Mr. Stafford, gradually recovering from his paroxysms, had begun to bestow1 some intelligent interest upon the scene. There was a mist of doubt in his eyes as he gazed from the victimised, but very lively, lady to her crestfallen2 "violent abductor," and thence to the gloomy countenance3 of the new-comer on the threshold. There seemed to be, it struck him, a prodigious4 deliberation in Mistress Kitty's cry and start of surprise.
"What is my pretty Bellairs up to now? Well, poor Irish Denis, with all his wits, is no match for her anyhow, and, faith, she knows it," thought he. Aloud he said, with great placidity5: "Fie, fie, this is shocking to hear!" and sat, the good-humoured Chorus to the Comedy, on the edge of the table, waiting for the development of the next scene. Sir Jasper, wiping a beaded brow and still staring, as if by the sheer fixing of his bloodshot eye he could turn these disappointing puppets into the proper objects of his vengeance7, was quite unable to follow any current but the muddy whirl of his own thoughts.
Lord Verney alone it was, therefore, who rose at all to Mistress Kitty's situation.
"Are you the scoundrel, then," said he, marching upon O'Hara, "who dared to lay hands upon an unprotected lady in the very streets of Bath?"
"Monstrous8!" remarked Captain Spicer behind him. Then jogging his patron's elbow, "'Twas well spoke9, Verney, man. At him again, there's blood in this."
Mr. O'Hara looked steadily10 at Lord Verney, glancing contemptuously at Captain Spicer, and then gazed with long, full searching at the beguiling11 widow.
She thought to scent12 danger to herself in the air; and, womanlike, she seized unscrupulously upon the sharpest weapon in her armoury.
"Perhaps," she said, with an angry, scornful laugh, "Mr. O'Hara will now deny that he and his servants attacked my chairmen in the dark, threw me, screaming with terror, into his carriage, and that his intention was avowedly13 to wed14 me by force in London to-morrow."
All eyes were fixed15 on the Irishman, and silence waited upon his reply. He had grown so pale that his red head seemed to flame by contrast. He made a low bow.
"No, Kitty," said he, in a very gentle voice, "I deny nothing." Then sweeping16 the company with a haughty17 glance. "This lady," said he, "has spoken truth; as for me, I am ready to meet the consequences of my conduct."
His eye finally rested once more on Lord Verney. The latter grew white and then scarlet18; while Spicer whispered and again jogged.
"Of course," blustered19 the youth, and wished that he had the curious digestion21 of his contemporaries, that his stomach did not so squeamishly rebel at the prospect22 of a dose of steel, "of course, sir, you must be aware——"
"It shall be swords," interrupted the irrepressible Spicer; "and gad23, sir, what my noble friend will have left of your body I will myself make mince24 of this night! Aye, sir," said the Captain, beginning to squint25 as was his wont26 under excitement, and slapping his bony chest; "I will fight you myself, sir."
"Fight you!" exclaimed O'Hara, suddenly stung into magnificent contempt. "Fight you, sir?" he ran a withering27 eye over the grasshopper29 anatomy30 of the toady31 as he spoke, "you, sir, you, the writer of that dirty note this morning, bidding me apologise—apologise!" cried Denis, with his most luscious32 brogue, "to the man, Sir Jasper there, for having insulted you on the subject of your miserable33 mealy head—fight you, sir? Sure, rather than fight you," said Mr. O'Hara, searching for the most emphatic34 asseveration conceivable, "I'd never fight again for the rest of my life! But I'll tell you what I'll do for you: next time you thrust that ugly face of yours within the reach of me arm Oi'll pull your nose till it's as long as your tongue, and as slender as your courage, damme!"
"Oh, gad! what a low scoundrel," murmured Captain Spicer, withdrawing quickly several paces, and with an intensified35 cast in his eye; "'tis positive unfit for a gentleman to speak to him!"
"Now, my lord?" said O'Hara, resuming his easy dignity.
