot. She was a woman of niceties, an epicure60 in life and love, and nothing met with her favour but the delicate happy mean. This was a revelation, with a warning.
"Mr. O'Hara," she gasped61, at length released, fluttering like a ruffled62 dove, all in anger and fear, "such treatment! For a gentleman, sir, you strangely forget yourself." She laid her hand on the window strap63. "Not a word, sir, or I will instantly give the order to turn back."
"Oh," cried the unhappy lover, and tore at his hair with desperate fingers, filling the ambient air with flakes64 of powder which shone silvery in the moonlight. "You drove me to it. Ah, don't be frightened of me, my darling; that hurts me the worst of all! I'm quiet now, Kitty."
His labouring breath hissed65 between his words, and his satin coat creaked under each quivering muscle.
"I'm as quiet as a lamb," said he; "sure a baby might put its head in my jaws—the devil's gone out of me, Kitty."
"I'm glad to hear it, sir," said she, unappeased. She sat, swelling66 with ruffled plumes67, looking out of the window and biting her lips.
"A moon, too," she thought, and the tears almost started to her eyes, for the vexation of the wasted opportunity and the complete failure of a scene so excellently staged. "How wise, oh, how wise I was, to have secured my exit at Devizes!"
"I frightened her," thought O'Hara; and in the manly68 heart of him he lamented69 his innate70 masculine brutality71 and formed the most delicate chivalrous72 plans for the right cherishing in the future of the dear lady who had confided73 herself to him.
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1
saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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2
beguiling
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| adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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3
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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4
cosily
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| adv.舒适地，惬意地 | |
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5
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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6
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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8
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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9
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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10
glib
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| adj.圆滑的，油嘴滑舌的 | |
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11
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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12
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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13
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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14
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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15
forefingers
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| n.食指( forefinger的名词复数 ) | |
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16
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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17
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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18
bleating
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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19
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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20
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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21
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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22
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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23
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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24
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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25
petulance
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| n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急 | |
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26
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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27
spurts
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| 短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 )； 突然奋起 | |
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28
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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29
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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30
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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31
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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32
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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33
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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34
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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35
tambourine
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| n.铃鼓，手鼓 | |
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36
evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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37
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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38
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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39
merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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40
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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41
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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42
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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43
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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44
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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45
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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46
wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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48
fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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49
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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50
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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51
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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52
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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53
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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54
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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55
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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56
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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57
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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58
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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59
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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60
epicure
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| n.行家，美食家 | |
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61
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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62
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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63
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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64
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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65
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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66
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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67
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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68
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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69
lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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71
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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72
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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73
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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