But that her comedy should drift into tragedy was none of Mistress Kitty's intentions. Briskly stepping between the laboriously36 pugnacious37 Verney and the poor Irishman, whose eye (for all his present composure) shone with the lust20 of the fray38, she thus addressed them collectively and in turn:
"Shame, shame, gentlemen, I protest! Is it not enough that a poor woman's heart should be set a-fluttering by over-much love, must it now go pit-a-pat again for over-much hate? My Lord Verney, think of your mother. Think of her, of whose declining years you are the sole prop6 and joy; recall to mind those principles of high morality, of noble Christian39 duty, which that paragon40 of women so sedulously41 inculcated in you!" Her voice quivered on the faintest note of mockery. "Oh, what would that worthy42 lady's feelings be, were you to be brought home to her—a corse! What, ah what indeed! would your feelings be if, by some accident," here she shot involuntarily what was almost the suspicion of a wink43 in the direction of O'Hara, "you had to answer for the life of a fellow-creature before to-morrow's dawn? Why, you could never open your Bible again without feeling in your bosom44 the throbbing45 heart of a Cain!" She stopped to draw breath.
Mr. Stafford, one delighted grin, slid the whole length of the table on which he sat with dangling46 legs, to get a fuller view of the saucy47 face: "Incomparable Bellairs," he murmured to himself with keen appreciation48, And: "So, ho, my noble friend," thought he, as he shot a glance at the solemn Verney, "now do I know what has closed to you for ever the gates of Paradise."
"And you, Mr. O'Hara," resumed the lady, turning her eye, full of indefinable and entrancing subtleties49 upon the honest gentleman, "would you have me forgive you this night's work? Do not, then, do not force this impetuous young man to an unnecessary quarrel. Allow him to withdraw his challenge. Do that in atonement, sir," said she, with much severity of accent; but her eye said sweetly enough, "Do that for me" and gave further promise of unutterable reward.
"Madam," said O'Hara, glancing away as if the sight of her beauty were now more pain than pleasure to him, "'tis for my Lord Verney to speak; I am entirely50 at his orders. I understand," and here, for all his chivalrousness, he could not refrain him from a point of satire51, "I understand, ma'am, that you have given him the right to espouse52 your quarrels."
"Most certainly," said the crimson53 Verney, who had been monstrously54 uneasy during his lady's sermon, not only because every word of it hit some tender point of his abnormally developed conscience, but also because of an indefinable sensation that he was being held up to ridicule55, "most certainly, sir, it is as Mistress Bellairs's future husband that I find it incumbent—that I find myself forced, reluctantly—no, I mean——" here he floundered and looked round for Spicer, who, however, was ostentatiously turning his back upon the proceedings56 and gazing at the moon. "In fact," resumed the poor youth, falling back on his own unguided wits, "I have no alternative but to demand satisfaction for an attempt on the honour of the future Lady Verney."
"Mercy on us!" cried Mistress Kitty, with a shrill57 indignant little scream. "Oh fie, my lord, who would have deemed you so bloodthirsty? Before heaven," she cried piously58, glancing at the raftered ceiling, "before heaven, it would be the death of me, were there to be quarrelling, strife59, contention60 for me—for me! Who am I," she said with the most angelic humility61, "that two such gallant62 gentlemen should stake their lives for me? Rather," said she, "will I give you back your word, my lord. Indeed," this with a noble air of sacrifice, "I feel Providence63 has but too clearly shown me my duty. Hush64, hush, Verney, bethink yourself! How could I ever face your mother (were you indeed to survive the encounter) with the knowledge that I had exposed you to danger; that for me you had loaded your soul with blood-guiltiness!"
She shuddered65 and looked delicious.
"Child," said she meltingly, as Lord Verney faintly protested, "it must be so. I have felt it more than once; you are too young." There was a conviction in her voice that gave no hope of reprieve66, and Lord Verney, who had already found out that Mistress Bellairs was too dangerous a delight to pursue with comfort, accepted his sentence with a Christian resignation that did justice to his mother's training.
"All, all must now be over between us," said Kitty pathetically, "save a gentle friendship! Your hand, my Lord."
She reached for his clumsy paw with her determined67 little fingers.
"Mr. O'Hara," said she, turning round. "I forgive you. Your hand also, sir."
If the clasp she extended to Verney was purely68 official, that with which she now seized O Hara's cold right hand was eloquent69 enough with quick and secret pressure. But, for the first time in his life, perhaps, O'Hara was slow in returning a woman's token.
"Shake hands," ordered Mistress Bellairs decisively, and joined the belligerents70' palms.
Here Stafford sprang jovially71 to the assistance of the pretty peacemaker.
"Right, right," cried he. "Shake hands on it like good fellows. Fie! who could keep up a feud72 under those beaming eyes?—Never be downcast, Verney, lad! What did I tell thee, only yesterday, in the Pump Room, about thy halo?—Denis, my boy, I've always loved thee, but now I'll love thee more than ever, if only thou wilt73 mix us a bowl of punch in right good Irish fashion, so that in it we may drown all enmity and drink good friendship—and above all toast the divine Kitty Bellairs!"
"Hurroosh," cried O'Hara, and with a valiant74 gulp75 determined to swallow his own bitter disappointment and flood in a tide of warm gaiety the cold ache in his heart. "By all means," cried he, wrung76 Verney's hand with feverish77 cordiality, and gave one last sadly-longing look at Kitty and his lovely delusive78 dream.
Then spinning round upon himself he demanded loudly of the willing landlord, lemons and "the craythur—a couple of bottles, my friend—a bowl of sugar and a trifle of wather—the smaller the kittle the better it boils." And: "Wake up, man," cried he, slapping Sir Jasper on the back so that the powder flew from that baronet's queue. "Sure we're all happy, now."
"Where's my wife, sir?" said the gloomy husband, springing to his feet fiercely. "I've been made a fool of between you, but all this does not tell me where my wife is! Stafford, man, I see it now: this has been a blind." He struck his forehead. "Ha, yes I have it now, it was a false scent—the villain79, the fox is off with her on another road, with his tongue in his cheek, grinning to think of me sitting and waiting for them at Devizes!—Tom, the chaise, the horses! There's not a moment to be lost!"
"Devil a horse or chay for me, sir," cried his friend. And nodding at Kitty: "I know when I'm in good company," he pursued, "if you don't.—Sit down, man, there's punch brewing80. Your vengeance will keep hot enough, ha, ha, but the punch won't."
"Glory be to God," cried O'Hara, staring at Sir Jasper as if he were a natural curiosity, "I've known many a madman, but I never knew one mad enough yet to run away from a punch-bowl!"
With lace ruffles81 neatly82 turned back from his deft83 hands, O'Hara began to peel the lemons.
"Do you," now said Captain Spicer with an ingratiating chirp84. "Do you really care for quite so much peel in the bowl ... ahem?"
The speaker stopped suddenly and seemed to wither28 quite away under a sudden look from the punch-brewer (who had made a movement as though to put his knife and lemons down and employ his fingers differently) and the next instant found him whispering in Stafford's ear:
"You're a man of the world, I know, friend Stafford," said he. "No doubt you will laugh at my over-nice sense of delicacy85, but just now, in his ravings, poor O'Hara made a kind of threat, I believe, about pulling my nose. What would you advise me to do in the matter? Look over it, eh?"
"Certainly," cried the spark, with a glance of the most airy contempt. "Look over it, as straight as you can. Look over it, by all means, but as you value the symmetry of that ornament86 to your countenance, Captain Spicer—if I were you I should keep it well-buttered."
*****
With an art of which he alone was master, Captain Spicer hereupon vanished from the company, without being missed.
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收听单词发音
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1
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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7
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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9
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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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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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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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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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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lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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21
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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gad
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| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
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mince
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| n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说 | |
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squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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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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grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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toady
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| v.奉承；n.谄媚者，马屁精 | |
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luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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pugnacious
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| adj.好斗的 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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39
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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46
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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saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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48
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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49
subtleties
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| 细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等 | |
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50
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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51
satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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espouse
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| v.支持，赞成，嫁娶 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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monstrously
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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56
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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57
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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58
piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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64
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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reprieve
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| n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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68
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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69
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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belligerents
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| n.交战的一方（指国家、集团或个人）( belligerent的名词复数 ) | |
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jovially
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| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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77
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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78
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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79
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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80
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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81
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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82
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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83
deft
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| adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手） | |
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84
chirp
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| v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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85
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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86
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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